Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

NEELY KATE

J ed and I got the Christmas tree in the stand and the lights wrapped around the branches while Daisy took her nap, but we decided to hold off on putting the ornaments on until we got the platform. The tree was pretty with just the lights, and Daisy was mesmerized. Jed teased me that she was just like her mother, taken in by sparkly lights.

On Sunday morning, Joe brought over a foot-tall platform, and he helped Jed get the tree set up on it. Before he left, he told us that his mother had shown up on their doorstep after they’d gotten home from the Christmas tree farm, and he’d sent her away.

My stomach twisted. Joe’s mother hated me. I couldn’t blame her, given that I was physical proof her husband had cheated on her, but I reminded myself that she had no power over me. Still, I felt relieved that Joe didn’t want to see her, even if it was selfish of me.

“What did she want?” Jed asked.

“She claimed she wanted to reconnect with me and to have a relationship with her granddaughter—who she thought was a grandson until we corrected her,” he said in disgust. “But I’m not buying it for a minute.”

“Then what do you think she wanted?” Jed asked.

“Hell if I know.”

“You should find out,” I said quietly.

He turned to me in surprise. “Why?”

“Because if my mother showed up on my doorstep, I’d want to know. I’d hate her, and I’d probably send her away at first too, but ultimately, I’d want to know why she went to the trouble of coming all this way to see me.”

“But she didn’t even come to Kate’s funeral,” he said, his voice breaking. “Her own daughter.”

“I know,” I said past the lump in my throat. It had killed Joe at the time, and he’d vowed he was done with her. “She’s a selfish bitch, but I’d still want to know.”

Joe’s eyes grew haunted.

“How did Rose take it?” Jed asked.

“Pretty well, considering she was the one to answer the door. She backs my decision, and she thinks I handled the whole situation well; however, she said if her mother showed up, she’d ultimately want to talk to her.”

“So, what are you going to do?” Jed asked.

Joe ran a hand over his head. “I don’t know, but last night while I was in bed, unable to sleep, Rose told me I can take my time to figure it out. There’s no hurry to make a decision.”

“Typical Rose answer,” I said with a soft smile. “Just because your mother decided now was the time to drop into your life, doesn’t mean it’s the right time for you .”

“Yeah.”

“Let her stew,” I said. “You’ve got plenty of time to sort it out.”

“Unless she’s dyin’,” Jed said. “Then you might not.”

I swatted his thick bicep. “Hush your mouth. I suspect that self-centered woman would have led with that.”

The hint of a grin cracked Joe’s serious expression. “You’re right.”

He left soon after that, and Jed and I decorated the tree during Daisy’s next nap. The FBI threat still hung over my head, no matter how much I tried to ignore it. Jed knew something was bothering me, and he asked a few times if I was okay, but he finally kissed me and said he would stop pestering me, that he knew I’d tell him when I was ready.

Which made me feel even more guilty for keeping it from him.

But why was I keeping it from him? It was wrong. He had a right to know. Yet, I knew once I told him, our life wouldn’t be the same until it was resolved. And I’d rather suffer with the uncertainty on my own than drag Jed into it and destroy any hope of a happy Christmas.

When Jed put Daisy down for her afternoon nap, I decided to get a jump start on my plan and I sent Carter a text.

I need to meet with you tomorrow

He sent a response back pretty quickly.

I already told you I can’t help you

This is about something else

He didn’t respond for nearly a minute before he texted back.

When have I ever been able to refuse you anything? Be at my office at 9:00 sharp

The next morning, I got to the office a little after eight, still trying to figure out how to explain to Rose why I was leaving the office and walking across the square to Carter’s office. There wouldn’t be any hiding it from her. Our office had a direct line of sight to his.

But soon after I sat at my desk, Rose called and said that Mikey had come back from his grandparents’ with a cold and a fever. She was going to stay home with him and try to work from home.

Typically, I didn’t like being alone in the office—I didn’t like being alone period—but this morning I was happy for it, despite the fact that my imagination was running wild with all the possible doomsday scenarios. Surely, there was a way to stop the FBI from questioning Jed. I just needed to get Carter to help me.

At 8:55, I locked up the office and headed across the square. I’d considered bringing Carter a coffee from the shop a few doors down to butter him up, but he took his coffee black, likely to match his soul. I wasn’t gonna spend three dollars on a cup of coffee that wasn’t loaded with sugar and milk.

