Chapter Fourteen

A week later Libby walked into the kitchen in the main house and found Tully standing at the counter drinking a cup of coffee and reading the paper. Tully had gotten her hair cut shorter, a new style that curled slightly at the ends.

“Good morning, Counselor. New suit?” Libby accepted a cup, smiling at Tully’s obvious pride in her new coffeemaking ability.

“You should know, since you and Bailey are the ones who talked me into it. I wanted to look the part since it’s time to let our opponents know there’s a battle abrewing. I couldn’t go in there with baggy pants, especially after someone mentioned them.”

Libby smiled. The more weight Tully lost, the flatter her butt got, but Libby secretly thought it was adorable. She had started to notice all sorts of new things about Tully, such as her favorite dishes and how Tully seemed to enjoy doing things for her.

Libby had a new desktop computer and a laptop to make her schoolwork easier, as well as a password to the online law library the firm used. She and Tully lunched together at least twice a week, and Tully indulged her when she continued to order healthy meals for both of them. In fact, if Libby mentioned that she liked anything, it magically appeared.

“The great pinstripes will dazzle them,” Libby teased. “But shouldn’t you wait until Monday?” It was Friday, the last day of class for Bailey and Ralph.

“I love having these initial meetings on Friday.”

Libby turned from the open refrigerator to Tully. “And that’s why?”

“I can lower the guillotine just enough for them to know what’s coming, then leave it hanging over their necks for the weekend. Frazzled nerves make for great negotiations.”

Libby put the fruit salad she had made the night before on the counter. It was one of the only breakfast choices, other than Pop-Tarts, that all of the Badeauxes enjoyed. “You’re going to settle?”

“I will for fifty million dollars.”

Libby laughed so hard she almost snorted as she handed Tully a bowl. “Tully, no one’s going to give you that kind of money.”

“Then I guess that answers your question. I’m not settling.”

“I think you’re spoiling for a fight.”

Tully put her hand up to her chest and gasped, “Who, me?”

They both laughed at the blatant lie.

“Contrary to what you may think, I am able to put my personal feelings aside when it comes to this case. But a good fight never hurt anyone.” Tully offered up a strawberry and smiled when Libby snapped it from her fork with her teeth.

“Remind me never to get on your bad side,” Libby said after she swallowed.

“I wouldn’t spend a whole lot of time worrying about it. I know for a fact that you don’t have a bad side,” Tully said, sounding surprisingly flirty. The rumble from the stairwell cut their banter short as the kids ran down for breakfast.

“Ah, release the beasts from captivity for the summer and they show signs of life!”

In reality, Bailey and Ralph had blossomed at their new school, as proven by their constantly ringing phone. Kids now called the house all afternoon and night, but Tully was just happy that her kids had become typical teenagers.

“Nope, you’re wrong, since we volunteered to work in the school’s summer camp for the young students. We’re going back in a couple of days,” Ralph said, bumping shoulders with Tully.

“I know, buddy. I’m pretty excited about that myself.”

Bailey’s head popped up from her bowl of fruit. “Why?”

“Because of all the valuable experience you’re going to get.”

“And?” Bailey smiled through her menacing glare.

“And the allowance break I’m going to be enjoying over the summer.”

“No reprieves to be had, so stop your daydreaming.”

“One day you’ll have children of your own.” Tully playfully grabbed Bailey in a headlock and rubbed the top of her head with her knuckles.

“I know, and you wish they’ll act just like me.” Bailey tickled Tully’s side and tried to squirm away.

“That’s a given, but not my point.” Across from them Libby and Ralph were laughing. “You’re going to have kids and still be calling me to demand an allowance.”

“Well, hey, if you want to see your grandkids.”

“Get in the car, funny girl,” Tully said, shaking her head. Bailey had lost a lot of her surliness, but not her wit.

 

After they dropped the kids off, Tully and Libby rode into the office together. Law school had ended for the session two weeks earlier, and Libby had decided to take the summer off.

For once, Roxanne didn’t phone, and during the comfortable silence Libby stared off into space, deep in thought.

When Tully stopped at a light, she gently ran her thumb over the small crease along Libby’s brow, apparently not wanting to mess up her makeup. “You okay?”

In that one instant Libby felt her feelings coalesce and focus. Tully had long before stopped being her savior and become someone she truly cared about. Every moment Tully had spent with her had made her fall that much harder, and Libby suddenly feared that Tully would never return those feelings, that after everything that had happened, Tully wouldn’t want to risk her heart and try again.

