New hairdo? New air of confidence? Heretofore she
could barely look me in the eye without turning brick
red.
“You give Richards a promotion or has she got a new
boyfriend?” I asked Dwight as soon as the door was
closed behind me.
He popped the tops on a couple of drink cans. “No
promotion.”
“Boyfriend, then,” I said. “Somebody here in the
courthouse?”
“Don’t ask me, shug. That’s Faye Myers’s depart-
ment. Dispatchers seem to keep up with that stuff.”
He handed over the sack from our local sandwich
shop. “I got extra napkins.”
“Thanks.” I took the chair beside his desk and un-
wrapped a hot dog, being careful not to let it drip on
my white wool skirt.
I know it’s full of nitrates and artificial coloring and
139
MARGARET MARON
probably a dozen other coronary-inducing additives,
but a frankfurter tucked into a soft roll with onions,
chili, and coleslaw is difficult to resist and I didn’t try.
“Cheers,” Dwight said, touching his can to mine.
“So how come you didn’t tell me that Buck Harris is
missing?”
“Huh?”
“Or did the sight of Dent Lee in your courtroom run
it right out of your head?” he asked sardonically.
I groaned. “Do you remember every comment I ever
made about every guy I ever lusted after?”
The corner of his lips twitched.
“If I’d realized I was going to wind up married to
you, I’d’ve kept my mouth shut when we used to hang
out together. You’ve never heard me say a single word
about Belle Byrd, have you? Or Claudia Ward or Mary
Nell Lee? Or Loretta Sawyer or—”
His grin was so wide at that point that I had to laugh,
too. He’d suckered me again. “You must have been
talking to Reid.”
“Yep.”
“Guess he’s in no hurry to have his client show up.
Have you seen the client’s girlfriend? Anyhow, why
should I have told you how some self-important mil-
lionaire keeps ditching his court dates? I
this, though. If he doesn’t come to court next week,
I’m going to hear the case without him and he can
whistle down the wind if he thinks I’ve acted unfairly.
Until then—”
I looked at him in sudden dismay as the last dime
