He doesn't stand.
None of them does.
Jeanne's smile doesn't change at all. She walks to our side of the table as if she'd expected nothing better, and pulls out my chair before I've finished registering the slight.
"Howie Lyle," the lawyer drawls. He still doesn't get up. He doesn't even put the pen down. "Pettyfer's counsel."
"Jeanne Barbers." Her voice is sunny. "Mrs. Pettyfer's."
"Heard of you."
"How nice."
I sit. Jeanne sits. Howie's eyes flick over Jeanne's blowdry, her smile, her file folder, and something at the corner of his mouth lifts in what I can only describe as a man already deciding he's the smartest person in the room.
I think I see why Sandy hired him.
"Where have you been all this time?" Risa demands.
"My client appreciates your interest," Jeanne says before I can answer, "but I'll have to apologize on her behalf. I've instructed her not to respond to anything to keep our meeting as free from compli—"
"Is thatDioryou're wearing?"
The interruption comes from Delia, and her voice has gone up an octave.
She's leaning forward now. Her elbow is on the table. Her eyes have stopped tracking the conversation and are tracking my shirt instead, then the seam at my shoulder, then the cuff. She's frowning.Calculating.
"And are those jeans Gucci?"
"Don't be stupid, babe." Sandy doesn't even look at her. He's looking at me, and his mouth has settled into the smirk I know better than I know my own face. "They're knockoffs, obviously."
He turns to me with a little shake of his head.
"You shouldn't have bothered trying to dress up."
Howie chuckles.
"Mr. Lyle." Jeanne says his name with the same sunny smile she used at the door. "If your client refers to my client in that manner again, I will be filing a complaint with the bar regarding your professional conduct in this meeting. And as I'm sure you're aware, the bar in this state has a very low tolerance for counsel who permit verbal abuse of opposing parties at the table."
A pause.
"So please don't chuckle."
The corner of Howie's mouth comes back down while Sandy looks at Jeanne like she’s suddenly speaking in a foreign language.
“Is that...is that a threat?” he finally asks.
"It's a courtesy," Jeanne answers calmly while still smiling. "I find them so much more effective than threats, don't you?"
Risa looks as if she wants to start screaming at Jeanne, but since Jeanne’s smiling that scary smile of her still—
Risa turns to me instead, her favorite person to bully.
"You ungrateful little—"
"Mrs. Pettyfer." Howie cuts her off, and he sounds genuinely irritated for the first time. "Shut up."
Risa lets out a gasp of outrage."Excuse me?"