Good Intentions (32 page)

“She knows.” Gary Schuster looked accusingly at his wife. Lynn stared right back, her eyes growing angry.

“Suppose you tell us anyway.”

“Marc Cameron,” came the terse reply.

“Cameron … Cameron,” Renee muttered, her eyes scanning the high ceiling. “Sounds like a familiar name. I wonder where I’ve heard it …”

“All right, counselor,” Paul Emerson interrupted, as Renee had obviously known he would, “we concede the connection.”

“Marc Cameron is the husband of the woman your client ran off with?”

“I didn’t run anywhere,” Gary Schuster said adamantly. “I’m right here.”

“So you are.” Renee smiled, adjusting the collar of her navy suit. “And you’re still involved with Marc Cameron’s wife, is that correct?”

Gary Schuster nodded, and looked to his lawyer impatiently.

“My client’s circumstances have not altered,” Paul Emerson said.

“Neither have those of mine.”

“Are you saying that your client is not seeing Marc Cameron?”

“My client may have had meetings with Mr. Cameron to discuss their mutual interests in this complicated matter.”

“You’re saying that the relationship is not a romantic one?” Gary’s lawyer said.

“Suzette saw them together at his apartment, for God’s sake,” Gary interjected.

“And when was that?”

Gary sat back in his chair. “A couple of weeks ago.”

“Can you be more specific?”

“Saturday, August the third. Around one o’clock. Is that specific enough?”

“One o’clock in the afternoon?” Renee asked quickly, almost innocently. “She saw them together at one o’clock in the afternoon?” Gary said nothing. “Not in the evening? But one o’clock in the afternoon? I’m sorry. Is that what you said?”

“Yes, that’s what I said.” Gary’s voice rose, then lowered, his eyes darting back and forth between the two women. “Look, are you trying to tell me that there’s nothing going on?”

“I’m not trying to tell you anything, Mr. Schuster. I’m merely trying to point out to you that, owing to the fact that you ran off with his wife, Marc Cameron’s meeting with your wife is not altogether unheard of, and that if you insist on holding up the settlement agreement you yourself originally proposed because of it, or trying to intimidate your wife into signing something that is clearly not in her best interests, then you will have a well-earned fight on your hands.” She picked up Gary’s latest offer of settlement. “This offer is garbage, gentlemen, and you know it. Frankly, Paul, I’m surprised you’re not
embarrassed to be involved with this. At any rate, we have no intention of giving in to what I consider little more than emotional blackmail.” She continued speaking over Paul Emerson’s loud objections. “If you want to go to court, well then, go right ahead. We’re quite prepared to go to court. But just what is it exactly that you hope to accomplish once we get there? What is a judge looking at this divorce action going to see? Will he see a bad wife and mother, one who willfully neglected her husband and children, who played around with other men, who gambled, cheated, or otherwise abused her marriage vows? No, he’ll see a woman whose husband walked out on her and their two children after fourteen relatively strife-free years of marriage.

“And what did the wife do then? Was she bitter? Was she spiteful? Did she try to take her husband for everything he had? No. She instructed her lawyer that she wasn’t out for blood. She wanted only to be fair. She even consented to her husband’s desire to get their marriage over with as quickly as possible, despite the obvious pain it caused her. She was preparing to agree to the settlement he had offered. As far as she was concerned, there were only a few minor points that her lawyer felt needed ironing out. And then one evening, the husband of the woman her husband abandoned her for called and suggested they meet, that there were some things he felt they should discuss, and the husband found out about it and his nose got all out of joint, for reasons that are known only to him. He made threats. He decided he wanted what he suddenly thought of as his half of the house, though he’d been quite willing to leave it, and he wanted his children, though he’d walked out on them
easily enough. He hadn’t even thought enough about their welfare to take care of their day camp expenses. He let his wife worry about things like that, the way she always had.”

Lynn watched the pained look that crossed Gary’s face, invaded the formerly neutral territory of his eyes. “I don’t think that even you, Mr. Schuster, would try to argue that your wife is a bad mother. In fact, she’s a pretty terrific mother. Isn’t that so? Her training as a social worker gives her a particular insight into the needs of her children, and she’s always there for them when they get home from school and from camp. Unlike their father, who often has to work late hours, and now finds himself busy with his new family.”

