Bourbon & Branch Water (4 page)

“Oh yes.” His face told her that he
remembered her. “We were expecting you, weren’t we, Ella?”

“Actually,” the older woman
replied, “I was hoping Mr. Holyfield had reconsidered and would handle this
himself. Maybe we ought to try to find someone in Las Vegas.”

Porterman
frowned, “you know we can’t afford that, Ella.” He addressed Stormy, “naturally,
we’re interested in having the best representation we can afford. Mr. Holyfield
spoke well of you. I’m confident you’ll stay on top of the matter.”

He trusted her, a warm flush of
pride through
Stormy’s
chest. She was bound and
determined to win this case for the
Portermans
, even
if she didn’t much like the Missus.

Ella snorted derisively at her
husband’s trusting attitude, “we’ll see.”

“Yes, ma’am,”
Stormy’s
discomfort returned in the face of Ella’s chilly behavior. She opened her
briefcase and took out her notepad. “I know what your complaint is, I think.
Please tell me if I’ve got any of the facts wrong.” Addressing her notes,
Stormy went on. “One: your neighbors, Leland and Nancy Randolph, requested a
license from the county to begin a bourbon distillery on their property. Two:
that distillery was going to use water from Cicada Creek, the nearby offshoot
of the Little Moapa. Three: You lodged a complaint with the county, alleging
that since the
Randolphs
ranch is upstream from you,
they’d be polluting the creek with their discharge water causing you financial
loss. And four: you further complained that it was a civic irresponsibility to launch
a liquor manufacturing facility in the county, and that it would encourage the
local population to bad behavior and alcohol dependency.” Stormy hadn’t been
fooled for a minute about who the “local population” the suit mentioned was. It
was the nearby Paiutes. It was ignorant and bigoted, but Stormy still had a job
to do. One of the things she had to do was get the
Portermans
to drop that part of their suit. It was a spurious complaint at best.

Ella spoke up. “Yes, those are our
concerns, what can you do about them?”

Stormy got out her pen and fussed
with her notepad. She was so uncomfortable with this woman. Be professional,
she told herself. Take charge. “Well, you can certainly sue for the
environmental concerns about the water. There is some precedence for it. I
think we have enough to work with on that.” She took a deep breath and looked
from Ella to Russ and back again. “But the civic harm claim is one you can’t
win. Alcohol is legal in this county. Anyone twenty-one or older is allowed to
drink, so long as the alcohol is legally obtained.”

Ella bristled and turned to her
husband. “You see, Russ? I told you we should get a lawyer from Las Vegas and
not Fire Gorge. If we had to use a Fire Gorge attorney, at least Holyfield
would have done better than this young woman. Experience is what we need.” Her
gaze went to Stormy, “and some spine.”

“Now, now, Ella,” Russ said. “I
know temperance is important to you, honey. But if there’s no legal way we can
pursue it, you’ll just have to handle it through your women’s group and the
church civic society.”

Once more Ella snorted. It was an
unbecoming sound. “You
would
try to
weasel out of it, Russell
Porterman
. You know how
strongly I feel about this.” She stood. “I think this conversation is over.”

Her husband got a little testy. “Sit
down, Ella. Miss Stillwater didn’t come all the way out here to disappoint us.”
He turned to
Stormy
, “right?”

“No, sir, I’m confident that your
water rights claim is your best mechanism for halting the approval for the bourbon
distillery. A win is a win, Mr.
Porterman
. It really
doesn’t matter what the particulars are.”

He smiled. “You see, Ella? We’ll do
fine.”

Mrs.
Porterman
was still standing, shoulders straight and nose in the air. “Ha! With all due
respect to Mr. Holyfield, I think his judgment is way off on this.” She turned
toward Stormy, her eyes cold. “I’m sorry, Miss Stillwater, but you don’t inspire
confidence in me.”

Her heart sinking but her back
straight, Stormy put her pen and pad away. “I’m sorry you feel that way, Mrs.
Porterman
.”

“Now, wait a minute,” Russell said.
“If Holyfield has confidence in Miss Stillwater, we should too.”

“You do as you like, Russ. I wash
my hands of it. I’m going to go to Las Vegas tomorrow to find us a proper
attorney.”

