The Will

I felt my back go straight and my eyes go wide as I asked, “Really?”

“Really. Big dirt. A freakin’ avalanche of full-on mud.”

Oh dear.

“Is it good?” I queried.

“Uh…sister,” she started, yanking one of my feet out of the tub, setting it on the pad, dabbing it with a towel then reaching straight to her cart of implements to grab some cotton wool, doing all of this talking. “Would I be nearly creaming my pants to tell you if this shit was bad?”

“Um…no,” I replied.

“Right, no. Now, listen up,” she ordered and sucked in a huge breath.

I braced, furtively looking around and seeing two of her hairdressing chairs were taken, stylists working on clients, but they were all the way across the salon so we had a least a little privacy.

My gaze went back to Alyssa when she launched in.

“Soooo, Do

“Not to be rude, sweetheart,” I cut in gently. “But do I need this Rita history prior to you telling me about Jake’s ex and the woman who seems to have it out for me?”

“Right,” Alyssa mumbled and switched my feet, doing this talking. “Just to say, she’s cool. And the way she’s cool is that, first, she stood by her girl for a long time and a lotta that time was hard time. And second, you know this ‘cause you two are scary open in a way that gives me the heebie-jeebies”—her eyes came to me—“but you told me that Jake laid Do

I gri

She nodded and looked back to my feet. “Okay, so Do

“Oh my,” I whispered.

“Yup,” Alyssa agreed then carried on with my pedicure right along with her story. “So Rita decided to perform a one-woman intervention right there, though with bad timing seein’ as Do

This felt very nice, that I had the townspeople of Magdalene’s seal of approval as Jake’s woman, but I was still concerned about this Rita woman laying it out for Do

“And how did Do

“Not real great ‘cause Do

“Oh goodness,” I murmured.

“Mm-hmm,” Alyssa replied, grabbing some cuticle clippers. “So, I’m sure it won’t surprise you that Do

I felt my entire body get tight.

“Pardon?” I breathed.

Alyssa looked at me. “She’s chucking it in. Another client of mine said that a friend of hers said that she talked with Do

I was barely listening.

I had only one thing on my mind.

“She isn’t thinking of trying to take Co

“Honey, no,” she said gently. “Has that woman ever considered her children when she’s made a decision?”

I had only known her a very short time but what I knew of her, the answer to this was no.

But I answered, “I don’t think so.”

“No. She hasn’t. Do

I bit my lip.

Alyssa studied me before she noted, “You don’t look happy.”

“Boston is two and a half hours away,” I reminded her.

“Yeah, and Junior’s got no exes that had his ring on their finger but if he did, I’d be a lot happier they were two and a half hours away.”

“I would be happy, if that didn’t mean she wasn’t also two and a half hours away from her children.”

Her face got soft and she muttered, “See your point.”

“Do you think she’ll follow through with this?” I asked.

“No clue. She could have had a wild hair and now think better of it. Or she could be gone. She’s got a good position as a manager at Anderson’s dealership. Be stupid of her to give that up.”

“I need to tell Jake this,” I pointed out the obvious.

“Well, hang tight, babelicious, because I’m not done.”

Marvelous.

I “hung tight,” Alyssa refocused on my toes and kept talking.

“This is the big shit and I saved the best for last.”

I hoped so.

She kept her eyes to my toes as she said, “Okay, well, I got a client, she’s a paralegal at Weaver, Schuller and Associates. She came in right before you and she told me this on the hush-hush so I’m go

“Okay,” I said quietly.

I had, of course, told Alyssa all that was happening since we talked daily. Something she started and something I kept up because she was fu

“So, the thing is,” she carried on. “Boston Stone and Stone Incorporated are clients of Weaver, Schuller and Associates.”

“Oh no,” I whispered.

“Hang on, babe,” she replied. “Now, see, Terry Baginski is an associate part of that ‘associates,’ not a partner. And Davis Malone’s got nothin’ to do with Stone Incorporated. So, when he ‘approached’—and I can’t use my hands to put that in air quotes, honey, but you get me—no matter he did it through Stone, she shoulda told him that it was a conflict of interest seein’ as Mrs. Malone, and by extension you, were long time clients. Instead, she made the decision to make Stone happy by takin’ on that case. Or at least that’s what she told Schuller when Schuller got wind of it. She advised they take on your uncle and leave you hanging out to dry. Problem is, she didn’t have the authority to do this seein’ as she’s an associate. Only a partner can make the decision on which client they want to represent.”