Tempting the Artist (23 page)

“
What?” I thought he didn’t
have a case.” Christina had spent so much time with Luke, she
hadn’t realized how much she’d missed regarding the family. Her
uncle Ben, BJ’s father, was a lawyer and represented Jenkins &
Sons.

“
All right you guys, a
little more work and a little less talk,” Peyton said when she
walked into the room with her clipboard.

“
You’re a regular slave
driver, PJ. I’m tired of using my Saturdays for manual labor.” BJ
climbed down the ladder. He poured more paint into a smaller can
before moving the ladder down the wall.

“
Too bad. I’m going to need
both of you for at least two more Saturdays. If you don’t want the
overtime, then I can see about giving you one of the weekdays
off.”

“
PJ, why didn’t you tell me
about the lawsuit and that there was a family meeting this past
Thursday?”

“
First of all, you’ve been
out of town or just missing in action. Secondly, I figured your
boyfriend would tell you since Leroy is using his law
firm.”

Unease swept through
Christina.
So that’s why he was at
Atwater, Rouse & Stevenson talking to Gary
. Luke had said nothing about his firm representing Leroy. As
a matter of fact, Luke acted as if he had never heard of
Leroy.

“
By your silence I assume
he didn’t mention it.”

“
Maybe he doesn’t know,” BJ
interjected. “There’s probably a ton of lawyers at that firm with
clients that Luke doesn’t know.”

Peyton’s mouth tightened. She shot BJ
a look that clearly said, “Butt out.”

“
Okay, you know what? I
think this is a good time for me to take my fifteen minute break.”
BJ climbed back down the ladder and made a hasty
retreat.

“
He’s right. Luke probably
doesn’t know otherwise I’m sure he would have mentioned something
to me.” Christina set her paint roller down, careful not to let the
handle hit the wet wall. She poured more paint into her pan. “I
can’t believe we’re being sued.”

“
Believe it. Leroy has some
bogus claim that Jenkins & Sons has undercut his company five
times in the past year, outbidding him. Supposedly, we have caused
his business financial hardship, and he’s claiming a whole lot of
other crap.”

“
So what happens next?”
Christina dunked her roller into the paint and went back to
work.

Some of the crews had been remodeling
Jenkins & Sons main office building, and repainting a few of
the shops. She and Ben Jr. needed to finish the conference room
before the day was over in order to start on the carpenter’s shop
Monday morning.

“
I just heard from Uncle
Ben and he said that Leroy’s lawyer contacted him minutes ago. They
want to meet Monday. Uncle Ben thinks they’re going to try to
settle out of court.”

“
Is that good?”

“
I’m not sure. Grampa wants
to be done with Leroy once, and for all. He said there’s nothing to
settle. So, we’ll see what happens Monday.”

“
What time? I want to be
there.” She also planned to have a talk with Luke. Hopefully, he
wasn’t holding out on her. Unease settled in her gut like a
paperweight. Despite what she had said to her sister, Christina
wasn’t a hundred percent sure Luke would have told her if he knew
his office was representing Leroy.

“
You can’t attend the
meeting. I’m not approving any more time off for you, especially
since you’ll be on vacation for a couple of weeks. More
importantly, I need you here.” She scanned the room. “We’re already
behind on the renovations thanks to all of your days off. Me,
Grampa, and Uncle Ben will be the only ones there representing the
company.”

“
I’m going
Peyton.”

“
No, you’re not.” Peyton
tucked her clipboard under her arm and pulled out her ChapStick,
swiping it across her lips. “You need to quit being difficult.
While you’re trying so hard to get to this meeting, you need to be
trying to figure out if your boyfriend has anything to do with this
lawsuit. I’m sure your reason for wanting to be at that meeting has
nothing to do with the lawsuit, but everything to do with seeing
your boy-toy.”

