The Woman He Married (16 page)

Josie gave her sister-in-law an affable smile, which
Lydia
only halfheartedly returned. While she and
Lydia
were in-laws, they’d never really been friends, except of course when
Lydia
needed Josie’s help with the twins or became furious at Gloria and needed to vent.

Patrick and Amy showed up last and took their seats between the
Montgomerys
and Josie. “Sorry we’re late—hope we didn’t keep ya’ll waiting,” Patrick apologized as he scooted his chair forward. “It’s just that we haven’t been away…
alone
in a while and—”

“Patrick!” Amy cut him off, smiling awkwardly around the table.

Watching Amy blush, Josie felt a wash of jealousy as she thought about how she and John had
never
once taken time away together until now. Only, today he’d left her alone to take care of…
Of what, exactly?

With his champagne glass aloft,
Lanny
got to his feet. “Here’s to electing a judge who’ll uphold the Christian values established by our great founding fathers, and who’ll interpret the law in a fair and impartial manner for all.” He paused before adding, “Including the
big
guy,” with raised eyebrows and a devious smirk. “And to all those sitting here tonight who are committed to making that happen.”

As everyone clinked glasses, nodding in approval and sipping their champagne, Josie wondered again about what
Lanny
was expecting from John in return for his generous support.
And do
I
want to be a part of it?

* * * *

Josie sat quietly, poking at her salad, trying not to listen to the conformist dribble of the people around her. She watched Trisha move the food around her plate, pretending to eat, and now understood how she maintained her perfectly slim figure. Josie tried the no-eating thing for about half a day. While she had her issues, satisfying a need for control—or to have men gawk at her incessantly—through starvation wasn’t
one them
.

When the topic turned to the Ten Commandments in the courtroom debate, Josie prayed for continued composure.
Just a little longer and this meal would be over.

“People these days just have no morals. They need to be reminded of right and wrong. Especially when standing before a judge in court,” Andy said—like
he
knew anything about having morals.

Josie took a large bite so she wouldn’t be able to scream. She got so tired of being surrounded by people whose belief systems were in such stark contrast to her own. She missed the days when she and Brian socialized in more “open-minded” circles.
Where everyone didn’t feel like they had to agree; where all opinions were both considered and discussed.

“Christian values, like I said, that’s what this country was founded on. If someone doesn’t like it, they can go back to where they came from.”
Lanny
banged the table with his salad fork. Barbara encouraged him to settle down, reminding him of his blood pressure.

Josie stared down at her plate.
What about the Americans who don’t believe in God? I suppose that they need to just go somewhere else, too? Wasn’t this country founded on freedom of religion? I think that would include choosing not to be religious
.

As the salad plates were collected, she breathed a sigh of relief. Only one more course to go: dessert.

“They require people to swear on the Bible; what’s the big…”
Denton
got involved, but Josie tuned him out, her mind refuting his statement.

Judges make rulings according to the laws of man…God judges according to his law—the Ten Commandments. I don’t know about the rest of ya’ll, but I would think that a judge with a God complex would be a hell of a lot more scary than a few atheists who just want a fair day in court.
Josie rolled her eyes in annoyance and then felt embarrassed when Patrick shot her a little wink.

Afraid that she wouldn’t be able to keep quiet much longer, Josie considered attempting to change the subject, but to what?

Hum?
 
she
thought. What was that she heard on the radio the other day? Should vegetarians eat animal crackers? Definitely, a benign enough subject she decided. After all, the animal cracker represented an animal, which is meat. And wasn’t that what McDonalds served—something representing meat?

She thought maybe she could be onto something.

“So, Jocelyn.
How do you feel about being married to a judge?” Patrick’s question brought Josie back to the conversation just as a waiter with the dessert cart came to her. She picked the chocolate cake and kept her answer to herself.

“Jocelyn’s daddy was Judge McClain,” John said while choosing a dessert from the cart. “I clerked for him for three years.”

Josie bit her lip at the mention of her maiden name. Watching
Lanny
, his eyes narrowing in contemplation after hearing her father’s name, Josie knew that he was dangerously close to making the connection. A link to the past that Josie thought she’d successfully evaded the other night. She’d been eyeing the dark chocolate three-layer cake with fudge and whipped topping all evening, but now all she could do was tentatively jab at the decadent dessert, suddenly too anxious to eat.

“Wonder how your daddy would feel about you working for the likes of Brian McAlister…
he
being a liberal defense attorney and all?” Andy said, his eyes taunting.

Josie swallowed hard, watching
Lanny
as he methodically savored his crème briolette. She could practically see the wheels turning at the mention of Brian’s name. Barbara’s gaze darted nervously back and forth between the two of them.

“McAlister,”
Denton
hissed, taking a sip of his coffee.