Proper attorney, yeah, right, as if
those years in law school and clerking only qualified Stormy to sell burritos
at the Gas N Gulp! But she wasn’t going to argue. What was the point? It was
obvious that Ella
Porterman
wore the pants in the
family. It was hard to respect Russell when he let his wife walk all over him
that way, but so be it. She stood and offered her business card. Ella turned up
her nose, but Russell rose and took it. “If you change your mind, you can call
me anytime.”

“Miss Stillwater,” Russell said. “We
paid a retainer to Mr. Holyfield.”

“Oh.” Stormy hadn’t considered
that. “Well, I’m sure that can be worked out.”

He looked to his wife. “Ella, I
think we should stick with it here. Come on, honey. Do it for me?”

Stormy’s
stomach roiled. He was a total wimp. Or maybe he loved his wife so much that he
wanted to make her happy no matter how much he had to grovel. Her gaze shifted
to Ella.

Ella relented, faced with her husband’s
plea. “Fine, It’s completely stupid, Russ. You mark my words.”

“I’m sure it’ll be okay, honey.” He
gestured toward a chair. “Please sit down again, Miss Stillwater,” he said. “We
have more to discuss.”

Smiling, feeling a little guilty
that she was so elated to have Ella
Porterman
back
down, Stormy sat and got out her pad again.

* * *

Tanya’s hair was messy-chic, her
nails were long and fuchsia and her lipstick was perfect, leaving only the
lightest print on her wine glass. Stormy wondered how her friend could always
be so well put together when they met at The Lounge Bar and Grill after work.
Stormy was tired by six o’clock
, her shoulders drooped and
her clothing was rumpled. She’d re-braided her long hair, but the French braid
was uninspired, practical, and she knew she wasn’t nearly as attractive as
Tanya, even if she was a bit more slender than her extra-curvy friend.

It didn’t matter, though. Stormy
was high on success. She’d gotten the
Portermans
to
accept her help on the case. That was a victory, as far as she was concerned
and deserved a glass of wine in celebration. Unfortunately, they were still
pursuing the temperance angle, but she hoped to talk them out of it as she
built their case for loss of property due to environmental damage. Even that
aspect of the case was a little shaky, unlike what she’d told the
Portermans
but there was precedent in other states and she
hoped to bring that to bear on this case too.
She had to win
,
she just had to
. She’d heard that the other party, the
Randolph’s, had a high-powered attorney from Las Vegas working on their case.
It was entirely possible that she’d be outgunned on this one, but Stormy didn’t
want to dwell on the possible negatives. It was Wednesday, she was with Tanya,
and a little celebration for the day’s victory was all she needed to focus on
for the time being.

Tanya’s gaze fell on something over
Stormy’s
shoulder as they sat at the long, dark bar. “Is
Brent Williams doing his funky chicken dance again?” Stormy asked as she turned
on her bar stool.

“Don’t look!” Tanya hissed. “He’s
coming this way.”

“Don’t look at what? Who?” Stormy
whispered. “What’s gotten into you?”

Her friend leaned in and spoke very
softly. Stormy could barely hear her. “There’s a gorgeous guy on his way
through the room. He’s making a beeline toward the bar.”

“What gorgeous guy? Fire Gorge
doesn’t have any gorgeous guys who aren’t married already.”

Tanya’s focus went back to the view
over
Stormy’s
shoulder. “I don’t recognize him, smile,
sweetie, he’s coming toward us.”

There was activity behind
Stormy’s
left shoulder and she turned. Jeff Hand smiled at
her. She nearly fell off her bar stool. Jeff Hand was in Fire Gorge! What could
he possibly be doing here?

“Jeff!” she squeaked.

“Hi, Stormy.”

Tanya, smiling her come-hither smile
at Jeff, piped up. “You two know each other?”

Stormy couldn’t form words. She
wished she could sink under the bar and crawl out unobtrusively. Embarrassment
heated every inch of her body. She hadn’t told Tanya about her weekend fling
yet. She’d intended to mention it casually to her friend, but it felt so
awkward and un-Stormy that she hadn’t done it. She didn’t know how to broach
the subject.

And now Jeff Hand was here.

“Yes, we met at
Stormy’s
brother’s wedding on the weekend,” Jeff said, his deep voice bringing back
memories of his sexy words during their intimate moments together.

Tanya was never at a loss for
words, and this occasion was no exception. “I’m Tanya Minor. And you are…?”