Renee paused just long enough for her words to sink in. “Suzette Cameron, I believe, is the mother of two boys.” Lynn found herself holding her breath, afraid of what might follow. “I wonder how she’d feel were her husband to make similar threats for custody of his children?” Both Gary and Lynn Schuster’s eyes shot to her attorney. “Probably as distraught as my client, if not more so, considering the evidence that could be used against her, the fact that she has committed adultery, not just with Gary Schuster, but, from what I understand, with several other gentlemen as well.”

Despite his tan, Gary Schuster turned ghostly pale. “What the hell are you talking about?” He was on his feet. “Is this some sort of threat?”

Renee stared at him with resolute calm. Lynn felt the room spinning. She dug her fingers into the gentle curve of the table. “I never make idle threats, Mr. Schuster. In truth, I have absolutely no idea what plans Marc
Cameron may or may not have with regard to his children, but I can assure you that Mrs. Schuster will fight you with everything in her power to hold on to hers, even if it means some unfortunate disclosures with regard to Suzette Cameron’s past indiscretions. I can’t believe that you are really serious in your intention to sue for custody, nor do I think you really want a lengthy court battle which would prove not only costly but futile. It will delay your eagerly sought-after divorce and ultimately put you no further ahead. No judge in his right mind would award you custody of your children given the evidence, and you know it. You’re a lawyer. I don’t have to tell you that judges deal in facts. You have only jealous suspicions, for which a judge is likely to tell you to mind your own business.” She paused, and Lynn understood it was as much for effect as to catch her breath. “Also, you should know that in the event that you do file this petition, I intend to counterfile. My client has been very generous up to this point in forgoing her right to alimony. Considering her husband’s vastly superior income, and his intention to fight her for half the house, she will no longer be in a position to be so generous, especially with an expensive court battle looming on the horizon.” Renee handed Gary’s attorney a copy of the counterpetition she had drafted. “Much as I love a good fight, I hope we’ll be able to settle this matter out of court, and as quickly as I’m sure we’d all like. Why don’t you take a while and look this over. We’ll be in my office if there are any further questions.”

“We hurt Gary,” Lynn said sadly after her husband and his lawyer had left the building. She was standing by Renee’s
window, watching as Gary walked angrily across the center courtyard toward the street. “I think he saw himself as Suzette Cameron’s knight in shining armor. I don’t think he considered that there might have been others before him.” She paused, struggling for the correct way to phrase her next question. “Do you think it was right to use what Marc told me about Suzette’s other affairs the way we did?” Lynn thought it only proper to assume at least partial responsibility for her lawyer’s actions. She had told her to use whatever she could, do whatever was necessary.

“Isn’t that why Marc Cameron contacted you in the first place? To tell you some things he thought you should know? Well, it turns out he did just that.”

“I don’t think that when he told me those things about Suzette, he thought I would use them to hurt her.”

“Didn’t he?”

The question hung in the air like the scent of an unpleasant perfume.

“You were very impressive in there. Awesome,” Lynn said, and Renee laughed. “I mean it. I owe you.”

“Don’t worry. You’ll get my bill.”

“You know what I mean. If there’s ever anything I can do …”

“How about lunch one day next week?”

“I’d like that.” Lynn looked back out the window at the now empty center courtyard. “What now?”

Renee smiled, holding up a copy of the signed agreement. “Well, I have to admit that even I was surprised that they signed so quickly. We kind of took the wind out of their sails, I guess. Anyway, we have our agreement; the children stay with their mother; the house is yours. We
lost out on some of the fine print I was trying to nail down, but that was just the icing on the cake anyway. We’ll proceed with the divorce.” Her smile widened. “We have the agreement, Lynn. You’re free to do whatever you please.”

“And Marc Cameron?”

“That’s entirely up to you.”

