Chapter Nine

“Mom, you have to stop falling asleep down here,” Bailey said the next morning.

Tully was on the sofa again, fully dressed except for her shoes, the ever-present ashtray overflowing on the coffee table. She and the kids had gone out for Chinese, then she’d worked from home until they went to bed.

Piles of paperwork had appealed to her far more than facing what was behind the closed door of the master bedroom. “Are we selling the couch or something?”

“It’s not good for your back, so cut it out. Should I get Ralph up for school?”

“One more vacation day, sort of, then back to the grind on Monday. I want to show you something, so it’s not a total day off, okay?” She had to raise her voice for the last part because Bailey was already running up the stairs.

Tully followed at a slower pace, heading for the shower. When she finished and walked into the bedroom, she stared at the bed with its rumpled sheets and missing pillows. It was a shrine to what she needed to fix in her life.

A knock on the bedroom door broke though her stupor, and she moved to the closet for her robe. When she opened the door, Bailey stood there, still in her pajamas.

“Do you want to use our bathroom?”

“Who are you and what have you done with my surly kid?” Tully teased, then hugged Bailey. “Thanks for looking out for me.”

“I’m tight with the fact that we’ll be better off with you.”

The honesty made Tully laugh. “Don’t worry, Bailey Bean. I’ll try my best not to crack up on you.”

“If you do, Ralph and I will do our best to keep you glued, even if you require heavy medication.”

“Go on, comedian, so you can beat Ralph into the bathroom.”

Bailey’s eyes strayed to the bed like they had the day before. “Can I tell you something else?”

“Sure, what?”

“When we get back from wherever we’re going, can we talk some more about what happens next?”

“We have plenty of time to talk about anything you want, honey.” Tully put her hand on Bailey’s chin and gently tilted her head so their eyes met. “It’s really going to be okay.” She figured the kids would get tired of hearing that line before things returned to normal.

Tully parked in the first space she found around Tulane University’s main square. Bailey and Ralph flanked her as soon as they stepped out, their heads like oscillating fans, trying to figure out where they were headed.

The building at one corner differed from the rest in that small children were playing in the fenced yard. Tully started in that direction.

“Two years ago, Tulane started an experiment to give their education majors a good training ground by establishing University High.” She pointed to the large building.

“But it’s full of little kids,” Ralph said.

“It’s preschool through high school, buddy.” They arrived at the gate where a woman in her late thirties was waiting. “I’m just asking you to take the tour, okay?”

“Good morning.” The woman held her hand out to Tully first, but didn’t ignore the kids. “I’m Kim Paler, the administrator. Welcome to our campus.”

Though the first large building housed the elementary classes, it was part of Kim’s tour. A slightly larger building next door housed the high school, which consisted of grades seven through twelve. Throughout the tour a few students came up to talk to Bailey and Ralph and offered to answer any questions.

Kim finished her tour and walked them back to their meeting place; then, after a few more pleasantries, she excused herself.

“Let’s go to the student union for something to drink,” Tully offered.

Once they were seated at a table she waited for one of them to ask questions, and Bailey didn’t disappoint.

“Why are we here?”

“Even before all our family drama started, I noticed you weren’t exactly thrilled to go to school most mornings, so I did a little homework on alternatives. I want you to get a good education, but I don’t want you to get beaten down in the process, so I thought you might consider giving this place a try.”

“Why this place?” Ralph asked as he played with his mug.

“Because unlike the kids you go to school with now, the students here at U High have much more diversified social backgrounds. That means—”

“We know what ‘diverse’ means, Mom,” Bailey said.

“Some of the kids come from families with two dads or two moms. When you aren’t the only two in school with that distinction, you usually aren’t a novelty.” Tully held their hands. “I’m not forcing this change on you, but I want you to think about it.”

“You’d really let us switch?” Bailey asked.

“That’s why we’re here, but it’s your decision.” She turned to Ralph. “What about you, buddy?”