Ignoring the last part of Peyton’s
comment, Christina put more paint on her roller. She trusted Luke,
but there was that little niggling of doubt brewing in the back of
her mind. He didn’t tell her everything, like when he failed to
mention early in their relationship that he had a brother who had
been killed.

She shook the doubt off. He would tell
her if he knew anything. And so what if she did have other reasons
for wanting to be at the meeting, like catching a glimpse of Luke.
He’d been in New York for the last few days and wasn’t expected
back until Monday morning. Despite talking with him every day, she
missed him like crazy. Sure she wanted to see him, but more
importantly, she wanted to be there to represent the
family.

“
PJ, I’m not trying to be
difficult. If anything, you’re the one tripping. I don’t need you
to approve any time off since I can use my lunch break for the
meeting. I’m a part of this family. I have a right to be there if I
want to be. I don’t know why you’re making such a big deal about
this.”

“
I could say the same thing
about you. You have been unavailable for practically everything
these last few months while you’re pursuing your dreams and doing
God knows what else. Were you thinking about the family then? Were
you thinking about what all it takes to run this business? Have you
stepped in to attend any other meetings where we’ve had to
represent
the family and
the business?”

Christina lowered her roller, tightly
gripping the handle. She had no idea their conversation would take
such a turn, a turn in the wrong direction.

“
Another thing. You’re so
interested in helping the family, have you even taken the time to
ask me if there is anything you can do to help out around here, to
take some pressure off of me? No, you haven’t. Your life is all
about CJ. Now all of a sudden you want to be there for the family.
Don’t bother, Christina. We got this!” She turned and headed for
the door.

“
Now you just wait one
minute!” Christina’s voice wavered, anger punctuating each word.
“First of all, I don’t know what you’re trying to imply by saying
that I’m doing God knows what and I don’t care. But how dare you
suggest that I don’t do anything or don’t go the extra mile around
here because I’m too busy pursuing
my
dreams. Have you forgotten that I
was the first one to step in and help when you took over for
Grampa?”

“
No, I haven’t forgotten,
but that was—”

“
I’m the one who was here
day and night helping you make sense of that office and Grampa’s
crazy filing system. I’m the one who lent you a shoulder to cry on
after those first few frustrating months when you were trying to
get a handle on running the business. And I’m the one who filled in
for you those weeks after your divorce. So forgive me if I’ve been
taking some time for
me
lately. Taking some time to nurture
my
dreams.” Irritation
lodged in her throat, and she batted her eyes several times to keep
tears from falling. The fact that her sister was teary eyed too
wasn’t helping.

They stood silent, both breathing hard
with pent up emotion, the smooth melodies of Sam Smith now playing
softly in the background. They had their share of disagreements,
but none like this one.

Christina didn’t know what to say.
Disappointment and frustration lay restless in her body. An
electrician by trade, Peyton practically ran the business single
handedly. No, Christina couldn’t imagine the type of pressure her
sister faced on a day-to-day basis. Nevertheless, she wasn’t about
to let Peyton or anyone else make her feel guilty about how she
chose to spend her time or live her life.

“
Hopefully you guys can
finish this room today,” Peyton said breaking the silence, her
voice low and controlled. “Be sure to clean up before you leave.”
And with that, she walked away.

Christina’s gaze followed
her to the door. She might have been angry with Peyton, but it was
clearer than ever that something
was going
on with her sister, and Christina had every intention of finding
out what. She hated seeing her so unhappy, even if Peyton did get
on her last nerve.

Luke nodded a greeting to a few
familiar faces when he stepped into the mostly glass building that
housed the law offices of Atwater, Rouse & Stevenson. It had
been a helluva morning. The day was proving that the best-laid
plans could change in a second. A thunderstorm on the east coast
had delayed his flight to Cincinnati by three hours and then a flat
tire on the way to the office didn’t help. The only bright spot, he
had plans of seeing Christina after work.

