33. Out In The Open

33

OUT IN THE OPEN

“ G rant, Garrett,” Miles said. “So nice to see you.”

Grant watched as Miles turned his head to the closed office door of Regan’s. “Is she in?” Grant asked.

“She is with a client right now,” Miles said, lowering his voice. “Move over to the coffee bar if you don’t mind. Or better yet, we can go in the hall. I can call Betsy over.”

He looked at his brother. “We just left there,” Garrett said. “Got some of the scoop right from Zander but had to meet with him on something else.”

“Ahhh,” Miles said. “Sorry I didn’t reach out to you earlier.”

“We get it,” he said. “You were being loyal to Regan.”

“I was,” Miles said. “But still working it and I know Betsy was too. Then the holiday and all. Your new grandson.”

Grant laughed. “It’s been a busy time of year. We know. Things seem to be going well?”

Miles put his hand on his hip. “Can I get you a coffee?” They watched as Miles made one for himself.

“I’m good,” Grant said.

“Me too,” Garrett said. “We won’t keep you long. Just wanted to pop our heads in.”

“I’m bummed I didn’t notice it beforehand. I was pushing hard too. So was Betsy. We thought we had it all figured out but really didn’t.”

“I can see where the two of them would try to pull it over on you,” Garrett said.

“It was Zander who figured it out early on,” Miles said. “Regan was clueless and maybe it was better that way. Though I was throwing Zander’s name out left and right, she had no idea it had to do with what you guys had planned.”

He frowned. “We didn’t get that information.” At least he didn’t think they did. But it didn’t surprise him either that Zander knew. “Zander had known we had him on our list. But we didn’t even know who until a little after Regan moved into the building. She’s barely been here six months. How long have they been dating?”

“From what I can gather, about two months, give or take a week or so.” Miles leaned in closer and lowered his voice. “It’s serious. I can tell you that much. I know Regan. Betsy knows Zander. We only found out because something happened with a client and Zander found out and was livid. Betsy claims Zander never loses his cool. That is when we realized that something was brewing with them.”

Grant didn’t know that information and knew that he couldn’t find out more even if he was nosy enough to want it. “I hope it’s nothing serious.”

“No,” Miles said. “It’s fine. Just that emotions were running high.”

His brother laughed. “That is always when everyone slips. It sounds as if it’s working out well.”

“So far,” Miles said crossing his fingers and holding both hands up. “May it continue.”

“It will,” Garrett said. “Trust me. This one is darn near signed, sealed, and delivered.”

“After two months?” Miles asked. “You must be good, but I hope you’re right.”

“We always are,” Garrett said.

The two of them took their leave. “That was getting a little cocky,” he said to his twin.

“Am I wrong?”

“No, but we don’t normally admit it that early,” he said. “We’ll just keep that little bit to ourselves when we fill our wives in.”

“How have you been, Zachery?” Regan asked. “It was the first she’d seen him since she’d gotten the anonymous letter. She had no idea who could have sent it, but Miles had put together a list of who might have been upset. She had too. They compared their lists and had both included Zachery.

“Not bad,” Zachery said. “The house is still lonely without Katelyn. She isn’t talking much to me, but we’ve got to work things out. I still want to meet with you and her.”

“I told you I’d be open to it, but I can’t ask Katelyn to do it. She has to work it out with you and then you’d make an appointment together.”

“I asked her to come with me today. She never answered me. She’s being passive aggressive. I guess looking back, she’s always been this way.”

It was the frown on Zachery’s face. She held her response back. The one where it was him that was passive aggressive to get his way with Katelyn.

Not from what Katelyn had said to her in their sessions but from what she’d observed with their couple’s therapy.

That Zachery was always trying to manipulate Katelyn and that was part of what caused most of their marital issues.

“I think it’s time to look forward and not back, don’t you agree?” she asked.

“I suppose,” Zachery said. “I mean I am. I went on a date this week.”

She lifted her eyebrow. That hadn’t taken long for him to move on.

Which blew her theory out of the water that he sent her the letter.

It didn’t seem to her he was holding onto things or blaming her if he was already dating someone else.

