Having Faith

By: barbara delinsky

Synopsis:

Faith Barry is on the fast track in legal circles

Sawyer Bell is a colleague and a friend of Faith's from way back and now they're representing opposing clients in a complicated and messy divorce case. They find the battle irresistible.

Until one night changes everything and they cross the line between friends and lovers.

"An author of sensitivity and style. " Publishers Weekly

"One of this generation's most gifted writers of contemporary women's fiction." Affaire de Coeur

UK 5.

99 ir 7.

ISBN 1-55166-271-X

9N781551"662718N>

"I'm here to make a point" Sawyer leaned dose as he spoke.

"We stumbled on to an attraction Friday night that isn't going to go away."

"Please;' Faith said, breathing shallowly.

"I don't want this, Sawyer.

This isn't you"

His mouth took hers. There was none of the teasing, none of the gentleness he'd shown her on Friday night, only the hunger that had been building since then.

Faith attempted to push him away, but he drew her right out of the chair and against him. Immobilized, she tried to keep her mouth dosed and rigid, but his lips kneaded the resistance from hers, then rewarded her with a kiss that was wet, warm and unbchevably erotic. She was shaking inside by the time he raised his head.

"WcU?" Sawyer demanded, his voice hoarse.

It was a minute before she could say anything.

Then she whispered, "You've made your point."

Barbara Delinsky has worked as a researcher, photographer and reporter before turning to writing full-time in 1980. With more than fifty novels to her credit, she is truly one of the shining stars of contemporary women's fiction.

This talented writer has received numerous awards and honours, and her name frequently appears on bestseller lists around the world.

Novels already published by Barbara Delinsky in MIRA Books

SECRET OF THE STONE FULFILMENT CARDINAL RULES JASMINE SORCERY FATHER

FIGURE THROUGH MY EYES THE DREAM

THE DREAM UNFOLDS THE DREAM COMES TRUE CHANCES ARE

s"

MIRK BOOKS

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If you did, you should be aware it is stolen property as it was reported unsold and destroyed by a retailer. Neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this book.

All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.

All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises II B.

V.

The text of this publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

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MIRA is a registered trademark of Harlequin Enterprises Limited, used under licence.

First published in Great Britain 1991 This edition 2000 by MIRA Books, Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 1SR

Barbara Delinsky 1990 ISBN 1 55166 271 X 58-1100

Printed and bound in Spain by Litografia Roses SA. " Barcelona

Just wait. " Laura Leindecker's voice was soft and riddled with pain.

"You'll see. He comes across as being honest and charming, and that's what people think he is. That's what I thought he was. For twenty four years, that's what I thought." She swallowed hard in a bid for strength.

"But I know better now. He's not what he seems. He cheats and he lies."

Ignoring the headache that was part and parcel of late afternoon on a hell of a day, Faith Barry came forward, bracing her elbows on her desk.

"Did he come right out and confess to having an affair?"

Laura swallowed again.

"He had no choice. I found the note. It was right there in the pocket of his trenchcoat. I'm sure he meant for me to find it. He was the one who asked me to take the coat to the dry cleaner, and he knew I'd check the pockets."

"How did he know that?" "Because I always do it. Bruce is a tight-wad, still he leaves money in his pockets." She frowned.

"I think he does it to test me. He's always telling me that I don't really work. But what does he expect," she asked, growing beseechful, 'when he has me doing this, that and the other for him all day long? It takes time to see to his custodial needs. But that's my job. So I check his pockets. " She paused.

"Only there wasn't any money this time." Her voice shook.

"Just the note."

Faith nodded, which, aside from injecting an occasional question, was pretty much what she'd been doing for the past fifteen minutes. Laura Leindecker's story wasn't a new one. Faith heard similar ones often, and though the details might differ, the anger, the hurt, the sense of betrayal were the same.

Faith hurt for her. She knew that her questioning didn't help. Still, it was a necessary means to an end.

"Can you tell me what the note said?" she asked gently.

Laura looked at the carpeted floor while she gathered her wits.

Keeping her lids lowered against humiliation, she said, "" Better than ever. Next week, same time, same place. "" Her eyes rose, filled with hurt. "It was written on notepaper from the Four Seasons. That's our favorite hotel. We've eaten at the restaurant there a dozen times in as many months, and I'm not exaggerating. And he had the gall to take her there."

"To the restaurant?" Faith asked.

"Do you think he'd risk that kind of exposure?" She knew of Bruce Leindecker. Most Bostonians did. He'd made his name in real estate, and while he was far from a mega-mogul, his face was well-known.

"I wouldn't put anything past him," Laura cried in a moment's lapse of composure.

"No decent human being would risk that kind of exposure, but then no decent human being would cheat on a woman who's been faithful and loving and giving and patient and understanding and solicitous for twenty-four years!"

Faith had to marvel at Laura if, indeed, she'd been all those things for so long. Faith had been married for eight years, and in that time she'd only managed to stay faithful. Somehow, all the rest had gone down the tubes--but mutually so. The divorce had been amicable.