A small Christmas tree was in front of the office window when I walked up. It took me by surprise because I’d never seen Carter decorate his office for the holidays before. I figured it had been done by his receptionist of the week.

Sure enough, I didn’t recognize the woman sitting at the desk in the waiting room, and I wondered how she’d found the resources to decorate. I couldn’t imagine Carter springing for them. The young girl looked up at me with a stern look that might have been more believable if she wasn’t wearing her hair in low pigtails, making her look like she belonged in middle school, not behind the public-facing desk in Carter Hale, Attorney at Law’s reception area.

“Do you have an appointment?” she asked, her mouth pursing.

I gave her a pointed look. “Does Carter have any appointments today?”

She glanced down at a planner on the desk and scanned it for several seconds before she lifted her gaze. “He has court in an hour, but other than that, no. Nevertheless , he’s a very, very busy man. You’ll need to make an appointment.”

Carter was either paying her to say that or she was as clueless as she looked. “I’m sure Carter’s busy all right,” I said mockingly even as I realized he must have made our appointment at nine because of his court schedule. “Is he in his office?”

“Mr. Hale says I’m not supposed to let clients see him unless they have an appointment,” she insisted.

“Then don’t you worry your pretty little head,” I said with a sarcastic smile. “I have an appointment with Carter at nine, so he’ll be more than happy to see me.”

“But it’s not on the book,” she said, tapping a long, blue-painted fingernail on the planner. “See?”

“Does he take the planner home with him on the weekends?”

She gave me a snide smile. “No, but he tells me everything , and he didn’t tell me about this.” I was pretty sure the innuendo in that sentence was purposeful. Did she think I was after Carter Hale? I nearly laughed, but then I sobered. Did that mean he was sleeping with her? He had to be nearly twice her age. Gross.

I propped a hand on my hip, quickly losing patience. “So are you going to check with him to see I have an appointment or not?”

Her lips pursed. “Not.”

This was ridiculous and I wasn’t in the mood to deal with her bullshit when my husband’s freedom was on the line.

I walked around her desk and started down the hall toward Carter’s office.

She jumped up from her desk and tried to run after me, shouting, “Mr. Hale is a very busy man! He can’t see you without an appointment!”

I’d already told her I had one, so I didn’t see the point of arguing with her.

Carter’s door was shut, so I threw it open without even bothering to knock. “Is this the way you treat all your clients or is this just special for me?”

I felt a little bad when I saw that Carter was on the phone. He was sitting behind his massive wooden desk, leaning back in his leather office chair. He looked up with an exasperated expression, then said into the phone, “I’m gonna need to call you back.” He hung up without waiting for a response.

The receptionist ran in behind me. “Mr. Hale! I am so sorry! I tried to stop her!”

He gave her a wry grin. “Don’t worry, Samantha. When Miss Colson is determined to do something, there’s no stopping her.”

“That’s Mrs. Carlisle.” I shot him a glare. He knew I was married. Hell, he’d stalked me to the farm store to talk to me about my husband. Why couldn’t he use my married name?

“Oh, yes, how could I forget?” he said wryly. “Mrs. Carlisle.”

Samantha shot me a glance then turned back to Carter. “She said she had an appointment, but I said you would have told me if she had.”

He nodded toward her. “Don’t worry, Samantha. I’ve got it covered from here. Ms. Carlisle has a mind of her own.” He turned his attention to me and waved to the two chairs in front of his desk. “Neely Kate, please come in. Samantha, shut the door behind you.”

Samantha gave me another long look before she walked out, closing the door just as her boss had asked.

“Why didn’t you just tell her I had an appointment?” I asked, my temper rising. “You let her think I just barged on in.”

He steepled his fingers on his desk. “How many times have you barged in?”

“I didn’t this time!”

He shrugged. “What did you need to see me about?”

I’d planned to sugar coat it and work my way to my big ask, but I didn’t feel like playing any games right now. “I need to see Skeeter.”

He stared at me like he hadn’t understood.

“Can you—” I shook my head. “Scratch that, I’m not asking. Make the arrangements.”

He stared at me for a moment longer. “Well, you do have lady balls, I’ll give you that.”

“I want to see him tomorrow.”

He sat back in his seat, his eyes narrowing. “Why in the hell do you want to see Skeeter?”

“That’s my business.”