“How did that feel?” she asked. “Or would you rather not talk about it? You’ve been married for ten years, correct?”

“Married for seven years,” Zachery said. “We dated for one year, engaged for six months. Katelyn shoved that knowledge down my throat enough. She didn’t like it when I’d tease her about different lengths of time.”

She knew that information but wanted to see if he did. Katelyn had said it before in their sessions when Zachery would joke about their time together.

Then later on when Katelyn would say that he never took anything seriously.

At least Zachery had listened. “I think it’s important to know when your partner is more sensitive about a topic.”

“I knew,” Zachery said. “She didn’t get it was part of my personality. Maybe you were right and it’s time to just move on. But we’ve got things to work out and if Katelyn won’t talk to me, it will be hard to do that. I’d rather not just do this all through our attorneys.”

“Have you expressed that to her?” she asked. “Maybe mediation is a way to start?”

“I’d like that if I can’t get her in here. If I’m not good enough for Katelyn, then I’ll be good enough for someone else. My date went well.”

It seemed to her he wanted to talk about this since he’d brought it up more than once. “How did you meet?”

“Online,” Zachery said. “A site for recent singles.”

“So you could find a common bond?” she asked. That didn’t sound like it’d be a good common bond at first, but to each their own. Sometimes finding someone who felt like a victim was just another person to bitch with.

“Serena and I have been talking for a few weeks. Had our first date last week. She went through the same thing as me. Her husband wanted a divorce rather than working it out. She felt blindsided.”

“Did you feel blindsided with Katelyn?” she asked. Zachery was the one who wanted the counseling and hoped to work his marriage out. It’s not as if Katelyn hadn’t been saying she was unhappy for a good year or more.

“I guess I never realized how miserable she was. But now I don’t have to deal with it anymore. She can stay in her tiny apartment and be miserable alone. I’m going to get out there and see what else there is to offer.”

She talked with Zachery for another thirty minutes. More about him boasting about his wonderful qualities.

He didn’t lack much confidence.

“Well?” Miles asked when Zachery was out the door. “Do you think it’s him?”

“No,” she said. “Not at all. He’s moved on and spent most of his time telling me why and how happy he is and just wants the divorce to be final.”

“So you never brought up the letter?” Miles asked.

“No,” she said. “I wouldn’t because I’m not sure it’s him and didn’t want to set him off. But my gut is saying no way. He’s moving on and I have too. I’ve said it before. Anonymous letters are just cowardice. The sender would never do anything other than blow off steam.”

“I’m glad you are so confident about that,” Miles said. “Me, I think we need more of the sunshine couple here and not so much drama.”

“Colin and Maria were nice to meet with,” she admitted.

“I wonder why they canceled two weeks ago,” Miles said. “They haven’t rescheduled either. I reached out to them and left a message.”

“Did they get back to you?” she asked. “They were only here to improve their communication before marriage. We had four sessions scheduled I believe. So the one they canceled was an extra.”

Miles frowned. “I know. It’s just nice to see happy couples coming in. And yes, Maria emailed me back to say she got what she needed out of it and was thrilled.”

“There you go,” she said. “A satisfied couple.”

“Speaking of satisfied couples,” Miles said. “The Fierce twins were in here while you were meeting with Zachery.”

She laughed. “I’m sure they wanted to rub my nose into things. Good thing I was busy.”

“They weren’t too bad,” Miles said. “But they got their digs in. I didn’t say much. They’d been over to see Zander prior to a meeting.”

“And we know Zander wouldn’t have said a lot either,” she said.

“Now it’s all out in the open.”

“I’m not sure if that is a good thing or not,” she said. “But it is what it is and, like Zachery, I’m going to move on.”

Miles laughed. “As long as moving on means expanding the bedroom activities.”

She felt her face blush. “You know better than me talking about those things,” she said.

“It was worth a try. Just give me one little thing. Is his body trim and fit?”

She looked at Miles’s slim physique. She knew he took pride in his body. “Let’s say he’s got the perfect amount of muscle for me.”

“And we know what muscle that might be,” Miles said, wiggling his eyebrows.

“I’m going back to my office,” she said, her face heating up. “Bye.”