Deep Dixie (31 page)

Slowly, he lifted the glass. The story about meeting Carol had done it. The way that absolutely innocent tale had seemed to prick at Dixie
’
s disposition had encouraged him to indulge in plain old masculine pride that she might, just maybe, care about who he had dated and the details of his love life. He chugged the water down, the chunks of ice gouging his throat as he swallowed hard, then harder.

His gaze fixed on Dixie. The delicate way she put the muffin to her lips made him think of the kiss they
’
d almost shared, made him wish...

“
Care to help yourself, Mr. Walker?
”

He gurgled, sputtered, coughed then coughed again.
Cool, Walker, very cool. Why not just start drooling and walking into walls around her, really cap off the suave act
? He turned to Fulton, his hand up.
“
No, thank you. I seem to have enough trouble with plain water. Adding bread might do me in.
”

“
Okay, then.
”
Summers helped himself to a roll and set the basket aside.

Turning down the offer of the bread did leave Riley at a disadvantage for what to do with his hands. He put the glass down, then picked it up again, chose not to risk another near- choking incident and set the thing down with a definite
clunk
.

Riley edged his chair close to the linen-covered table.
“
You said we had no way of knowing it, but we were throwing you a lifeline that you didn
’
t see how you could refuse.
”

“
Yes.
”
Summers put the bread down.
“
I guess I did.
”
He looked away.

Riley saw a flash of anxiety shoot through Dixie
’
s eyes, then cool into concern as she watched Fulton take a deep breath and appear to compose himself to explain his comment.

“
If you
’
d rather not get into this over the lunch table—
”
Riley offered an out for everyone
’
s sake.

“
No. No, it
’
s not that, I just want to say it right, do it justice.
”
Hands folded on the table, he sat straight-backed.
“
The barefaced truth of the matter is that I need the income the work you
’
re proposing would bring in. I need the immediate money your adoption case will provide, Mr. Walker, and the steady income of ongoing work for your business and family, Miss Fulton-Leigh. And I
need
the work. I need to immerse myself in my life
’
s vocation again, be productive, know that I
’
m making a difference for others, to start to live again...if you will.
”

“
I don
’
t understand.
”
There was hesitance in Dixie
’
s voice.

Riley felt the same thing, he just didn
’
t say so. He didn
’
t know what to say. Twenty minutes ago in this man
’
s office, he believed he had found the person who could help him make Wendy legally what she had always been in Riley
’
s heart—his little girl. Riley
’
s heart now thudded hard and heavy with apprehension.

Fulton
’
s mouth twitched. He bowed his head.

The waitress started to approach with a water pitcher but Riley waved her away.

“
I
’
m sorry.
”
Fulton
’
s earlier cultured and commanding tone was now so quiet Riley could barely hear the man.
“
It
’
s just that it
’
s been so recent, for me. Everyone else tells me it
’
s been long enough. Time to get on with my life.
”

Mercenary as it might seem, Riley found himself practicing ways to wiggle out of using Summers on Wendy
’
s case. How could he risk his child
’
s future with someone in an emotionally fragile state?

“
But people don
’
t know how fresh my wife
’
s passing still feels to me.
”
Fulton picked up his glass of iced tea then set it down again. He touched the overturned coffee cup, the flatware then wiped his hand on his napkin even though he hadn
’
t had any food at all yet. Finally, he looked at Dixie.
“
Even after a year I still miss her every day. Maybe more now so because the first year I kept thinking, this is how it feels to miss Regina on Christmas.
’
 
‘
This is how it feels to miss Regina on her birthday.
’
  Now, I find myself saying,
‘
This is how it feels to miss Regina...forever.
’“

“
I am so, so sorry
”
Dixie put her hand on Fulton
’
s dark blue jacket sleeve.

“
Thank you. You certainly are no stranger to loss yourself, Miss Fulton-Leigh.
”
He patted her hand lightly and as quick as the beat of a bird
’
s wing.

He cleared his throat and then trained his attention on Riley.
“
So after we lost Regina to a rare complication of Lupus, I took a year off from my practice just to make sure my daughter was well grounded, that she knew she had a daddy she could count on.
”

All Riley
’
s doubts vanished. This man wasn
’
t emotionally unstable, he was a grieving daddy to a little girl for whom he could never be both mother and father. From that moment on, Riley wanted nobody but Summers on his side.

