Page 45 of Without You, Scotch and Sammy 2

Bluff. Bluff. And bluff some more. Juliette isn’t the enemy exactly, but she’s also not going to give me a free pass. “Yeah. He and I spoke, and we’re working on our marriage. We both agreed Lily’s needs are most important, so we’re doing everything we can to make things better.”

Juliette watches me suspiciously, biting her lip as though she’s consciously trying to keep her words in. “Where are you staying, Sammy?”

“Our first night here, we stayed over at the A-Line, but Sam and I spoke yesterday, and in an attempt to work together, Lily and I moved into his home. That’s where we slept last night.”

Juliette’s eyes grow wide. “You and the baby slept at his apartment last night? With him there?”

“Mmhm.” Bluff. Bluff. Bluff. I didn’t actually sleep more than an hour between Lily’s shitty sleep, and I have no idea if he was actually home or not. After storming out, he came back, showed me to his spare room, threw clean sheets on the unmade bed, and promptly disappeared again. He wasn’t in the kitchen when I came out to warm Lily’s milk at nine, midnight, or three, nor was he there when we emerged for coffee this morning, but he did leave a spare key on the kitchen table.

“That’s… interesting.” Juliette writes some notes, then tapping her pen on the desk again, she looks back up at me. “So, Mr. Turner is on board with adopting this baby?”

“Mmhm.”

“Okay. Well. You should know the next steps as well as I do. We both do similar things for work, Sammy. We just approach it from different angles.”

“Yeah. Next is financials. Then medical.”

“Do you need help scheduling the appointments?”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll take care of it.”

Juliette nods softly, then when Lily lets out an excited squeak and the rattling toys on her carseat move, Juliette’s eyes drop to the floor. She stands from her seat and leans over the desk. “Such a pretty baby.”

Lily’s fist strikes out again, drawing a smile to her chunky lips. I lean over and unclip her from the seat and lift her to my chest, and Juliette sits down again.

“It’s strange to me that she’s in my office.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I’ve been working on her case for a long time. Her eyes are darker than I expected. Her mom’s were much lighter.”

“Yeah, they’re getting lighter every day. I think they’re going to be light like Shari’s eventually.”

Juliette smiles. “Maybe. It’s funny how the universe works.”

My head angles to the side. “How so?”

“I just meant, Sam Turner has lovely blue eyes too.” At my narrowed gaze, she laughs and lifts her hands. “I’m engaged, relax. I’m not gunning for Sam Turner’s attention.”

“You’re engaged? That’s nice.”

Juliette smiles. “Yeah, my fiancé’s eyes are beautiful too.”

“Have you set a date yet?”

“He’s pretty keen to get me barefoot and pregnant, so I’ll probably have to stall on the ‘I do’s.’ I like my job too much to jump ship so soon.”

I laugh and watch Lily as she studies the room. “You sound pretty happy. I doubt you’ll mind jumping ship in the end.”

“I’ll jump,” she says with a smile. “But I’ll keep a foot in both camps. I’m in the process of buying Mr. Montgomery out, so I can’t go too far.”

My head snaps around the office uselessly. Art Montgomery. “He still works? Is he here today?”

“No, he’s away for the rest of this week. He’ll be back on Monday.”

My heart races as I realize my near miss, and my completely blanking on the fact his name is on the signage out front. I wonder if he’d even recognize me if he saw me? I haven’t changed a whole lot since high school, but at the same time, he’s an older man and I rarely spoke to him. Meg and I spent all our time sneaking out, not making small talk and bonding with him.

Juliette’s desk phone rings, and hitting the speaker button, a woman’s voice chirps through. “Hey Juliette. Jess just called. She said she’s on her way in now, and they’re bringing Charlie in for a visit.”

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