"Do you have children?" she asked. She thought she remembered reading about some, but she wasn't sure.

"Two," Laura told her and let out a defeated breath.

"They trusted him, too, though it's a miracle. I can't begin to count the number of times over the years when he was to be at a football game or a dance recital and then didn't arrive until the janitors were closing up."

She paled when a new thought hit.

"I wonder how many of those times he was with a paramour. There were so many opportunities. So many late nights. So many business trips."

"Did you ever suspect anything?"

"No. I told you. I trusted him. I was a fool." She pressed a finger over her lip. When that was ineffective in stanching her tears, she took a handkerchief from her purse, pressed it to her nose, then dabbed at the corners of her eyes.

Faith remembered the first time she'd had a client break down in her office. She'd wanted to put her arms around the woman and tell her everything was going to be all right, except it wasn't true. That particular woman was on welfare, had two preschoolers and chronic asthma, and didn't know how to balance a checkbook, let alone fill out a job application.

Laura Leindecker's situation was different. She was older, for one thing, early fifties, perhaps, and the children were probably grown.

She was also more formal, very pretty, elegant in an understated way.

She seemed in good health, but Faith knew looks could be deceiving.

One thing was sure, though. She wasn't on welfare.

Still, she was in pain. Rich or poor, it didn't matter. Infidelity hurt. Betrayal hurt. The pending dissolution of something that had stood for nearly a quarter century hurt.

Faith waited until Laura was in control again. Quietly she said, "I know that this is all very difficult for you, Mrs. Leindecker, but if I'm to represent you, I'll have to know more. When you confronted your husband with the note, when he admitted to having the affair, how did he react?"

Laura brooded on that for a minute.

"He was charming."

"Charming ... how?" "He acted totally humbled. He apologized. He said he'd made a mistake. He almost cried." She shot a teary glance skyward.

"Bruce has never cried in his life. Calm, even-tempered, in control--that's Bruce."

"Perhaps if he nearly cried, it's a sign he was truly sorry."

"No. It was an act."

"Maybe he's only now realizing the ramifications of what he's done."

"No doubt," Laura agreed a bit facetiously.

"He's wondering where he's going to sleep tonight. I told him I'd call the police if he tried coming home."

Faith was uneasy with threats, particularly ones that would be impossible to enforce. Unless Laura could show that her husband posed a physical danger to her, the police wouldn't do a thing--except report the call in the local newspaper the next week. Once a domestic quarrel went public like that, things were harder to resolve.

"Where were you when you told him this?"

"In his office. When I found that note, I dropped everything and raced right in there. I've never been so angry in my entire life."

Faith could believe that, since Laura struck her as being a relatively sedate soul. But humiliation and hurt often found an outlet in anger.

"He kept telling me to quiet down," Laura went on.

"He didn't want anyone in the office to think something was wrong." Her gentle voice went higher. "This is a man who has a weekly tryst with a woman who isn't his wife at a hotel where any number of people can recognize him, and he's worried about being embarrassed at work?" And higher. "Well, what about me? Do you think I'll be able to show my face ever again in that hotel and not be mortified?"

"You will," Faith assured her in a calming tone. "Given who and what your husband is, he was probably discreet."

"At the Four Seasons?"

"There are ways. A room can be taken by the woman. The man arrives after her. No one has to know what floor he goes to or what business he's on. It's simple."

"It's disgusting."

"Yes, but it's done all the time, and with no one the wiser save a wife who finds a note in her husband's coat. Do you have any idea who the woman is?"

"He refused to tell me."

"Do you know how long it's been going on?"

"He wouldn't tell me that, either. He's protecting her. He's afraid I'll go after her in a divorce suit."

"You don't need to go after anyone. Not in this state. The fight won't be about the divorce, just the settlement."

"And I want a big one," Laura said in a show of bravado.

"I sacrificed the best years of my life for that man. He was a nobody when I met him. I stood by him through the early years. I was patient. I gave him support. I saw that his needs were filled" -She stopped, looking stricken. Then she grew defensive.

"Yes, I did fill his needs. It's not my fault that he had to further prove his virility. He should have known better. This is going to cost him."

"It's going to cost you, too, Mrs. Leindecker," Faith felt compelled to point out, albeit gently, "and I'm not only talking about my fee.

I'm talking about the emotional pain involved in divorce. You may feel that nothing can be worse than finding a note in your husband's coat pocket, but that's not so. If you decide to file for divorce, things could be harder than you imagine. You'll be alone for the first time in twenty- four years. Have you thought about that? Is it what you want? " She let the question sink in for a minute.

"And beyond the emotional, there's the physical settlement. If your husband agrees to your demands, that's fine. If he doesn't, the trouble's just begun."

Laura eyed her warily.

"You're trying to talk me out of this. Why?"

"Because that's my job." "I thought your job was to represent me. You have the reputation of being a tough lawyer who fights hard for her clients. I'm willing to pay you to fight hard for me. Why won't you?"