“Do I have to?”

“Of course not. If you’re happy with school now, then so be it.”

“Ralph, who are you kidding?” Bailey wore an incredulous expression.

“Okay, Bailey, he gets the same consideration you do, so don’t pressure him.”

“But he’s as sick of that place as I am, so why be an idiot now?”

Bailey stopped talking when Tully raised her hand.

“Ralph, I want you to be honest with me, okay? I’m not going to lie to you—our future is going to be different. You’re going to have to spend time with your mom and me separately, and that might not always be great.”

“I said I didn’t want to go and see her.”

Tully leaned back in her chair. “She’s your mom, son, and you can’t avoid her forever, but I’m not going to force you until you’re ready. However, you should have one place in your life where you aren’t completely unhappy.” She wrapped her hands around her half-full cup of coffee. “I thought U High would be a good fit for you, but you don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

“I do,” Bailey said. “And I want you to think about it, Ralph. You know you want to.” When he shook his head, she tried another tactic. “Mom, could you get us some donuts?”

From the Krispy Kreme display Tully watched the exchange that ensued. Bailey had spent most of Ralph’s life teasing him unmercifully, but she was very protective of him when anyone else tried to give him any grief. No way would she desert him.

“We both want to switch,” she said when Tully returned. “I explained that if we come here, we aren’t admitting that we give up and letting the buttheads at our school win. But we also figure there’s no way Mama’s going for this.”

As if Bailey’s words had conjured Jessica up, Tully’s phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID before flipping it open, and at first Tully said nothing.

She flipped her hand over and studied her fingernails before she stopped Jessica’s tirade by saying, “We’re on Tulane’s campus touring University High, so no, they’re not in school today either.”

Jessica began screaming and Tully stood and moved to an empty table, not wanting to let the kids hear their mother so out of control.

“Jessica, this has nothing to do with you or who you’re sleeping with. It has to do with what the kids want. They won’t get a great education if all they can concentrate on at your alma mater is how they don’t want to be there.”

“Switch them and I’ll make you pay.”

“Then send me a bill.” Tully hung up.

When they finished enrolling, they drove back to her office, and as she turned into the parking garage, Tully remembered she hadn’t heard from Libby. Considering it was almost lunchtime, she’d have to wait until Monday since Libby didn’t work on weekends.

Tully fully intended to keep her promise to herself to spend more time with the kids, and an idea started to germinate. She and the kids could get away somewhere this weekend, if they agreed to it. It would also give her a respite from everything that was going wrong in her life.

“How about a trip to your grandparents’ place this afternoon? I’ll take you fishing if you want.”

“Really?” Ralph asked.

“I thought you had to work?” Bailey followed up.

“Can’t I do both?”

“Since when?”

“I’m trying, Bailey. You were right that I spend too much time here and not enough time with you. Maybe we can experiment, try some new stuff so we all get what we want.”

“And fishing is what you came up with?”

“How about this, we go fishing today and tomorrow, then Ralph and I will sit at the mall and I’ll give you some money for some fishing of your own.”

Bailey folded her arms and pouted slightly, appearing to rebel. Visiting her grandparents usually bored her, since she wasn’t into fishing, but she wanted attention.

“Okay, I’m in,” she told Tully, and Ralph pumped his fist.

As they entered the lobby from the parking garage, Tully glanced into the coffee shop and was surprised to see Libby at a table behind a pile of books. “You guys go on up and I’ll be there in a minute.” As she spoke, Libby’s head came up and she turned in their direction.

“Did you help Libby yesterday with what she has going on?” Bailey asked. “She’s really nice, really cool, and she actually likes you. Try not to screw it up. You don’t have many friends either, and you could use some. And Libby’s really cool with me and Ralph, so everybody wins.”

“I’m really trying to get the humanitarian of the year award—no problem’s too small for me,” she teased. “Go on up, and try not to harass the staff by telling them we’re related to get them to do your work for you.”

