Lighthouse Road (Cedar Cove #1)(7)
“No, Counselors, I am not, for the reasons I’ve just indicated.”
Allan Harris and Brad Dumas stared at her.
“Is there a problem, gentlemen?”
“Ah…”
She waved them aside. “See the clerk and set a trial date.”
“Does this mean we can’t go through with the divorce?” Cecilia asked her attorney.
“I want the divorce as much as you do,” Ian Randall insisted.
Olivia slammed her gavel. “Order in the court,” she told them. If the couple chose to argue, they could do so on their own time.
Moving as though they were in shock, Allan Harris and Brad Dumas picked up their papers and briefcases.
“Is there any other option?” Cecilia Randall asked Allan Harris as they walked toward the doors.
“We might be able to appeal, but…”
“But that’ll drive up the costs even more,” Ian protested, close behind with his own attorney. Apparently Brad was still too dumbfounded to speak.
“I don’t understand what’s happening,” Cecilia muttered once she’d reached the courtroom doors. “Can’t we do something?”
“The judge said we have to take this to trial?” Ian Randall sounded incredulous. “Just how expensive is that going to be?”
“Very,” Allan Harris answered quickly, as if he’d take delight in running up his client’s husband’s tab.
“But that’s not what I want,” Cecilia wailed.
“Then I suggest you do what the judge recommended and seek counseling or contact the Dispute Resolution Center.”
“I’m not airing my problems to a group of strangers.” With that Ian Randall slammed his way out of the court. Brad Dumas followed his client, but not before tossing Olivia a disgruntled look.
Allan Harris stood there shaking his head, his expression incredulous.
The bailiff read off the next number and still Allan remained.
Cecilia Randall turned away, but not fast enough to disguise the fact that her eyes had filled with tears. Olivia felt her heart break just a little—and yet she was convinced she’d done the right thing.
“How did this happen?” Cecilia asked.
“I don’t understand it,” Olivia heard Allan Harris mumble. “This is crazy.”
Cecilia Randall shook her head. “You’re right,” she murmured, shrugging into her coat. “None of this should have happened, but it just did.”
Two
Olivia groaned when the telephone rang for the fifth time Saturday morning. No doubt this call, like all the others, was the result of Jack Griffin’s newspaper piece published that morning. The newly appointed editor of The Cedar Cove Chronicle had for some reason decided to write an article about her. He’d run the headline Divorce Denied across the editorial page. Olivia sighed; all this unwanted attention was disrupting her weekend, and she resented it.
“Hello,” she said, making sure her voice conveyed her irritation. If this caller felt compelled to discuss her judgment, then she wasn’t in the mood to talk. She’d brought each of the four previous conversations to a swift end.
“Hello, Mother.”
Justine, that was a relief! Olivia had been waiting to hear from her daughter all week. “How are you?” It used to be that they spoke on a regular basis, but no longer. Justine was dating a man Olivia considered disreputable, which created ongoing tension between mother and daughter. Consequently Justine avoided her. Warren Saget was a forty-eight-year-old land developer—twenty years her senior—who had put together more than one shady deal. The age difference didn’t bother Olivia as much as the man himself.
“Did you know your name was in the paper this morning?” Justine asked.
As though anyone would let Olivia miss seeing it. Starting the first of the year, The Cedar Cove Chronicle had gone to two editions a week and this was the very first Saturday edition. Maybe Griffin should’ve stuck to one paper a week, Olivia thought grimly, since he obviously couldn’t scrape up enough real news. His entire column had been about the day he’d spent sitting in her courtroom, listening to the judgments she’d made. Although he didn’t mention the Randalls by name, he said her ruling in that instance had come from the heart rather than from any law book and he applauded her decision, calling her gutsy and unconventional. Olivia wasn’t opposed to receiving praise, but she’d prefer not to have attention drawn to that particular case. While he’d mentioned her in a vaguely flattering light, he certainly hadn’t been as kind to others in her profession. He appeared to have a bias against attorneys and judges, and wasn’t afraid to share his opinions on the subject.
It was just Olivia’s luck that Jack Griffin had chosen her courtroom that day. Just her bad luck, she amended.
“What happened?” Justine asked. “I mean, it’s obvious Jack Griffin doesn’t have much respect for the law, but he seems to like you.”
Olivia could hear the amusement in her daughter’s voice. “I don’t even know the man,” she said dismissively.
“That’s interesting. I thought you’d been holding out on me.”
“Holding out?”
“As in you’d found yourself a man.”
“Oh, please,” Olivia moaned.