A
s soon as Lynn left her office, Renee reached into her desk drawer for a chocolate bar and was dismayed to find the bag empty. She quickly checked two other drawers, feeling vaguely like an alcoholic in search of a bottle, but found nothing. “Damn.” Sitting back in her chair, she fought the urge to put her feet up on her desk. The desk top was a mess. Papers seemed to grow out of it as if they were weeds in a garden. There was no room to put her feet. “Hah,” she laughed out loud, “who am I kidding? I couldn’t get my feet all the way up there if I tried.” And if I did, she continued silently, I’d never be able to get them down again. They’d have to use a forklift to get me off. The image of her legs being pried from the top of her desk with a forklift dampened her spirits considerably. She’d been feeling happy, almost giddy, over her triumph. And it
had
been a triumph, she told herself, trying to pump herself up again. She had run roughshod over Gary Schuster and his lawyer. She had called his bluff and then some. She had won. “Did he have any balls when he walked out?” she heard Philip ask, accusingly. “Oh, I let him keep those,” she heard herself reply. Had she?

“Oh, Philip, why can’t you be proud of me,” she wailed, desperately wishing for something sweet to put in her mouth. “Awesome” was the word Lynn had used. She’d been “awesome.” “Vicious,” Philip corrected. Would she even tell him about her victory today? Would he consider it a triumph or a travesty? She thought of calling him, then decided against it. He’d be with a patient. Besides, he had better things to do than listen to her crow. “What say we go out and grab an ice-cream cone?” she suddenly heard him say, seeing him wrapped in a towel in the doorway of her sister’s room. She dismissed the image as quickly as she always did, along with the picture of her sister, pale and frightened, on the bed. “Cheer up,” she told herself. “You were great. You were ‘awesome.’”

Her sister’s large green eyes refused to fade into memory. Renee reached for the phone and dialed her home number. Philip was taking Debbie to a rock concert in West Palm Beach tonight. Maybe she’d be able to persuade Kathryn to join her for a night out, just the two of them. Something was obviously bothering Kathryn. She’d been doing so well and then, bingo, back to square one. Perhaps she felt guilty about starting to enjoy life again so soon after Arnie’s death. The gnawing feeling still persisted that Kathryn hadn’t told her everything about the night he died, that she was leaving something out. Maybe she could persuade Kathryn to tell her what it was.

Renee listened as the phone rang five, six, seven times. She was about to hang up after the eighth ring when her call was suddenly answered. “Kathryn?” Renee asked, the hello on the other end so breathless as to be indistinct.

“Debbie,” the voice informed her. “Can’t you recognize your loving stepdaughter by now?”

“You sound out of breath.”

“I was coming down the hall when I heard the phone. It was a race against time to see whether I could get in the apartment to answer it before you hung up. That’s what usually happens, you know. The person hangs up just when you finally get to the phone.”

“Good thing I’m the type who holds on.”

“Good for who?” Debbie asked, throwing down the challenge.

“Is my sister there?” Renee asked, refusing to pick it up, wondering where else Kathryn would be. She hadn’t left the apartment in weeks.

“I don’t know. I just got in, remember? Just a minute, I’ll check.” The phone banged roughly against the kitchen counter, reverberating in Renee’s ear, quickly followed by a second, even louder bang. Renee realized the phone had been carelessly tossed against the counter, where it had easily tumbled off, and was currently dangling upside down from its cord, swaying back and forth a mere few inches off the floor. “There’s nobody home but us abandoned stepchildren,” Debbie announced a few seconds later.

“Kathryn’s not there?”

“Not unless she’s hiding under her bed. Maybe she went out to get her ticket.”

“What ticket? What are you talking about?” For a minute, Renee thought Kathryn might have decided to accompany Debbie and Philip to the rock concert in West Palm.

“Her ticket to New York. I told her I was leaving Friday and she said she might as well fly back with me. Did you know that my mom’s treating me to a few days in the wicked city before school starts?”

Renee ignored the question. “Kathryn didn’t say anything to me about leaving.”

“Kathryn hasn’t said anything to you about a lot of things.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Come on, Renée. You’re supposed to be so smart. You figure it out.”

“I don’t have time for these games, Debbie.”

“No? Too bad. I like games. Anyway, she’s not here.”

“You’re sure she’s not out on the balcony?”

“Not unless she’s dangling over the side.”

Renee was about to hang up when the sound of Debbie’s voice froze her hand. “Sorry, did you say something?”