been happy to see such a big turnout for him, and she thought he’d have been pleased.
Both Tallie and Max looked very serious in two black dresses Tallie had found in her closet. She felt like a scarecrow wearing hers, but she wanted to honor her father as was proper. And she looked beautiful anyway, even in the somber plain black dress, and Max looked pretty and young. People enjoyed meeting her, asked where she went to school, and what her major was, and she was proud to say she was going to be a lawyer like her grandfather. Tallie was proud of her too.
And Jim came about an hour after they got back from the cemetery. He had brought an armful of white roses, and asked one of the waiters from the caterer to put them in a vase. Tallie was touched by the gesture, and she and Max chatted with him for a few minutes, and then they had to greet other people arriving, and he talked to several people before he left discreetly a little while later.
Max commented on it that night, as she and Tallie were foraging in the fridge. “Jim really seems like a good guy, Mom.”
“He is. He helped me make all the arrangements on Saturday. He was a big help. I’ve never done anything like that without Brigitte.” But it had all gone very smoothly, and the caterer had provided a very nice spread at the house. Tallie had used them before.
“When’s Brig going to trial, Mom?” Max had lost track. They were sitting in the kitchen with their shoes off, eating leftovers. Talking about Jim had reminded her of it.
“Ughhh…” Tallie hated to think about it. “It’s very confusing. She goes to trial on the embezzlement in April. I think she goes on trial for murder with the state after that, and I think the civil trial will come up in about a year, or before that. She’s going to be pretty busy next year,” Tallie said ruefully, and Max nodded. It was still nearly impossible for either of them to believe. “I can’t keep it all straight.”
The FBI, their forensic accountants, and Victor were continuing to put evidence together for the embezzlement to tighten the case, and they didn’t need much input from her at the moment. They had all her information. The murder trial didn’t involve her, except to testify to Brigitte’s phone call before she went to kill Hunt, and whatever she had said before that. And Greg Thomas was preparing the civil suit, which really only involved restitution, and getting back as much money as they could from Brigitte, but the civil trial was a long time away. Tallie talked to Greg Thomas about it regularly, but it was all still very distant. Both government entities were still hoping that Brigitte would plead guilty, but she hadn’t agreed to do so. She had entered a plea of not guilty at both arraignments and was sticking to it, but that could always change closer to the trial dates. For now, it was all hanging out in space somewhere. And to Tallie, closure seemed like a long time away. She longed for the day when the court dates and formalities would be over and they could put it behind them, instead of having it looming at them from the distance. Tallie was dreading all of it.
“She was such a fool,” Max said, as they went upstairs together after they ate. Max had gotten compassionate leave from summer school for a week for Sam’s funeral. And then Tallie would be on her own again. She was so grateful to have Max home now. “She completely destroyed her life,” Max said about Brigitte, “her work, her relationship with you, her career, her trust, her credibility. She’ll lose her home, she’ll be in prison for years… and for what? A bunch of clothes on Rodeo, some jewelry, a nice house? And she killed a man. She destroyed everyone’s life, even yours.”
“She didn’t destroy mine,” Tallie said thoughtfully, “but she certainly impacted it.”
“I’ll say. You wind up alone, minus a million dollars, and your boyfriend is dead.”
“Yes, he is. But he wouldn’t have been with me anyway. He was already with someone else.”
“But you worked together, and you could have wound up friends. And he had a right to a life too.” Max was justifiably outraged and had been since it happened.
“Yes, he did,” Tallie agreed. It was all very sad.
“What’s happening with the movie?” Max asked. “When’s it coming out?”
“Before Christmas. December fifteenth.” She had spoken to his office and the studio recently, and there was going to be a lot of hype about it being the last movie Hunter Lloyd produced. But with or without the hype, Tallie felt good about the film. It was definitely their best, and maybe the finest work she’d ever done. She hoped it did well, to honor him. And it would be nice too to make back some of the money she’d lost when she was embezzled by Brigitte.
“I’ll go to the premiere with you,” Max volunteered, and her mother looked pleased. “I’ll be on vacation then. Maybe you’ll get nominated for an Oscar again,” Max said hopefully.
“I doubt it, but it’s a date for the premiere,” Tallie confirmed, and the two of them got undressed and into bed together, snuggled, and watched a movie on TV. It had been a long day, but together it wasn’t quite as bad for either of them. But they agreed about how terribly they were going to miss Sam. He would leave a hole in their life a mile deep.
Chapter 18
BEFORE JIM LEFT for Alaska, he brought both his boys to the house to meet Tallie and Max. He wanted Tallie to meet them, and she was impressed by how mature and polite they were. It was easy to see how devoted the three of them were to each other, and how close. They were a lovely family, and both were handsome boys. And Josh seemed older than his nineteen years. Max had finished summer school, and Tallie was amused to see that she looked bowled over by Josh’s good looks. He was a great-looking kid.
The two young people talked about law school. Josh admitted that he was torn between playing pro football and studying law. And it was clear from the comments he made which choice his father would have preferred. Jim was hoping Josh would choose law. It would bring him more in the end. A career in football was enticing but would be arduous and short-lived. And Jim liked hearing what Max had to say about it. For her, the choice was clear. Her grandfather had convinced her years before, and she was enjoying pre-law at NYU.
Tallie made them all lunch, and they sat in her garden, before Jim and the boys left to do errands. They were leaving for Alaska the next day. And by the time they left Tallie’s house, a budding friendship had been formed between the three kids. Josh told Max he’d call her before he went back to Michigan and she left for NYU. He had even invited her to come to one of his games in the fall. And both parents looked pleased when they said goodbye.
“Have fun in Alaska,” Tallie said to Jim as they left, and Max walked out to the car with the boys. “You’ve got great kids,” Tallie said in an undervoice, and Jim smiled. He liked hearing it, and he thought so too.
“So do you. She’s a lovely girl. And she’s a knockout on top of it. She looks just like you.” She was even taller than her mother, but there was a striking resemblance between the two. The meeting had been a success, and both families were impressed by each other. They were healthy, normal kids, in each case with a single parent who was entirely dedicated to them, and it had paid off.
After they left, Max commented on them to her mother, and she was obviously enthused. “They’re cool, Mom. And Josh is really cute. I like Jim too. And Bobby is really sweet.” She liked the way they obviously got along with each other, and had a relationship of mutual love and respect. “Can we really go to one of his games?” She liked the idea. “I could fly in with friends from school,” she suggested, and Tallie smiled. Josh and Max had definitely hit it off.
“Maybe. Let’s see what’s happening in the fall.” Tallie wanted to start reading scripts after the summer. She was looking for a new project since she had bowed out of the next picture when her relationship with Hunt fell apart, so she was open to new projects and ideas. She knew that the best way to recover from the trauma of the past months would be through her work, and she was anxious to get involved in something again. She had no idea how long it would take her to find the right script, and it might take a long time. She would be ready to start reading scripts soon. Despite everything that had happened, she already missed working since finishing the last film. And she knew there was also something else she had to do. She had to start looking for a new assistant, which was going to be a major adjustment after working with the same person for seventeen years. She didn’t even know where to start, or how she would trust someone again, but she needed the help.
Jim called her twice from Alaska, just to check in, and she was happy to hear from him. She didn’t say anything to Max because she didn’t want to give too much importance to the calls. He was just being friendly, and he was concerned about her, but she didn’t want to read too much into it. But she liked the idea of getting their two
