Once Upon a Friendship

* * *

FEELING THE WEIGHT of her failure on her shoulders, and in the heat in her cheeks, Gabrielle closed the window on the incriminating article and sat there. They had to move on to the big news of the day—the reputable news sources—but ethics required her to turn around to him first.

“I fully understand if you’d like to seek other representation, Liam. It won’t hurt my feelings, and it won’t affect our friendship.” She looked him straight in the eye as she spoke. “This was my mistake. I let you down.”

“Stop.” He looked as though he was going to come closer, but didn’t. “I told you, this is not your fault. I need you, Gabi. I trust you. And right now you and Marie are the only people in this world I can say that about.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

The glow his words—his look—gave her made up for a lot of the angst she’d been carrying around all day.

And instilled a new commitment within her to give Liam the absolute best representation he could hope to have.

It also nudged the growing need to have the right to take care of him, in every way, forever. The feelings had to stop. Because if she couldn’t get this under control, if she continued to feel jealous just thinking about him with another woman, she was going to end up making all of them uncomfortable.

Putting a breach in their friendship that surely wouldn’t survive as they all eventually married and had families of their own.

Most particularly if she was jealous of the mother of his children...

He was watching her. She had to focus. To concentrate. And do what she knew she could do well.

“Okay, so let’s see what the media has done with you today and move on,” she told him, instilling her voice with the confidence she gave to all of her clients.

With sure strokes, she typed in the URL for a national news source before looking at the local news, which they already knew had full coverage. “If you’re not up here, we’re ahead of the game,” she said as she typed. Pushed Enter. And waited.

Watching the local coverage would be much easier for him when he knew that the scope of the broadcast was limited.

The headlining story, complete with a picture that covered the top left quarter of the screen, had to do with the newest twist in an ongoing global political battle. She scrolled right by it and down to the bolded list of links that represented the current news. Liam wouldn’t be there. Hopefully Walter wouldn’t be, either. They could get to the local stuff and formulate a plan.

Namely, her plan to get Walter to drop the trespassing charges.

She scanned quickly and then came back up the list from the bottom to the top.

Behind her, Liam hadn’t moved. Didn’t even seem to be breathing.

And then she saw what he’d obviously already seen, the second item, under breaking news: A Twist to the Breaking Connelly Investments Case. Beneath that, Son Liam and Attorney Girlfriend Go to Lengths to Direct Press Away from Father.

With a feeling of dread like lead in her stomach, she clicked on the link, hoping the story would be short and indicative of the fact that there was no real news to report where Walter was concerned.

It took a second for the link to load. A picture was coming up.

Gabrielle turned to look at Liam. As if he’d been waiting for her to come get him, he leaned in closer, their cheeks side-by-side as they watched the photo slowly load.

“It’s probably just a stock photo of your father,” she told him, but she knew, even without seeing, that was wishful thinking.

“It’s going to be me in cuffs,” he told her. He sounded as if he thought things could be worse. “Wouldn’t you know it, the one time I show up at Connelly with smudges on my suit is the one day the press notices me...”

She turned her face, needing to see the smile she knew he’d be wearing, and their gazes met. The press had just called her his girlfriend.

She hadn’t allowed herself to entertain the thought. Knew she couldn’t now.

“How do you do it?” she asked him.

Their mouths were so close she could see the small lines in his lips as he said, “Do what?”

“Stay so upbeat all the time. No matter what someone says or does to you, even if they knock you down, you come up with a smile. Or some positive way to spin it.”