“Nothing’s wrong,” she whispered. Her eyes filled with tears when Tully pulled over to the curb.

“You can tell me, Libby. I’ll listen and we’ll fix whatever it is together.” Tully cupped her cheek. “I thought you knew by now that you aren’t alone.”

The statement made Libby’s tears fall, and she felt foolish for not being able to control her emotions. “Maybe later, okay? We don’t have time for my issues right now.”

“The rest of our day can wait. All you have to do is ask.”

“I appreciate it, Tully, but come on before we’re late.” She reached up for Tully’s hand and with regret rested it in her lap, needing some contact with her. How could she not have figured out the depth of her feelings before now, when she had no place to hide from Tully’s eyes?

“If you change your mind, you know where to find me,” Tully said once they’d driven to her office building.

Upstairs, Jo and Frank were waiting in Tully’s office, and Roxanne started filling her in on what calls had been made so far. The Heberts had finally accepted the invitation for the meeting the hospital administration had been pushing for since the day Evangeline died.

Normally, Tully would have preferred to go with the Heberts for the initial contact, but she respected Simone’s wishes. The grieving mother had wanted to see for herself just how honorable the hospital was willing to be. More than money, she just wanted Kara Nicolas to admit she’d done something wrong and apologize.

“Did Elijah or Simone call yet? I’m willing to bet the administrators are putting the velvet screws to them, trying to make them think signing is the best choice they can make,” Tully said as she took a seat next to Libby at the table in her office.

“Not unless they’re willing to give her Nicolas,” Jo said. “I’m sure they’ll be fine until we get there.”

“Did Pasco finish his report?” Tully asked.

“He’s scheduled to come in this afternoon,” Frank said, “because he’s still trying to run down one thing.”

“Let’s get going. The details will have to wait for later.” Tully stood, an action mimicked by everyone but Libby, and told Jo and Frank, “I’ll meet you at the elevator.”

Roxanne followed the others.

“Don’t you want to go to the hospital with us?” Tully asked once she and Libby were alone.

“Do you want me to?”

“I didn’t think I had to ask. You’ve been here working almost every day on this case, so I figured you’d want to be there once we actually start.” She sat back down and rolled the leather conference chair closer. “You even wore the nice suit,” she teased.

Tully wasn’t flirting like she had in the kitchen early that morning, but the fact that she had noticed what Libby was wearing was a good start.

“You mentioned you liked it.”

“You could have smacked me if I hadn’t. Come on. We don’t want to be late.”

Jo and Frank were waiting in the main lobby when Tully and Libby arrived, Tully carrying only a small leather portfolio and the organized case file.

“Let’s make this quick, people.” She led them toward the west wing, acknowledging almost every employee they passed, most of whom knew her by name.

Libby just smiled at the easy manner until she saw Tully’s back stiffen ever so slightly. She was about to ask what was wrong when an attractive brunette walked up and put her hands on Tully’s forearms.

“My God, you look fabulous!” Jessica said. Her quasi embrace kept Tully from moving forward. “I mean really fabulous.”

With an almost disgusted expression, Tully forcefully stepped back and stared at Jessica as if questioning her sanity. She noticed that Jessica had changed too, and not for the better.

“Don’t be like that, Tully. There’s no reason we can’t be friends,” Jessica continued, not yet noticing Tully wasn’t alone. “Do you have time for coffee?”

Behind them, Libby couldn’t hear what they were saying and couldn’t see Tully’s face. All she could see was the big smile on the woman’s face as she gazed up at Tully.

“Boss, we’re running a little late,” Jo said, glancing down at her watch. Beside her, Libby was strangling the handle of the bag she was carrying.

Just then Jessica looked past Tully at the rest of the group. “Here to ruin someone’s life?”

“Merely doing my job, so I’ll have to pass on the coffee,” Tully said civilly. “The kids are expecting you this afternoon after school. Just remember to do something special. It’s their last day.”

“You’re the neglectful parent, not me.”

“You’re also the tooth fairy. At least if you keep telling yourself that, you might convince yourself it’s true.”

When Tully laughed, Jessica’s face twisted into something ugly. “This is why I left.”

“You left because some piece of ass made you forget your commitments. Let’s not fool ourselves, darlin’.” Tully’s voice had dropped to a whisper, but it still carried menace.

“That was Elijah, Tully. We have to get going,” Frank said.

“Then let’s do it.” They continued down the hall, all of them trying to keep up with Tully.

“Who was that?” Libby asked Jo in a whisper. In a strange way she felt better when the talk had obviously turned bad.

