course, that Tommy was, as well.
A couple of hours of her time—and in exchange, she’d get her whole life back. Margaret Touchette would be dead and gone, for good this time. She wouldn’t have to worry anymore. She’d finally be free of all the stupid mistakes she’d made in the past.
“I’ll inform Rosebud of the terms of my offer in writing,” he said. “She’ll be able to explain the full implications of this offer.” He leaned forward then, stretching out his hand until he touched her shoulder. He gave it a squeeze, sending that unusual warmth cascading down her back. If she could stop blushing in front of this man … “Please call her. If not for me, then for yourself. Will you promise me that?”
She shouldn’t have looked up at him then, but she did. He was close enough that she could see the brown flecks in his hazel eyes and the faint scattering of freckles that were almost the same color as his skin.
He was close enough to touch.
She didn’t. Instead, she stood up. His hand fell away from her, but his eyes stayed on hers. “I’ll call,” she promised.
What else could she do?
Four
The law office of Rosebud Armstrong was in a nice building—high ceilings, marble flooring and polished mahogany. Everything about it said money. Lots of it.
Maggie thought about bailing. She didn’t belong in a place like this, and God only knew how much this meeting was going to cost. Yes, James had said pro bono, but someone had to pay. Marble didn’t come cheap.
The receptionist immediately ushered her into the office. The woman behind the desk was beautiful, and her clothes were obviously expensive. Maggie had expected all of that. She hadn’t expected to see the two babies in matching jumpers crawling around the floor.
“Ms. Eagle Heart, I’m Rosebud Armstrong.” They shook hands, and she turned to her receptionist. “Clark, can you handle the boys?”
“Can do. Come on, big guys. Let’s go crawl on the rug!”
Ms. Armstrong gave Maggie an apologetic look. “It’s okay,” Maggie said. “I like kids.” Which was somewhat true. She did like kids. They just scared the hell out of her.
Clark scooped up both babies and managed to shut the door behind him.
“Thank you,” Ms. Armstrong said. “I don’t usually have Tanner and Lewis with me, but our sitter had an emergency today.”
“How old are they?” For some reason, Maggie felt more comfortable making small talk with this woman than she had with anyone in a long time. Maybe it was that they were physically similar—light brown skin, dark brown eyes and long black hair. Sure, Ms. Armstrong’s trousers and silk top made Maggie’s skirt look shabby, but she got the feeling that Ms. Armstrong wasn’t looking down her nose at Maggie.
“Eleven months. But enough about them,” she added. “It’s so nice to meet you. It’s not often I get calls from both Yellow Bird and Carlson about the same woman.”
Maggie’s face flushed hot. “Is that bad?”
“It’s interesting, more than anything.” Ms. Armstrong looked Maggie over with a calculating eye. “Not too many people are capable of confounding one of them, much less both of them.”
“Ms. Armstrong—”
“Please. Call me Rosebud.”
“Okay. Rosebud. I’m not trying to confound anyone.”
“That’s what makes it so interesting.” Rosebud continued to study her.
Maggie decided maybe she didn’t feel so comfortable making small talk. She decided to try taking over the conversation. “Tommy said you’d gone to school with Mr. Carlson.” Just saying his name out loud made her think back to the sight of him standing in her garden, looking happy to see her. Maybe she could get some answers on what kind of man James was.
“Did he, now?” A small grin flashed across Rosebud’s face, but it was gone before Maggie could figure out what it meant. “That’s true. He was top of the class. He’s a damn good lawyer.” She added, “Agent Yellow Bird mentioned that he told you a few things about how James operates.”
“He just said Mr. Carlson likes to have insurance policies.” Tommy hadn’t mentioned anything about generous gifts or hot touches, though. Maybe that wasn’t how James normally operated.
“That’s correct. When James promises that he won’t use your deposition unless he has to, I can personally guarantee that he will keep that promise. He will only use your information if the rest of his case falls apart. A worst-case scenario, if you will.”
A lawyer who kept his promises? Rosebud seemed nice and all, but how could Maggie take the word of one lawyer about another? “Will that happen?” She’d had enough worst-case scenarios to last her the rest of her life. “Tommy said he’s never lost a case.”
“It’s possible, but not probable.” A sad sort of smile pulled at the corners of Rosebud’s mouth. “He’s never cashed in a policy, so you should be safe. He’s offering you quite a deal in return for your information. Expunging a record isn’t something done every day, you know, and relocation would cost him thousands.”
“I wasn’t sure.” About anything. More to the point, she wasn’t sure if she should want what she wanted, because she wanted to see James again. But seeing him again would mean telling him about what happened all those years ago, and if that happened, he’d see exactly how much of a nobody she was.
Rosebud didn’t seem upset by that answer. Instead, she nodded and smiled. “Is there something else you wanted from James? Something he didn’t offer?”
The way she asked the question put Maggie on edge. “Why? What did he say?”
There it was again, that smile that was too quick for her to interpret. “It’s safe to say that he’s not trying to screw you over. His morals are surprisingly well grounded for a lawyer. He did mention that he botched your first meeting badly, and he was trying to make up for that.”
A special prosecutor would tell another lawyer he’d messed up? A new idea occurred to Maggie. James had said he’d picked up on the Lakota tradition of gifts “along the way.” Rosebud Armstrong was a Lakota. “How well do you know him?”
“We’ve been friends for a long time.” Her gaze didn’t waver. “For a man of his station and aspirations in life, James has a unique talent. He is singularly able to see a person as they really are—not as they were or as they should be, and not as everyone else sees them. He judges a person on who he—or she—truly is.” She got a wistful look on her face, as if she was seeing things that had happened a long time ago. “I think you can understand how hard it was to be the only Indian in law school, and a woman at that. But James never saw me in those terms. And in return, all he asked was not to be judged as the scion of the Carlson dynasty. That’s why he’s out here, scraping by as a prosecutor instead of being a lobbyist in D.C. Everything he has, he has earned.”
While Maggie tried to guess what scion meant, she realized something. It sure sounded like Rosebud was talking around something, and that