When Ralph appeared to be rooted in place wanting to see Libby, Bailey grabbed him by the back of the collar and dragged him off.

“Are you trying to avoid me today?” Libby asked as she walked outside to join Tully.

“I was stepping out on you, getting coffee over at Tulane this morning.”

She laughed at Tully’s attempt at humor but kept her eye on her table, not wanting someone to walk off with her notes. “That’s an unforgivable offense in the world of baristas, Counselor.” After punching Tully on the arm, she rested her hand on Tully’s bicep. “I was hoping you weren’t mad at me for walking out on you yesterday after you offered me a job.”

“I’m not mad at you, and I won’t be if you turn me down. Did you at least think about it?”

“Actually, last night as I was trying to stay awake at my second job, it’s all I thought about. I bombed my latest quiz because work has been taking up so much of my time, but I can’t afford the rent without it.” Libby let go of Tully’s arm, and for a long moment she felt lost. “I’ve been on my own for so long now that it’s hard to accept when someone is trying to help me out just for the sake of helping me out. Know what I mean?”

“I know exactly what you mean. Come on upstairs.”

As she had the day before, Tully carried her bag of books like an interested suitor. “I did a little bit of thinking myself last night,” she said once they were inside the elevator.

Libby kept her eyes on the buttons, not trusting herself not to cry. “You changed your mind? That’s cool.”

“I’m more of a nerd than cool. I hope that doesn’t disappoint you in a boss.”

Tully lost her balance and fell into the wall of the elevator when Libby threw herself at her in a bear hug.

“I didn’t change my mind.”

“What were you thinking about, then?” Tully asked as the doors opened and they moved away from the elevators.

The office was much livelier than the day before; the associates were hard at work at their computers and only glanced up briefly as Tully and Libby walked to her office.

“What’s going on?” Libby asked.

“We picked up a new client yesterday, which usually fires up the staff. But this one has them more than energized.” Tully gestured to Roxanne to stay seated. “They want to win this one as a favor to me.”

“Should I call you the Gipper?”

“Not unless you want me to put you on bathroom cleanup duty.” She opened the door to her office and put her hand up, stopping one of the associates from coming any closer. “This one is a little different, even for me. I’d thought I’d experienced every kind of case in my field of law, but this case comes with a list of complications that started me thinking last night.”

“Anything I can help you with?”

“This is a good case for you to begin on, and we’ll get to your duties after we get you squared away. As a free bonus you’ll learn an invaluable lesson from this case once we’re done. A lesson we’ll both learn together, the more I think about it.”

Libby helped herself to the legal pad Tully kept on the coffee table and flipped it to a new page. If Tully was willing to take a chance on her, she wasn’t going to disappoint. “I thought about what you said too and realized the practical experience would be invaluable.”

“You have the job, Libby, no need to suck up,” Tully joked. “The experience is just one aspect, but it’s not the lesson I just mentioned. That deals with how to keep your personal life separate from your job for the good of your client, even when the two collide in ways you couldn’t imagine even if you were a fiction writer.”

Though Libby usually found Tully’s pacing distracting, she now focused more on the part of the story Tully hadn’t told her. “Does that happen often? Keeping them separate, I mean.”

“I’ve practiced for years now, and this is a first.” Tully described the case and its players. From what she’d read, the Heberts’ account of what had happened seemed accurate, and it was backed up by the medical records.

Evangeline had gone into surgery for the placement of a port just below her rib cage. Kara Nicolas was the surgeon on hand who’d performed the routine procedure, and by all accounts that was exactly what it should have been—routine. But what had happened to Evangeline Hebert, what had really happened, was missing from the record. After the surgery notes, the attending in recovery had made just one entry.

Patient expired at 2019 hours.