Luke stepped into the
semi-crowded glass elevator. Glancing around a woman wearing too
much perfume, he checked to make sure the button for the twelfth
floor had been pushed. He moved to the rear of the car, and his
mind immediately took him back to the conversation he’d had with
Christina the day before. To say she was upset to learn that his
firm was representing Leroy Jones would be an
understatement.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t
give her much comfort since he didn’t know anything about the
case.

When the elevator reached his floor, Luke
maneuvered around three people in order to exit. “Excuse me,” he
said to a woman with an oversized bag that blocked his exit. He
made a left, and when he reached their office suite, he took a deep
breath before going in, mentally preparing himself for the day
ahead.

“
Welcome back, Luke,” Robin
greeted when he stepped up to her desk to retrieve his messages.
Their working relationship had improved considerably after their
conversation months ago.

“
Thanks, Robin.”

“
I’m glad you’re here.
Anthony was just looking for you, not even five minutes ago.” She
handed Luke his messages. “I told him you should be here shortly
and he said for you to come by his office before you get
settled.”

“
Did he say what he
wanted?” Luke flicked through the messages before stuffing all of
them into the side pocket of his briefcase.

“
Only that he needed you to
take care of an issue for him.”

Out of the senior partners, Luke liked
Anthony Rouse, Gary’s father, the least. He didn’t trust the guy.
And after meeting with Michael, Luke liked Gary and his father even
less.

Luke and Robin discussed his afternoon
appointments. Relieved to hear that two had cancelled, he headed
down the hall thinking about what he would do with his two free
hours.

Luke tapped on the open door of
Attorney Rouse. “You wanted to see me, Anthony?”

“
Oh Luke, come in. I’m glad
you’re here,” he said in a rush, stuffing files into his briefcase.
“Sorry to bombard you right when you walk in, but we’re operating
on a skeleton crew this afternoon. Come on, walk with me.” He
grabbed his suit jacket and shrugged into it before they left his
office.

Luke stood back when the senior Rouse gave
some parting instructions to his assistant, informing her that he
wouldn’t be available for the next three hours. A sudden bout of
anxiousness swirled around in Luke’s chest. He didn’t know what
this “issue” was that Rouse wanted him to take care of, but Luke
knew he wasn’t going to like whatever it was.

“
Sorry about that, Luke. We
have a client in Gary’s office who needs our assistance. My son had
a personal emergency and needed to leave.” Anthony handed Luke a
file. “Since he didn’t want to cancel a meeting that’s scheduled
for eleven o’clock, which is in,” he glanced at his watch, “fifteen
minutes, he said you would be able to fill in for him.”

A cold dread crept up Luke’s spine and
seeped into his bones. He had a feeling this meeting was the same
meeting Christina had mentioned the night before. The meeting with
Jenkins & Sons and Leroy Jones.

Luke and Rouse stepped out of the
walkway and allowed one of the assistants to pass. Luke quickly
skimmed through the documents. His bad morning just got worse. He
closed the file and tried handing it back. Attorney Rouse stared at
him, his brows slanted into a frown.

“
I’m sorry, Anthony, but
you’re going to have to get someone else to handle
this.”

“
Why? Gary said you
wouldn’t have a problem overseeing the meeting.”

Heat rose to the back of
Luke’s neck as he barely controlled the scathing comment hanging on
the end of his tongue.
Stay
professional
. Luke’s grip tightened on the
manila folder.

“
I’m not sure why Gary told
you I’d be willing to fill in for him, but he was mistaken. I can’t
provide this client with diligent representation.”

“
And why is
that?”

“
Conflict of interest. I’m
dating a member of the Jenkins family.”

Anthony nodded. He still didn’t take
the file, and Luke was tempted to toss it into the nearest trash
can. Normally if a lawyer expressed a conflict of interest, the
ethical ramifications were taken seriously. Apparently not at
Atwater, Rouse & Stevenson. Luke could think of other instances
during his tenure where the firm hadn’t always handled situations
in the most principled way.