Until Then (Cape Harbor #2) - Heidi McLaughlin Page 0,12

checked her ID. They admit she was already drunk when she entered the establishment and contend the liquor served made her more impaired, and therefore she shouldn’t have been served nor allowed to leave without someone taking her keys or a car being called for her.”

“Was she with friends?” Renee asked.

“She was.”

“Are they being sued?” Renee shocked herself with her question. One reason she went into law was to fight for injustices. She thought she would practice criminal law and spend her life defending the innocent, but after one of her internships, family law had captured her attention.

“They aren’t,” Donna responded.

“If the young woman had friends with her, why didn’t one of them drive?” Lex asked. Renee wanted to know the same thing.

“A joyride gone bad?” The way Donna spoke made it sound like a question and like there was more to the story, and it seemed Lex felt the same way.

“Let it go; it sounds like a loss for us.” Lex stood and abruptly ended the conversation. “Happy Thanksgiving,” he said in a cheery voice. “By the way, Christmas bonuses will come earlier than normal this year.”

She gathered her things in her arm and held them precariously as she read the messages on her phone. Emails from clients complaining about missing child support payments or spousal support. There was a hint of desperation in each email, and her heart went out to her clients. The holidays were upon them, and people counted on those monthly payments. She also had a slew of text messages, mostly from Brooklyn, who was, per her typed words, OMG SO EXCITED TO SEE YOU! The message made Renee smile. Once she was in Cape Harbor, she could relax and let the stress of work drift out into the ocean. Four days of nothing but her friends, shopping, wedding talk, and Christmas decorating were exactly what she needed.

She stopped at her secretary’s desk. Ester Singer had been with Rennie since she started at Rhoads, and she insisted Ester come with her when she was promoted to junior partner. Ester looked up as Renee approached and, as coyly as possible, slid the ad she was perusing under her keyboard.

“Any good sales?” Renee asked. She never wanted to be that boss, the one who chided their employees for taking mental health breaks, and yes, she considered looking at Black Friday ads a mental health break.

“Anything in particular you’re looking for?”

“My niece is fourteen. What do teens like these days?”

Ester pulled the hidden advertisement out from under her keyboard and flipped rapidly until she came to the page she was looking for. She turned it toward her boss. “I get one for my daughter every year, and she loves it.” Ester pointed to a box of sample perfumes. “You get thirteen of the most sought-after fragrances, all designer, and the best part is they get a full-size bottle of their choice, all for sixty-five dollars.”

Renee took the paper out of Ester’s hands, almost as if she couldn’t believe what she’d been told. Sure enough, the fine print said the same thing. “Is it worth it?”

“So worth it.”

Renee made a mental note to get one for Ester. She knew she was a single parent, and Renee tried to do what she could to help. “What else?” she asked. Ester continued to flip and point out what the hot items of the season were.

“I’ll text you a list, Ms. Wallace.”

“Thank you, Ester.” Renee asked her to email the attorneys whose clients had missed their necessary payments for the month, and once she did, she could go for the day. “Have a happy Thanksgiving,” she said before disappearing into her office.

She sat at her desk and texted Brooklyn. Do I brave the traffic and leave now?

Brooklyn Hewett: Bowie says there’s an accident and to wait.

Of course, there is.

Renee pushed her phone aside and shook the mouse on her desk to wake up her computer. She had depositions to go over in a custody dispute, briefs to write for the tiny humans she was a guardian ad litem for, and she needed to read through a stepparent adoption case, but the only thing she wanted to focus on was her solitaire game. She clicked “New” and watched as the computer laid out the board for her, groaning when multiple red cards in a row flipped over. Renee preferred a mix; it was easier to build a sequence that way. As tempted as she was to click “New” and get another board, she