“The town could use a really good lawyer,” Emma said, her expression thoughtful. “If Rafe had been in practice here, instead of a seventy-year-old man who’s still living in the Dark Ages, I wouldn’t be running back and forth from Denver right now to handle Sue Ellen’s case.”
“I like having you coming back and forth,” Gina protested. “I’m going to hate it when you go back to Denver full-time.”
“Me, too,” Karen agreed. “In fact, I think you should be the one opening a practice here.”
“With Rafe as her partner,” Lauren said, grinning. “Perfect. Everybody gets what they want.”
“Rafe is with a huge firm in New York,” Gina pointed out dryly. “I don’t think he’s into small-town law.”
“Neither was Emma,” Karen noted. “She hasn’t said anything, but I heard she took on two other cases while she was here last week. I think that’s very telling, don’t you?”
“Whoa,” Emma said. “Let’s not leap to any conclusions here. Sue Ellen’s case is a one-time thing, a tragic situation for someone we know. When it’s over, that’s that. I’ll be back in Denver.”
“What about the other cases?” Lauren asked.
“They were quickies,” Emma insisted. “Nothing the least bit complicated. I wrote a will for someone and helped another person straighten out a billing error. They’re both already over and done with.”
“We’ll see,” Lauren said smugly. “I predict you’ll decide to stay before the end of the trial. It’s what Caitlyn wants. It’s what your family wants. It is most definitely what Ford Hamilton wants.”
Emma scowled. “Leave Ford out of this. He has nothing to do with any decision I make.”
“I don’t think he’ll agree to be left out,” Lauren teased. “Have you guys seen them together?”
“I’ve heard them,” Karen said, grinning. “They argue. Morning, noon, night, it doesn’t matter, they argue.” She gave an exaggerated shiver. “All that untapped passion just waiting to cut loose.”
“I refuse to listen to another word of this,” Emma said with a huff. “I’m going home, where I will get a good night’s sleep, untroubled by dreams of Ford Hamilton or any other man, for that matter.”
“Give me a lift?” Gina asked. “I told Rafe I needed this time to think. I guess I’d better start doing it.”
Lauren glanced at Karen. “I guess it’s just you and me then. Can we stick around and listen to the music?”
“Sure,” Karen agreed, though without much enthusiasm.
Gina gave a fierce hug to each of her friends. “Thanks for sticking by me tonight. Watching Rafe leave was harder than I’d expected it to be.”
“All the more reason to get on the phone and tell him to come back, don’t you think?” Lauren asked.
“Leave her alone,” Emma advised. “She needs time to think.”
“No,” Lauren said adamantly. “What she needs is to listen to her heart for the first time in her life.”
“Hey, you guys can stop talking about me as if I’m not here,” Gina said, waving a protesting hand in front of their faces. “I don’t know what I need or what I want or even what my heart is saying.” She smiled to take the sting out of her words. “I’ll keep you posted.”
She got her first clue when she walked into her room at the hotel and saw the message light blinking. Sure that Rafe must have called, her heart thumped unsteadily. Filled with an unfamiliar sense of anticipation, she grabbed the phone and asked for the message.
“Deidre called,” the desk clerk reported, dimming Gina’s excitement. “She says it’s urgent. Call her at the restaurant or at home, no matter what time it is.”
“Thanks, Lucille,” Gina told the woman. Now her heart was beating too hard for another reason entirely. She glanced at the clock, then dialed the restaurant’s number. Deidre picked up at once. “Hi, it’s Gina. What’s going on?”
“Three of our biggest investors were in here earlier tonight demanding to see you or Bobby,” she said without preamble. “I didn’t know what to do, so I lied. I told them you were away on a family emergency and couldn’t be reached and that Bobby was due back soon. They seemed to accept that.”
Gina was surprised they’d bought it. “Are you sure they didn’t know Bobby had taken off with the money?”
“Apparently not, or maybe they were on a fishing expedition. My hunch was that they’d heard rumors and came by to check them out, but they took my story at face value.”
“Did they leave right away or cause trouble?”
“Neither. I invited them to stay for dinner. I made sure they had the best meal of their lives, a bottle of our best wine and great service. It didn’t hurt that the place was packed. They left happy men. I still think you might want to call them, though, follow up on their visit, so to speak. I got their business cards.”
“Give me the names,” Gina said, taking them down. “I’ll call first thing in the morning. Thanks again, Deidre. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Are you coming back soon?” Deidre asked wistfully. “I like running this place and I’m good at most of it, but dealing with this kind of thing gives me hives. I’m a wreck.”
“But you did exactly the right thing,” Gina said. “That fib you told was pretty close to the truth, and it got the job done.”
“You didn’t answer my question. Are you coming back soon?”
“Another couple of weeks,” Gina said. “I promise.”
By then Tony and Francesca should be back. With any luck Gina would have sorted through her own options and be ready to deal with the fallout, whichever way she went.
“Okay, I can hold the fort that long,” Deidre said, sounding more optimistic. “By the way, I’ve managed to bring nearly half the bills up to date. If business stays like this for the rest of the fall, they should all be caught up by the time you get here. That’ll just leave the