A life so new and fragile ended in one short sentence, with no explanation why. Tully told Libby that after reading the first part of the report and seeing Kara Nicolas’s name, she had flipped to the very back, looking for the ending of Evangeline’s story. Like reading a novel, she could peruse the middle at her leisure, but the end drove Tully to see if there was a tale at all. And incredibly, by some convenient mix-up at the hospital morgue, Evangeline’s body had been sent off for cremation. Whatever secrets her body held were lost forever in an urn of ashes.

Libby glanced down at the notes she’d taken, wondering why cases like this one were never in the books she had to study in school. “Let me see if I understand you.”

“My ex’s new plaything performed a procedure on this kid and she died,” Tully said succinctly.

“Do they know about your relationship with this woman?”

“Relationship? I’m not screwing around with her. Jessica is.” Tully sounded glib, but her tone still had a bite. “Sorry, I’m trying to be nice, but my face hurts too much to pull it off.”

“Is it even ethical for you to take this case?”

Tully ran her hands over her face and sighed. “If the world were fair and I’d married Jessica and the state recognized our union, then I’m sure they’d do everything they could to have me removed. Even if our relationship was sanctioned, I’d still fight to stay on, though. I’m suing the hospital for something Kara Nicolas, not Jessica Badeaux, did. Also, this incident happened before I became aware of Nicolas’s existence, but I’m sure they’ll still try to have me removed.”

“I want in, so where do I start?”

“Roxanne will do your internship paperwork and show you your desk.” Tully summoned Roxanne, who entered a moment later with some forms.

“You need to sign these papers, Tully, so we can start on discovery.” Roxanne handed Tully an official-looking folded paper. “This request arrived this morning while you were out.”

Tully scanned the document briefly. “Jessica wants to come get her clothes.” She took out a cigarette by rote to calm herself. The building had a no-smoking policy, but she ignored it on occasion.

“Do you want Libby to start with anything in particular?”

“Put her with Jo first. She’s working on Dr. Nicolas’s background.”

“I’ll do that, and you put that cigarette down.”

Tully glanced down at the unlit cigarette.

“Do it, or I’m calling your mother.”

Libby laughed at the banter before she followed Roxanne out with a small wave. Her afternoon passed quickly, broken only by a late lunch with Tully and the kids in Tully’s office. Later, Tully surprised her by taking away her files and pointing to her book bag.

“Your workday’s done, but I expect you to study from now until five.” Tully stood by Libby’s workstation. “I’m sure Rox pointed out that clause in your job description.”

“You’re going to pay me to study?”

“You may think you’re getting a lot of money now, but when you’re an associate here after you pass the bar, you’ll think you sold your soul for it.” Tully spoke with a serious tone, but Libby could tell she was joking by the wink at the end.

An hour later, Libby raised her head from her book to see Roxanne lift her phone, then slam it down with a little too much force. “Something wrong?”

“Nothing having a bus hit Jessica wouldn’t cure.” Roxanne stood and smoothed out her skirt. “Sorry, she’s just not one of my favorite people at the moment, and she’s back.”

Within seconds, Tully stormed out of her office, so focused that she didn’t even glance in Libby’s direction.

Libby could see by the set of Tully’s shoulders that she was upset. In the two years since she’d first encountered Tully, Libby had come to notice a lot of things about her, and not just how she liked her coffee. How her face came alive when she explained certain concepts of the law and saw that Libby understood what she was saying. How she used her hands when she talked, and how very generous she was, not only with her money but with herself. And how her smile widened every time Libby found some excuse to touch her. Tully was in a relationship and would’ve never have pursued anyone, but Libby could tell she liked the closeness. It might not come to anything, but with Jessica’s colossal screwup, Libby felt like fate had handed her a beautifully gift-wrapped chance at a life that up to then had been impossible.

As Tully slammed the door, Libby promised herself that in the coming months she would try to support Tully. “You deserve to be happy, Tully, and I’ll do my best to see that you are,” she said softly to the empty room. By helping Tully, she figured she might find happiness. She was tired of being alone.