Robert Whitlow - Deeper Water

"I think you were a bow ornament," Vince corrected. "We were on a boat."

Julie looked at Vince in surprise. "Did the sun shining on your head give you a sense of humor? Either way, you ignored me by asking question after question about Tami."

Vince's expression changed, but he was so sunburned that I couldn't tell if Julie's comment embarrassed him or not. She continued. "Summer clerks have to stick together, and you two should go to lunch today and satisfy your mutual curiosity."

Before I could deny curiosity, Vince gave me a hopeful look that stopped my words in their tracks.

"I'd like that," he said. "Are you available?"

"I'm not sure," I answered. "I haven't checked with Mr. Carpenter."

"Be here at noon," Julie said to Vince.

After Vince left, Julie sat across the table from me. "I owe you an apology," she said.

"Why?"

"For giving you such a hard time about not putting on a bathing suit so you could meet men. Friday night I get a predatory call from Ned Danforth. At least, I could tell what he had in mind and convinced Vinny to ruin the party. You might not have been savvy enough to see it coming. Anyway, after we spent four pleasant hours sailing along the coastline, I thought I might have been paranoid. But then while Vinny was below deck with his nose stuck in an onboard software program, Ned came up to the bow and made a comment I couldn't ignore. I had to put him in his place like a ninth grader. It was awkward for both of us. He immediately turned the boat around. The sail back to port seemed twice as long as the ride out. Ned spent the rest of the trip hanging out with Vinny, and I got cooked because I didn't want to join them. Fraternization between associates and summer clerks is so unprofessional." Julie looked down at the paperwork in front of her. "What did you do this weekend besides read the Bible and pray?"

"Fraternized with one of the male associates."

Julie's mouth dropped open. "Get out."

"Yeah, one of the attorneys and I went to Tybee Island."

"Who?"

"Zach Mays, but don't get the wrong idea," I added. "It was nothing like your boat cruise with Ned. He had me back to Mrs. Fairmont's house before noon so he could come to the office and work."

"I didn't peg you as a pathological liar, but that makes no sense. Tell me straight what happened."

I pointed to the books open on the table in front of me. "Don't you think we should get to work?"

"No!"

Julie sat back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest. It took twice as long as it should have to tell her about the motorcycle ride because she constantly interrupted.

"I'm just trying to make sure you're not holding back. So when did he talk to you about the homeschooling thing?"

"Weeks ago."

"How is that possible if you didn't interview in person for a summer job?"

"Let me finish telling you about Saturday before you drag up another example of fraternization."

Julie shook her head. "Maybe you're not as uptight as I thought."

"No, I'm more uptight than you can imagine, but it feels right to me." I finished as quickly as I could. I left out the entire discussion about asking my parents' permission to get to know Zach on a personal level.

"I had no idea the two of you had something brewing so fast," Julie said thoughtfully. "He doesn't look religious, and the motorcycle deal doesn't fit the stereotype. I just hope he didn't come up with a strategy to seduce you after the first meeting."

It was such a brusque comment that it shocked me.

"He's not a Ned Danforth. I would be able to see through that in a second."

"Maybe." Julie paused. "But where does this leave poor Vinny? I had him all psyched up about what a great girl you are."

"I thought he asked you question after question."

"Maybe one, but I felt so rotten about the way I talked to you on Friday that I tried to make it up by praising you to him. Now, he's going to find out that he's a lap down before the race even starts."

I studied Julie carefully for a moment. "Did you make him think I was interested in him?"

"Uh, no. Except that like a good Christian you love all people equally, no matter their age, race, gender, or hair color."

"That's how you put it? It sounds like a sentence from the federal antidiscrimination laws."

"In so many words or less."

"Maybe I'll get the truth from Vince at lunch."

Julie held up her hands. "Just leave me out of it. I need a social director more than you do."

MIDMORNING, MYRA DEAN CAME INTO THE LIBRARY AND summoned Julie to a meeting with a prospective client in the main conference room.

"Bring a blank legal pad and a pen," Myra said. "You won't say anything. Mr. Carpenter wants you to take notes while he conducts the interview. It's a new client who is the money guy behind a huge real-estate deal that is heading toward litigation. He's checking us out, and Mr. Carpenter will be putting on a full-court press to get the business. Rich clients like to know they have a bigger army of lawyers and staff than the people on the other side."

"Will I be the only person taking notes?" Julie asked. "Vince is so quick on the computer. I might miss something important."

"No," Myra replied. "I'll be there too. You're my backup."

After they left the library I stood up to stretch and take a break. Julie's tough exterior was showing cracks. While in college, I'd led several girls to faith in Christ. Some of them came from religious backgrounds. Others were crying out for help from a pit of sinful despair. But I'd never had the chance to pray with a Jewish person. There was a buzz on the phone extension located in the library and a female voice spoke into the room.

"Tami Taylor, please pick up on line 127."

I pushed the three buttons. "Hello," I said.

"It's Zach. Can you take a break?"

"That's what I'm doing right now."

"Good. Come to my office."

The phone clicked off without giving me a chance to reply. Zach was definitely more abrupt in his conversations at the office during the week than on Saturday at the beach.

Upstairs, people were walking back and forth carrying papers, folders, and documents. Everyone was busy and no one paid any attention to me. I walked down the hallway to Zach's door and knocked.

"Come in," he called out.

I opened the door and peeked in. Zach was on the phone with his hand over the mouthpiece. He motioned for me to sit down.

"I understand," he said, removing his hand, "but I haven't had a chance to talk to our client. The judge isn't going to make me go to trial a couple of weeks after he assigned the case to our firm."

Zach listened for a moment. "Just because the jail log shows that Tami was there early last week doesn't constitute effective assistance of counsel. We haven't filed the standard pretrial motions or learned the names and addresses of any of your witnesses."

There was another pause.

"Yes, it will help if you open your file and allow us to review everything you have, but that's just the beginning. We'll need to do our own investigation." Zach turned toward his computer. "Yes, I'm available tomorrow afternoon, but I need to check with Tami to confirm her schedule. The main reason Judge Cannon assigned the case to our office is so she could gain courtroom experience, even if it's limited to preliminary matters."

Zach pushed a button and changed the computer screen from a calendar to his mailbox.

"Right," he said. "I appreciate the pressure you're under. We'll consider the offer and discuss it with Mr. Jones."

Zach hung up the phone. "Good morning," he said.