“Jeff Hand, nice to meet you Tanya.”

“The pleasure is mine, I assure
you.” She looked from Jeff to Stormy, who was still completely shocked, and
back again. “So you met at Drake’s wedding. Stormy didn’t mention it.”

“She didn’t, hmm?” He turned toward
the bartender and ordered a beer.

“We usually share
everything
. Right, Stormy?” Tanya nudged
her.

“Right…no! I mean…not everything!”
Feeling a little harassed, Stormy turned to Jeff. “Why are you here? You live
in Las Vegas.”

“True,” he said, sipping his beer. “But
I had some business here in Fire Gorge. I planned to come to the tavern and
have dinner before I left town.”

“Oh.”

“What business are you in, Jeff?”
Tanya said, jumping into the silence.

“I’m an attorney.”

“No kidding! So is Stormy!”

His dark eyebrows arched and Stormy
slumped in her seat, even more embarrassed. They hadn’t talked about work when
they’d been together. They’d been too busy fondling each other. Oh God, she was
humiliated.

Tanya nudged her again and
indicated that Stormy ought to say something.

“What a coincidence,” was all
Stormy could think of to say. She remembered his new car, his condo on the
strip, his designer décor. He must be a very successful attorney. He was older
than her, maybe by five years. Obviously he’d done well. But why was he in Fire
Gorge? Tanya asked the question before Stormy could.

Jeff smiled as he answered. “I’m
handling a water rights case for a rancher a little way outside of town.”

“Water rights?” Stormy squeaked. It
had to be some other case. It had to be!

“Yeah, do you know the
Randolphs
?”

“Oh no…”

“You don’t?” he asked.

“Of course you do, Stormy,” Tanya
answered for her. Then her eyes went wide. “Say, isn’t that the name of the
couple you’re litigating against?”

Stormy squeezed her eyes shut and
tried to concentrate on breathing.

“Is that right…” Jeff responded,
more in the form of a statement than a question.

“Stormy!” Tanya hissed, handing her
a wine glass. “Here have a drink.” She smiled again at Jeff. “She’s surprised,
that’s all,” she explained. “
Stormy’s
not usually so spacey.”

“I know,” he said, and Stormy knew
he was referring to her moans and cries of rapture from their time together.
She wanted to curl up in a ball and die, but she had to say
something
.

“I…uh…I’m representing the
Portermans
.”

Jeff chuckled. “That puts us on
opposite sides of the fence,” he said. “It’s a small world.”

“Yeah,” Stormy mumbled. “Small.”

“Maybe you two ladies would like to
join me for dinner?”

“No!”

“Love to,” Tanya said at the same
time. “Well, I’d like to. If Stormy doesn’t want to…”

A weird sense of possessiveness
fired
Stormy’s
gut. She loved Tanya like a sister,
but she was putting the make on Jeff.
Her
Jeff. Well, he was sort of hers, or had been. Anyway, Tanya dating Jeff was a
no-go. “We shouldn’t, Jeff. I mean the case and all…”

“I won’t talk about it if you don’t.”

Was that good enough? Fraternizing
with the enemy was a serious matter. But maybe if it was only dinner and they
kept it friendly with no professional talk… “Okay,” she said. “Dinner sounds
good.”

“Great,” he responded. “I’ll get us
a table.”

As he wound his way back to the
hostess podium,
Stormy’s
acute embarrassment
returned. What would she say to him? She’d agreed to a whole dinner!

Tanya leaned in to her friend. “Wake
up, sister! The guy is making goo-goo eyes at you. He hardly knows I exist.
What are you doing?”

“I uh…well, we
kinda
…I
mean…”

“Geez, you’re usually quiet, but I’ve
never seen you so tongue-tied. Are you feeling okay?”

“No. Yes.” She groaned and blurted,
“I slept with him after Drake’s wedding.”

Tanya laughed.

Stormy gave her a dirty look. “It
was nothing.”

“Stormy Stillwater slept with a guy
on the first date and that’s nothing? Honey, you practically made the six o’clock
news, as far as I’m concerned.” She whispered. “What was it like?”

“Tanya!”

“Don’t give me that, ‘I don’t kiss
and tell’ routine. That doesn’t fly. I know everything about you. I’ve known
you since second grade.”