Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 108531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Armie sighed and tossed a couple of chips in. “Armie knows there’s more to this, and if I arrest Geraldine, I get a whole lot of protestors. What are you planning on doing, Quaid? Jimmy can’t plant another tree. The one he took down was at least twenty years old. Geraldine needs some privacy.”
“I’m going to keep the pressure on until city hall gives her an exemption,” Quaid admitted. “I promise you, in the end both the judge and opposing counsel will beg Sylvie for that exemption.”
Rene practically growled his frustration. “And then every time someone wants the council to change something we’ll get nude protests.”
“And then maybe we’ll be a happier society,” Remy argued. “Let people be who they are and don’t body shame them. I assure you running around naked will get old fast. Let them eff around and find out. I promise you the first time one of the protestors sits on those metal benches in the park and burns their asses, they’ll find another way to express themselves. Geraldine is literally in her yard. She should be able to do what she wants.”
“Yes, that is going to be my argument.” Quaid glanced down at his cards. Normally he would be all about the game. He loved poker and played the players as much as the cards, but he was completely distracted this evening, and it was all Jayna’s fault.
She’d arrived late in the afternoon and he’d shown her around briefly before she’d disappeared into the office he only used if he was working with another lawyer. Sometimes lawyers who specialized in something his clients needed would come in for days at a time and he offered them a place to work.
It had been his office for the few years he’d worked with his dad. He wondered what his father would think of Jayna Cardet.
“Who exactly are you arguing against?” Landon asked. “I thought you were the only lawyer in town.”
Rene perked up, going from slightly annoyed to bright and shiny in an instant. “Oh, Quaid is no longer the only lawyer in Papillon. He’s going to have to work for it now. Jayna Cardet is back in town, and she’s willing to take Quaid down a peg or two.”
He could remember the way her eyes had shone when he’d offered Sienna the job, how she’d reached for his hand and suddenly the world had felt like a warmer place.
He’d forced himself to walk away from her because he’d started to realize how dangerous the woman might be to his heart.
“Jayna Cardet? I don’t know the name,” Landon replied. “I think there’s a Cardet who lives in the trailer park on the edge of town, but I don’t think she’s a lawyer.”
“Jayna is Sienna’s younger sister.” Remy sent Quaid a pointed stare. “You in or out?”
Quaid sighed and mucked his cards. His brain wasn’t focused this evening. Not on the game, at least. It was interesting that Remy remembered her. “You knew Jayna?”
“Wait, Sienna, the waitress at the café? The one who will not even look me in the eye?” Landon asked.
“Yeah, though she’s not a waitress anymore,” Quaid explained. “She’s my receptionist, and I’m going to have her trained to take over as my paralegal when Cindy retires. So, what did you do to her to make her not like you? Sienna is one of the nicest women I know.”
“Whoa, when did you decide to hire Sienna?” Rene stared at him for a long moment. “Did you hire Jayna’s sister to get closer to Jayna? What’s going on, Quaid? It’s not like you to make impulsive decisions.”
“Maybe I’ve been thinking about it for a while.”
“If you’d been thinking about it for a while, you would have mentioned it to me,” Rene pointed out. “You are one of the most careful human beings I know. You would have made a decision matrix and gone over all the pros and cons of hiring someone who isn’t qualified.”
“When I’m done, she will be qualified.” He’d been swayed by Jayna’s belief in her sister, by the way she’d advocated for her. He’d liked the fact that she’d trusted him with her sister’s future. It was the first time he’d felt like she didn’t think he was some privileged kid she had to put up with.
“She’s not working at the café anymore?” Landon looked like a puppy who’d gotten kicked.
“You’ll have to excuse Landon,” Armie said. “He’s a glutton for punishment. Sienna doesn’t want anything to do with him but he still goes in every day and moons over her.”
“I do not moon. What does that even mean?” Landon frowned. “Sometimes Armie talks like we’re still in the sixties or something. I expect him to say ‘groovy, man.’ I think she’s cute. That’s all.”
“Well, she’s also got two kids, so she’s serious,” Quaid pointed out.