“
As you can imagine, it
’
s been hard building my practice back up after an extended leave of absence. Of course, I, too, have some of those boyhood/friend clients who
’
ve stuck by me, and the referrals have begun to trickle in now and again.
”
He exhaled and his shoulders pulled up straight as though a weight had lifted off them. He even managed a reserved smile.
“
Not quite ready to try that blind date method of rounding up potential clients, Mr. Walker, but if the two of you do decide to hire me, then I guess I won
’
t have to resort to that. Not just yet anyway
”

Fulton reached into his pocket and pulled out a smooth, black wallet. Tenderly, he flicked through the photo sleeves, stopped, and fixed his gaze on a picture for a few seconds before showing it to them.
“
Regina. She was actually very, very sick by the time she had that made. Went to one of those places where they do the lady
’
s hair and make her up like a movie star.
”

“
She
’
s very pretty.
”
Dixie brushed her fingertips over the plastic-sheathed photo.

“
Regina
was
very pretty
”
Fulton rotated the picture so Riley could see.
“
Inside and out. She sang in the church choir, pitched in down at my law office, and worked as a substitute teacher when she could manage it just because she loved kids and learning so much. On top of that, she took such good care of our little girl. Here
’
s Sarah
’
s picture.
”

“
She doesn
’
t look much older than Wendy.
”
Dixie tipped the picture toward Riley.

“
Wendy is my daughter.
”
Riley had his own wallet open and on display faster than a gunslinger could clear his holster in a shoot-out.
“
She
’
s six, going on thirty-six.
”

“
Sarah is eight.
”
Fulton put his wallet back into his pocket.

“
When you come to visit Lettie, the girls can play together.
”
Dixie flashed a bright smile that did not mask her steely determination.
“
Do you know how much it will thrill your grandmother to wrap that great-grandchild up in a big ol
’
hug?
”

“
And you thought she
’
d let the topic pleasantly fade away, didn
’
t you?
”
Riley gave Dixie a grin, but his joke did not seem to shame her one bit.

She kept her gaze on Fulton, clearly waiting for a reply

His gaze did not waver an eyelash from hers.

They looked like a pair of bulls staring one another down over a patch of prime pasture. At first, the two of them made a study in contrasts of skin color and gender, but the longer they sat eye-to-eye in silence, the more Riley began to see a similarity that he couldn
’
t quite pinpoint. The way they held their mouths? Or was it something more vague, like the way they carried
themselves?

“
You know, the more I look at you two, the more I have to say—
”

They clapped their cool but openly agitated gazes on him.

“
The more I have to say where
’
s our waitress?
”
Riley glanced around the hushed restaurant, saw the woman he had hurried on her way before, and signaled her with a subtle
all
’
s clear
nod so she would begin to serve the meal.

The waitress brought their salads and refilled their glasses.

Dixie pushed her cherry tomato across the shallow bowl of shredded lettuce with her fork.

“
You honestly think we could do this.
”
Summers did not make a question of it.
“
That we could put our past behind us and move forward. You sincerely believe that, don
’
t you, Miss Fulton-Leigh?
”

“
Mr. Summers, your grandmother is like my own grandmother. Your mother was like a sister to my mom when they were young. I think they would want us to try to move beyond the...history that was not of our own making and work together, don
’
t you?
”

His gaze dipped downward. He did not reply.

And Dixie did not back down.
“
This is the right thing to do, Mr. Summers, I can feel it.
”

Riley loved the way her eyes shone with that conviction.

“
All right.
”
Summers raised his head high.
“
All right, let
’
s do it. But Miss Fulton-Leigh, you cannot keep pressuring me to meet with my grandmother. I will do that in my own time, if at all. Do you understand?
”

Dixie cocked her head.
“
When you say
pressure
, do you mean—
”

“
She understands.
”
Riley cut her off.
“
Does this mean we have a new legal representative?
”

“
Yes.
”
Fulton held out his hand.

Riley took it.

Dixie shot Riley a daggered glare, but turned her hundred- watt charm on as she shook their new lawyer
’
s hand and smiled.
“
You are not going to regret this, you know. Not for one single, solitary minute. You
’
ll see. Everything is going to work out just beautifully.
”

Riley wanted to believe her. More than that, he
needed
to believe her. There was only one...no,
two
things he needed more: the strength to keeping working toward the resolutions they all hoped for, and the grace to accept the outcome, whatever it might be.

Chapter Thirteen