He relaxed a little at that, slinging the towel back over his shoulder. “Well. On that note, I’m going to go shower so I can stop putting my foot in my mouth and actually get to work at some point today.”
“Sounds like a good plan.”
And hopefully, by the time he got home and I had to face him again, he’d somehow forget this embarrassing conversation had ever happened.
18
THEO
The conference roomat Harlow and Rowe always felt a little too cold before a deposition.
Maybe it was the air conditioning. Maybe it was the nature of what happened inside these walls: hours of testimony, carefully chosen words, and the kind of answers that could shift leverage if someone wasn’t paying attention.
Either way, I preferred to get there before everyone else. A few quiet minutes before personalities collided and someone inevitably decided the rules were optional.
By the time I had my legal pad lined up just right and my files spread out in front of me, my clients were still down the hall grabbing water, and neither opposing counsel nor the court reporter had arrived yet.
Which left me alone for a few quiet minutes.
I leaned back in my chair and pulled out my phone. Seeing I had a text from Nora, my mouth curved before I could stop it.
She’d sent a video.
Curious about what the video might hold, I tapped it open immediately and settled back against the leather chair.
The screen filled with sunlight and splashing water.
Charlotte was running through what looked like the splash pad at the park downtown, her little ponytail bouncing as she shrieked with laughter. Water sprayed up around her in glittering arcs, and she spun in a circle like she was standing in the middle of something magical.
She looked so happy.
My chest tightened in the best way.
The video wobbled slightly, and then Charlotte suddenly ran toward the camera.
“Are you making a video?” she asked, peering up at Nora.
“Yes,” I heard Nora say from behind the phone. “I’m making one to send to your daddy.”
Charlotte’s whole face lit up.
“Hi Daddy!” she called, waving enthusiastically. “I hope you’re having a good day. I’m having so much fun. Nora and I had a picnic at the park.”
She said it like a picnic at the park was the most exciting event in recorded history.
“And I even went down the big slide all by myself.”
I grinned because going down the biggest slide on her own had been something she’d been working up the courage to do for months.
“And,” she continued, holding up a finger like she had another very important detail, “there was a dog. I got to pet him. He was socuuute!He didn’t even bite me.”
“Yes,” Nora’s voice chimed in gently, “he was such a nice doggy, wasn’t he?”
“Uh huh.” Charlotte nodded, her green eyes bright. “His name was Duke. And he… he went pee and then poop on the tree.”
She dissolved into giggles.
I huffed out a quiet laugh in the empty conference room.