Can't Stop the Feeling (Whispering Bay Romance 6)

“Thank you for coming out here today.”

“Not a problem,” Ben said.

“I’ll say it shouldn’t be a problem. Not with the kind of money you stand to gain if you win this case for us.” Vince was around the same age as his wife but not as well kept. His bloodshot eyes hinted at a man who liked his liquor. Ben should know. Growing up, he’d been around enough of his mother’s loser boyfriends to be able to spot a drunk a mile away.

Ben shook both their hands. “You mean, when I win this case.”

Vince slapped him on the back. “Now that’s the kind of confidence I like to hear!” His puffy face split into a leer. “Of course, Nora and I can’t offer the kind of bennies you got working for that Playboy Bunny.”

“Vince!” Nora had the decency to look embarrassed by her husband’s vulgarity.

“What? I’m not saying anything the whole world doesn’t already know.”

Ben didn’t have to like his clients to represent them, but he didn’t have to take this kind of crap from any asshole. No matter how much money that asshole’s case might bring in.

He hardened his voice. “If we’re going to work together then we need to establish some boundaries. For the record, Miss McAdams and I are friends. At one time she was my client and at no time while I was working on her case did the two of us have anything more than a professional relationship. If I’m going to be your lawyer I’ll work as hard for you as I did for her, but my personal life is none of your damn business.” Since that last part had been meant exclusively for Vince, he turned to Nora and said, “Pardon my language, ma’am.”

Nora pressed her lips together and nodded. Vince looked a little shaken but he quickly composed himself. “Sorry. Didn’t mean anything by it,” he muttered.

“Then we understand one another?”

“Yeah. Sure. We understand each other.”

“Good, because I’m ready to get to work if you are.”

Nora and Vince sat in separate chairs facing a long couch. The fact that they chose not to sit together wasn’t lost on Ben. He’d hate to be the attorney representing either of them when (because it was only a question of time) these two decided to get a divorce.

He took a seat on the couch, opened his briefcase, then handed them each a sheet of paper. “This is a write-up of the notes I took during our last phone conversation. Can you go over this and make sure everything is accurate?”

Nora took her time reading the notes, but Vince quickly scanned the page and handed it back to him. “Yep. That’s all correct.”

Ben looked at Nora. “Do you agree?”

She nodded, but there was something in her eyes that made him uneasy. “I need to speak to Murdock Cole as soon as possible,” Ben said. “I assume you have no problem with that?” Cole had been Earl Handy’s personal attorney and a prime witness in their case.

“The sooner you speak to him, the better,” Vince said.

Ben glanced down at his notes. “And he’s going to tell me that on February 20th of last year, Earl called him and told him that he’d changed his mind about leaving the property in question to the city?”

“You’re damn right. Earl wanted to give that land to his only living flesh and blood.” Vince smiled at Nora, who smiled back weakly. “But when Cole went to see Earl the next day, he’d changed his mind.”

Ben rifled through some more documents. “And Dr. Morrison, Earl’s personal physician, will go on record that Earl was lucid at the time of this phone call?”

Nora spoke up. “My daddy suffered from dementia, but it was only in the last six months that he was totally unresponsive. Before that…” her voice quivered, “he had moments of perfect clarity.”

“Yes, but Dr. Morrison can’t be sure as to Earl’s exact condition on this particular day, can he?”

“That’s your job to figure all that out,” Vince said impatiently. “Just talk to Earl’s nurse. She’ll tell you how it was.”

“I understand, but I’m trying to get all my facts straight before I file my first motion.”

Vince leaned forward eagerly. “When do you think that will be?”

“I need to talk to Doug Wentworth and make sure there aren’t any holes in his statement.”

Vince and Nora looked at one another. “He’s just been moved to the Walton County jail,” Vince said.

“So I’ve heard. I’ve made arrangements to visit him tomorrow.”