“He’s not gonna help you.”

“Who said I was gonna ask for his help?”

He made a face that suggested he thought I was a fool. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out.”

Okay, he had a point.

He shook his head. “You need to do as I said and find an attorney. What did Deveraux say? Did he give you any recommendations?”

“I haven’t called Mason yet,” I said, glancing down at my lap, then I lifted my gaze. “Other than Rose, I haven’t told anyone.”

His brow rose. “What do you mean you haven’t told anyone? Not even your husband?”

“No.”

He let out a sigh, then pinched the bridge of his nose for several seconds before dropping his hand and sitting back in his seat. Pity covered his face. “Going over to see Skeeter is a fool’s errand, Neely Kate. First of all, I doubt he’d even see you. Second, I don’t know what you expect him to do.”

Tears stung my eyes. “Do you think he could tell them that Jed doesn’t have anything to do with the Hardshaw Group?”

He pushed out a sigh. “That’s a loaded question. We don’t know that Skeeter will even be willing to talk to them. He sees Jed picking you over him as a betrayal.”

My chest tightened. “I know.”

“And even if he did tell them Jed was innocent, I’m not sure they’d believe him.”

I drew in a deep breath, trying to push down my rising panic. “I have to try, Carter. I can’t lose him.”

Sympathy filled his eyes. “Neely Kate, your time would be better served by finding a good attorney who can advise Jed on what to say, and what not to say, when they question him.”

“They want information on Skeeter, right?” I asked. “What if Jed promises not to tell them anything?”

His face turned to stone. “I cannot advise either you or your husband on how to answer questions posed by any law-enforcement agency,” he said, his voice full of authority that I wasn’t used to hearing. “That’s why I told you to find him a hot shot attorney.”

“But surely?—”

His brow furrowed. “You know, I didn’t have to warn you about the FBI, especially after Jed so callously turned his back on Skeeter.”

That stoked my anger. “Jed didn’t turn on him! Skeeter was the one who turned his back on Jed. Skeeter made Jed choose between the two of us. Why couldn’t he have both?”

Carter pushed out a heavy sigh. “I think we both know that having someone you care about doesn’t work very well in this line of business. They’re a liability.”

Rose was proof enough of that. Look at where Skeeter was now.

I shot him a glare. “So, Jed wasn’t supposed to have a life?”

He pushed out another sigh. “This is a pointless discussion.”

I lifted my chin in defiance. “If you won’t take me to see him, I’ll go on my own tomorrow.”

He shook his head. “You’ll never get in. Visitors’ day is on the weekend, and even if you go, I suspect he won’t agree to see you.”

I stood. “I guess I’ll take my chances.”

“I’m not sure what you think Skeeter can do. He can’t even help himself.”

“I thought you were some hot shot attorney who can get anybody out of anything,” I snapped.

“I can only help those who want to help themselves,” he said in defeat.

Was Carter really claiming that Skeeter wasn’t trying to help himself now? There was no question that he’d given up his immunity to save Hope and Rose. Did that mean he hadn’t had a backup Plan B? I didn’t believe that for a second. He always had a plan to make sure he ended up on top, which meant something was holding him back from enacting his plan.

I nearly gasped. Was Skeeter protecting someone else?

“Are you saying Skeeter is trying to help Jed?”

Carter made a face as he looked down at his desk. He studied a spot on his blotter for a few seconds before he lifted his head and looked me square in the eye. “You’re asking me to break confidentiality with my client.”

“I need to see him, Carter,” I said softly. “Maybe there’s a way Jed can help Skeeter.”

“You must be having delusions of grandeur. I don’t see how Jed could help him.”

“Maybe not, but we won’t know if we don’t at least try.”

“It’s a waste of everyone’s time.”

“Carter. I’m begging you. Please take me to see him.”

Shaking his head, he turned to the side and studied his University of Arkansas diplomas on the wall. “Damn, you sure are a persistent creature.”

“You have no idea.”

“Okay, fine,” he said, but he didn’t sound happy about it.

“Okay?” I asked in disbelief. “You’ll take me to see him?”

“It’ll take me a day or two to work it out, but yeah. I’ll take you.”

“Thank, Carter! Thank you!” I gushed. “You have no idea how much I appreciate this!”

“Don’t get your hopes up,” he said. “I suspect no good will come of this.”

I was betting our futures that he was wrong.