case big-time harm.”
Austin grunted with irritation, rubbing the fingers of one hand along his jaw, thinking. “I bet I know who she’ll call.”
Ryan clicked his pen, ready to write.
“She’ll probably persuade that tight-assed bitch she’s moved in with to lie about her on the stand. Those two are disgusting when they get together. And they’re together permanently now, just the way Elizabeth has always wanted it. I’ve always known she had the hots for Gina. Talk about feminism gone rampant.”
“She’s living with a lesbian?” Ryan jotted a note on the pad and added a question mark. It paid to take Austin’s statements with some skepticism.
“Wait’ll you meet her…and that old goat they’ve practically adopted next door. He’ll be witness number two. I tell you, it’s like a sixties compound over there when they all get together. Elizabeth writes, if you consider books for kids real writing, and the old man doesn’t do much of anything, far as I can tell. Mostly acts the doting grandfather. Wait and see, between the two, they’ll pressure him into swearing they’re all saints.”
Ryan put his pen down. “Have you considered the fact that her friends might actually be decent people? And that Jesse might be better off with surrogates who really love her?”
“You think I don’t?”
“I think you’re so obsessed with putting an end to your relationship with Gina that you’re in danger of losing sight of what’s best for Jesse. You can bet the judge won’t. That’ll be uppermost in his mind. And in his ruling.”
“All I’m obsessed with is blocking Gina’s plan to take me to the cleaners. Jesse’ll be fine with me. I—”
Ryan lifted a hand to halt him as the phone rang. A glance at caller ID showed his daughter’s cell phone number. Jennifer had strict instructions not to disturb him short of an emergency, but lately she’d been stretching the definition of emergency. He reached for the phone. Almost everything was an emergency to a fifteen-year-old girl, he thought with a sigh.
“What’s up, Jen?”
“Dad, did you call Mom like I asked you to?” Without waiting for a reply, Jennifer rushed on in a whiney voice. “She’s so impossible, Dad. She’s treating me like I’m ten years old or something.” Her voice climbed several notes in distress. “I don’t know how much longer I can take this!”
Ryan spun his chair to face the skyline. “Take what, Jen? And make it quick as I’m with a client and you know—”
“Excuse me, but I hope I’m equal to a client,” she said frostily. “I’m your daughter. Do I have to make an appointment to talk to you on the phone?” She drew an impatient breath and regressed to teenager mode again. “And you didn’t answer me. Did you talk to Mom or didn’t you?”
“I haven’t made the call yet, Jen, and I’m not sure what you thought it would accomplish anyway. Your mother has rules that seem reasonable to me.”
“You promised, Dad!” she cried shrilly.
Ryan shifted the phone a bit from his ear. “And I will, Jen. I just haven’t managed to get a—”
“Oooh, this is so…so…not okay! If you had to live with her every day you’d see what I’m talking about.”
“What exactly is the problem, Jen? How is she treating you like a baby? Be specific.”
“That sounds so like a lawyer,” Jennifer said with disgust.
“I am a lawyer,” Ryan said dryly.
“Well, here’s the problem.” He heard the bounce as she flopped on her bed. He pictured her settling back, taking her time—and his client’s—to spin her side of the latest battle between her and his ex. “Jeff Landon invited me to this party and I saw these really neat boots, but Mom just acted so…so…as if we were on food stamps or something. She said no. Just a flat no, I couldn’t have them, they were too expensive. That I—”
“Maybe you didn’t need them, baby.”
“I did! They were too cool. Via Spigas. Perfect with my new outfit.” She took a breath, dropping her tone. “It’s not just the boots, Dad. It’s that she doesn’t have time for me anymore. She’s got this new guy friend. He’s gross. He’s bald, Dad.”
“Jennifer, is this about new boots or about your mom’s new friend? And remember, I’m working. If you were a client, I’d be billing you big bucks.”
“Oh, funny, Dad. In other words, you don’t have time for me either, right? Mom doesn’t have time, you don’t have time. I don’t have any friends anymore. Jeff will probably dump me if I have to wear something old! If it weren’t for Mocha, I’d be totally alone in the world. My whole life sucks!”
Mocha was Jennifer’s chocolate lab. The aging dog had been faithfully devoted to her since she was five years old. Ryan swung back around, removed his reading glasses and tossed them on the desk. “So far I haven’t heard anything from you that sounds so awful,” he said, rubbing a spot between his eyes. “And don’t swear. You know the rule. And it goes for me as well as Diane, damn it.”
“Do as I say, not as I do, right?” Jennifer said sarcastically. “That just figures.”
“Tell Diane that I’ll be calling,” he ordered, his patience exhausted. “Tonight, provided she’s staying in.”
“I won’t hold my breath for either one of you,” Jennifer muttered.
He clamped his teeth, struggling to hold his temper. “I said I’ll call her, Jennifer. And be there yourself. You hear me?”
He winced as the phone crashed in his ear. She’d hung up on him.
“Problems?” Austin asked with a cynical twist of his lips.
“Be careful what you wish for,” Ryan said. “Jesse will be a teenager one day.”
“I can handle it.” Austin moved to the window. “I was thinking as you talked. What about this?” He turned to look at Ryan. “My mother’s been making noises about Jesse visiting with her now that Gina and I are finished. This guy she’s married to now is okay with it, she says. As far as TLC is concerned, there’s plenty of it waiting for her with them.”
Ryan frowned, trying to shove the dilemma of his own daughter in the back of his mind. If Jennifer kept this up, she was going to wind up in trouble. What the hell was the problem with her and Diane? His ex had demanded primary custody after the divorce, then after about six months, she’d remarried and moved to Dallas. Incredibly, less than two years later, she was divorced again. He didn’t claim to be a perfect father, but at least he was more stable than Diane. Still, it was hard trying to do the right thing by Jen long-distance. If he wasn’t fielding complaints from her about her mother, he was trying to soothe Diane as she whined about Jen. He rubbed a hand over his eyes and put his glasses back on and brought his thoughts back to Austin’s domestic problems. “Where does your mother live? Nearby, I hope.”
“Actually, it’s Arizona. But so what?”
“That’s