“You haven’t met Jessica yet?”

“That was Jessica Badeaux?” Libby whipped her head back to Jessica, who was still standing in the hallway.

“That’s her, and if you ask me, she hasn’t improved with the breakup.”

Any other questions would have to wait as Tully opened the door to the conference room without knocking. “Neil, nice to see you again.” She held her hand out to the hospital administrator while smiling at Victor Williams and his associate. Neil never stepped into these meetings without his in-house pit bulls.

“What are you doing here?” Neil Davis frowned momentarily. “Never mind. I don’t think we’ll need you. We’re just about to offer the Heberts a more-than-generous settlement.” He shook her hand, then sat in one of the two chairs across from himself and the hospital counsel. There was room for only the Heberts, and he obviously intended to keep it that way.

“What does that mean—more than generous?” Tully asked, content to stand.

“That’s between the hospital and the Heberts.”

“I’m not talking numbers, Neil. I meant the expression.”

She glanced at Simone, who nodded in return.

“If it’s already generous, how can it be more than that? It’s an oxymoron, don’t you think? Sort of like jumbo shrimp.”

Tully heard Jo, who was partially hidden her from view behind her, laugh at the comment. They hadn’t had many cases at Children’s Hospital, but when they did Tully couldn’t help but needle Neil about his height. He was solidly built, a bit overweight, but height evidently didn’t run in his family. When he’d reached five feet two inches, his growth spurt had fizzled out, a reality that had left him with a severe case of short-man complex.

“So, Neil, what’s the offer?” Tully asked.

“Two hundred thousand, plus we’ll reimburse any funeral expenses and cover the hospital bill.”

“What about the doctor that operated on my baby?” Simone asked.

“Dr. Nicolas? What’s she got to do with this?” Neil stopped talking when the attorney sitting to his right put his hand on his forearm.

“What are you asking for here, Tully?” Victor Williams, the hospital’s lead counselor, locked eyes with her.

“For the truth. This was a routine surgery.”

“You’re a doctor, for God’s sake,” Neil said. “No operation is routine!”

Victor squeezed his arm and Neil stopped talking again.

“This was routine and Evangeline bled out, so we have twenty minutes of mystery, but you can fix that. Fill in the blanks for us and we’ll be reasonable.” Tully stated their position in as few words as possible, then waited.

She knew Neil Davis would no more admit fault than he would strip naked and stroll through the lobby. No, it would take putting a gun to his head, and Tully was in the process of loading hers.

“Mrs. Hebert,” Neil said with sincerity, “what we have here is an unfortunate incident. There was no medical mistake, no negligence—just a procedure your sick child’s body couldn’t handle.”

Simone stood. “Tully, call me when you’re done,” she said before she left, her husband close behind her.

“Mrs. Hebert? Mr. Hebert?” Neil yelled after them.

“See you in court, Neil.” Tully pointed to Frank, who produced the suit for wrongful death. “You should’ve paid attention to this one. Your first offer with the explanation I asked for would’ve done the trick.”

“You want me to serve Dr. Nicolas up to you for what happened? And I’m not talking about Evangeline Hebert.”

“That’s going to cost you, shrimp.” Tully didn’t intend to tease her opponent any longer. “My private life has no bearing on this case or any other one I’m working on, so kindly limit your remarks to why we are here.”

“We all know what a bitch you can be, so what’s it going to take to make this go away?”

Victor and the woman next to him rolled their eyes.

“The thing I love about you is your consistency, Neil.” Tully dropped her portfolio and leaned over him with her hands pressed to the table.

As Neil craned his neck up, he lost any advantage he’d had from the seating arrangement.

“You’re a bean counter with the compassion of a shark, shorty,” Tully said. “I just told you what it would take, but it’s evidently not in your nature to admit fault of any kind, even when it would be cheaper for you in the end.”

“A number, Tully, not a lecture.”

“More like a date, Neil. I’ll be happy to get Mrs. Hebert what she really wants, and that’s justice for her only child. She wants to know what happened and for others to know that as well. In this case it’ll be jurors, and once they’re finished listening, I’ll leave it up to them to give you a number.”

She faced Victor before standing straight. “See you soon.” They made a quick exit after that since everyone was already standing.

Tully kept her hand on the small of Libby’s back until they reached the car. Seeing Jessica again and having to deal with Neil and Victor hadn’t upset her as much as Libby’s sad look. Tully was confident she could deal with the first two annoyances, but Libby was still an unknown factor in her life.