Turning his obnoxious laugh on someone besides Josie for a change, Andy chided, “Oh yeah, I seem to remember that
he
 
wiped
the courtroom floor with your attorney a while back. How much did Brian set you back?”

That’s my Brian
, Josie thought, high-powered defense attorney; champion of civil rights; attorney who accepted cases no other attorney would ever dream of, whether the client could pay or not, and won. He was, without a doubt, the most compassionate man Josie had ever known, but in the courtroom he was merciless, pursuing his opponents with lethal efficiency. Ten months ago Brian had filed a malpractice suit against one of the doctors in
Denton
’s practice, and won,
big
.

“Too much,”
Denton
said, shooting a blindingly white-toothed sneer in Josie’s direction.

John shifted in his chair, subtly clearing his throat. But Josie was only concerned with the way
Lanny’s
face was slowly changing from contemplation to recognition. She felt her cheeks flush with the increased pounding in her chest. Her palms grew moist. Bracing herself, she estimated that John was about to get a whole lot more uncomfortable.

* * * *

“Brian McAlister and Josie McClain…together again,”
Lanny
said, eyes narrowed and his stare locked on Josie. He pointed a stout finger in her direction. “I thought I recognized you.”

“I’m sorry, am I missing something?” John suddenly looked apprehensive, glancing toward
Lanny
and back to Josie.

“He has no idea. Does he?”
Lanny
jabbed a thumb in John’s direction, his lips turning up slightly at the corner.

“Now, honey, we don’t need to go dredging up the past, do
we
?” Barbara patted
Lanny
on the shoulder while plastering on a reassuring smile and sending it to Josie.

An uncomfortable silence descended on the table as people in the party looked about and shoulders shrugged. Josie bit her lip again as
Lanny
held his concentrated gaze on her.

“I don’t know about anybody else.” Andy broke the silence, rubbing his hands together. “But I say we
dredge
.”

John turned his chilly stare on his wife. “Jocelyn, what’s going on?”

Josie looked around at all the people watching her, waiting for an explanation. She tried to speak but her throat had literally closed up.

Lanny
began. “I guess you weren’t aware that your little wife here was involved with an ultra-liberal environmental group lead by the infamous Brian McAlister.” He paused.
“
Quite
involved with Mr. McAlister, as I remember.
He was her…boyfriend.”

“I’m sorry. Did you say ‘boyfriend?’” John’s question was directed to
Lanny
, but he didn’t look away from Josie. “Jocelyn, what’s
Lanny
talking about?”

Looks were exchanged around the table again as a wicked sneer appeared across Trisha’s face.

Josie found her voice, sort of. “Um…well, you see...” She paused,
how can I make this sound, well not…oh, what’s the use?
 
“It was a long,
long
time ago and now—well, the details are a bit fuzzy.”

“Let me see if I can clear them up for you a bit,”
Lanny
said, his eyes gleaming. “This little lady,
sittin
’ right here at
my
table single-handedly cost
my
daddy…well, let’s see… How many millions of dollars was it?” He scratched his chin, pretending not to remember.

Andy grinned, looking as if his evening was complete now that Josie appeared to be in the hot seat again.
“Oh yeah, never a dull moment with Jocelyn around.”

John threw Andy a death-wish glare, before asking
Lanny
, “Did you say ‘
millions
?’”

Lanny
looked at Josie. “You want to tell it, or should I?”

Josie still didn’t know where to start, so
Lanny
began. “What has it been now?
Fourteen, fifteen years?”
He looked to Barbara. She simply shook her head and rolled her eyes.

Everyone stared at
Lanny
as he continued. “You see, my daddy had a plant up in St. Clair County, way out in the middle of nowhere. Downstream, a few miles, was this little town of about twelve thousand.
That sound
about right…
Josie
?”

Josie felt her apprehension change to indignation emboldened by
Lanny’s
belligerent attitude, and the memories of the sick and dying townspeople. “Sounds about right,” she agreed.

“Thought you didn’t remember?” John said through clenched teeth.

Lanny
continued. “Well, somehow this
McAlister
and his group got word that my daddy’s plant was poisoning the water—making folks in this town sick. So, Brian and Josie, along with a few others, came up there.
Stirring things up.”
Pausing, he raised a brow at Josie. “But there weren’t
no
proof and the case had been thrown out of court three times.”

Heat grew on the back of Josie’s neck. She’d heard enough. “Your daddy had every judge and lawman within three counties tucked tightly in his
back
pocket. Those poor people never had a chance.”

John shifted nervously in his chair. “Maybe we could continue this conversation in private?” he suggested.

Lanny
ignored him. “But Brian wasn’t
gonna
give up that easily. Oh no. He brings this environmental guy, all the way down from
Washington
DC
, to test the water and write a report.” Shaking his head, he said, “Unfortunately for my daddy, ya’ll were right and the plant was contaminating the water.”