Until Then (Cape Harbor #2) - Heidi McLaughlin Page 0,11

but Renee was ready. As far as she was concerned, it was her client who had created the content, put in countless hours of typing, stressed over queries with agents and subsequently acquisition editors, marketed herself on social media and in the public, and worried about sales, all while raising their family and maintaining her health. What had the client’s husband done? Told a few coworkers to read his wife’s book? To Renee, that did not constitute enough to take a percentage of earnings, past or future.

“Ms. Wallace, an update on the Soto case?” Lex Davey owned the firm but was not an attorney. His wife started the company many years ago, and when she passed away, he took over. Now he sat three floors up in an office big enough to be a house, worrying about laws he knew nothing about, courting women, and entertaining politicians.

She sat up straight, opened her binder, and dragged her finger down the color-coded tabs until she reached a red one marked “Soto” and flipped to the section. She knew the case by heart, but for some reason, Lex Davey shook her to the core. Maybe it was the way he leered at her when they made eye contact or how he would make comments regarding her clothing. His words often bordered on harassment but were never enough to fully cross the line. Telling her she wore a nice skirt or saying she looked good in a particularly colored blouse was technically harmless. Words were words, but it was the looks he gave her when he said such things that made her feel uneasy. Thankfully, she only had to converse with him minimally and normally only during meetings. She cleared her throat and gave a recap of how the case had progressed.

“Any chance for a settlement?” Justin Baylor asked, another junior partner who was about five years younger than Renee but surprisingly made partner in his second year with the firm.

She tilted her head slightly, as if she would signal no, but stopped. “My client, as you can imagine, would like to protect her assets. She was the one who put in the work and doesn’t feel her ex is entitled to anything at all. We have offered him one percent; he has countered with fifty-one, which would give him full control over Mrs. Soto’s artistic work, and this is out of the question. The man has done nothing to improve or contribute to my client’s business, and—not that it matters—Mrs. Soto writes under a pen name and has very rarely spoken about her husband in any public manner. She is not damaging nor enhancing his reputation, and therefore he should not benefit from hers.”

“What about thanking him in acknowledgments?” one of the partners, Donna Pere, asked. She and Donna had a good bit of history. They met at Santa Clara Law when Renee was in law school and Donna was teaching a summer course on ethics. They stayed in touch, and when Renee needed an internship, Donna brought her on at the firm she worked for. Rhoads PC enticed Donna with a job in Seattle, which opened the door for Renee to return home. The interview had gone well, and Donna had raved about her ability, but the wait to hear whether the firm would hire her kept her on her toes. It took two months for the board to decide her fate.

“Only if he can make the claim that she included him in ‘Many thanks to my family.’ If the judge agrees, we’re going to see a lot of people coming out of the woodwork to sue for royalties.”

“Sounded like an open-and-shut case when you signed on,” Lex pointed out. Renee wanted to ask him what he knew about open-and-shut cases, but she held her tongue. Another time, another place for outbursts such as those. Instead, she smiled, nodded, and shut the binder, hoping to convey she was done talking.

Lex then asked, “Anyone have anything we should know about?” He made eye contact with each senior and junior partner sitting at the table. All were quiet until he came to Donna, who sat upright. She cleared her throat and looked down at her notes.

“A friend of a friend asked me to look into a civil case as a favor. There was a car accident over the summer in which the driver ended up paralyzed. The parents of the driver want to sue the bartender that served their daughter alcohol, saying they never