set up an appointment yesterday, and this is the first time I could get her in to see you. Her file is on your desk,” Oliver said.
“Great. Please send her back.” I rifled through the case file folders and dragged one from the bottom. Then I smoothed my hair back as best as I could and wiped more cream filling off my shoulder.
Oliver appeared with a pregnant young woman. “Here you go.”
I stood and gestured to a guest chair. “Hi. I’m Anna.” I leaned over to shake her hand. “Please excuse my appearance. There was a pastry incident at lunch.”
“I can see that. Sounds like fun?” She was about eighteen with sandy-blonde hair and clear brown eyes. Her belly showed her to be probably about five or six months pregnant, and she wore a pink sundress. “I’m Hailey. It’s nice to meet you.” Her voice was soft.
“You, too.” I hadn’t had time to read the form. “How exactly can I help you?”
She shrugged narrow shoulders. “I, well, I want a divorce.”
Oh. Family Law. I hadn’t intended on practicing it, but I’d help her if I could. “I see.” I opened the file and scanned through the little information she’d given Oliver over the phone. “Your husband’s name is Darrin, and you’ve been married a year.” I frowned. “How old are you, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“Nineteen,” she said, rubbing her belly. “We got married right after high school graduation and got pregnant a few months later. It’s not working out. So I guess I need a divorce?” She batted away tears. “My mom never liked Darrin, and she’s probably right. This is all just so hard, you know?” She looked young and vulnerable in the regular-sized leather chair. “My mom is well off and I can give you a good retainer, if you want. I’d rather pay for this myself, though. If you take payments.”
“Yes, we take payments.” I shut the case file, wondering at the next best step. The few divorces I’d seen during my life had been messy, and the lawyers had seemed to be just as bad as the clients. So I took a moment. “I have to ask you some questions, okay?”
She clasped her hands in her lap. “Yeah. We don’t have a lot of money or stuff to split, and we rent our condo. I’d be fine with joint, um, custody? I watched a couple of episodes of Ally McBeal before I came in. It’s streaming on the older shows channel.”
Ally McBeal. I’d totally forgotten about that show. “So you’re not afraid of Darrin?” I asked.
Her brows drew up as if I’d surprised her. “Oh, no. Not at all. He’s a great guy.” Her bottom lip trembled. “Just not ready to be married. I guess. My mom says men never grow up. I don’t know.”
I took a deep breath. “I just want to make sure you’re not in danger and that he hasn’t hurt you. Has Darrin ever hit you?”
She laughed and looked even younger. “Gosh, no. Darrin would never hit me or any woman. Or anybody, really.”
I believed her. “Are you sure you want to get divorced?” If she did, I’d start the paperwork that day.
She blinked. “I, um, I’m surprised you asked that.” She sat back and rubbed her belly some more. “I don’t know. I mean, I was mad because we had a fight, and my mom doesn’t like him, but I guess I just don’t know.”
“Why doesn’t your mom like him?” I asked just to make sure everything was safe for her.
Hailey sighed. “Because I married him instead of going off to college. But I love him.”
My phone rang again. “Hi, Oliver,” I answered.
“Hello. A Mr. Jennings is here?” Oliver sounded uncertain.
“I texted him that I was going to have you do the paperwork, and he said he’d come and sign whatever we wanted him to sign.” Hailey chewed on her lip. “He wasn’t mad but sounded sad.”
I slipped my feet back into my now slimy shoes and stood. “All right. Come with me.” I walked around my desk and strode down the hallway to the reception area, where a kid with grease on his pants waited. He had brown hair and earnest blue eyes, and by the oil beneath his fingernails, he’d come from work as a mechanic. “Hi. Are you Darrin?”
“Yes. It’s nice to meet you.” His gaze moved beyond me.
“Do you want to get divorced?” I asked directly.
He cut his gaze to me and his face turned