Page 5 of Hazard

He smiled at her, but she always got the feeling that there was something missing in her father, something that made him…relatable. She could never put her finger on it. Maybe she didn’t want to think of her father as shallow. That uncomfortable feeling got shrugged off as she smiled back and embraced him.

“Well, where is she?” her mother demanded of the poor maid.

“Ma’am—” she stammered, and Leigh released her dad.

He winced and whispered, “Let’s face the beast in her den.”

That made Leigh laugh softly as she nodded and preceded him into the luxurious living room. Almost ostentatious, but with an elegance that stretched to all corners of the residence, the historical home had been decorated in a way that was dramatically stylish and full of affluence and wealth, with expensive pieces of furniture like the baby grand piano nobody played, to rare, collectible art no one understood and antiques no one could appreciate, the marble flooring, no warmth there at all, and of course the precious Aubusson rugs no one could walk on throughout the downstairs.

She had to admit that her favorite part of the house was the chef’s kitchen, encased in an English glass conservatory, opening directly to the sweeping gardens outside with a gracious stone terrace and fountain.

The moment her mother saw her, she frowned. “Oh, Leigh Ann. You look so stuffy in a suit. Why didn’t you wear something more feminine?” She sounded so disappointed. Her mom’s eyes roamed over her face. “And, peach lipstick doesn’t really flatter your complexion, especially with your return to your natural, brassy hair color.”

Leigh gritted her teeth at her full name. She’d dropped the Ann after law school, worrying that she sounded like some perky, empty-headed blonde. She wasn’t going to get defensive and defend her clothing. It was a trap. If Leigh had worn a dress, her mother would have commented on how unflattering it was or that it was overly fussy.

Biting her tongue, she walked across the carpet and bent down, giving her mother a perfunctory hug. “Happy birthday, Mother.” Leigh looked at Rodney and said, “Hello, Rodney, it’s been a while. It’s good to see you,” she said, hating that she sounded as phony as her mother.

Dinner was stilted and uncomfortable with Rodney filling the gaps with his tales of conquest in the corporate world. Her mother dismissed the beautiful antique cameo Leigh had gotten at a shop in San Diego as quaint but generic. Leigh couldn’t be more thankful that she lived all the way on the West Coast, and she didn’t have to endure these dinners anymore.

She slipped away to the garden after the cake was cut. Leigh was sure her mother would make her usual comment about how sweets sit right on the hips while patting Leigh’s shoulder. The night was beautiful, but a tad chilly, and she was happy she wore a suit instead of something more feminine.

At the muffled footfalls, Leigh turned to find Rodney coming down the slate stairs. She wished she could just disappear. “Hi, there,” he said as she turned around to hide the grimace on her face. “Nice night.”

She nodded, schooling her features as he came abreast of her. He cleared his throat, a definite sign that he was nervous. He made the same noise when he proposed.

“I’m glad to see you here. I wanted to get in contact with you. I’ve missed you.”

Leight turned toward him unable to hide the shock on her face. “It’s been eight years, Rodney. You’ve gotten married and divorced, and I moved on after our broken engagement.”

“One you broke,” he said, sounding petulant. God, she had dodged a bullet back then.

“We were meant for different things.”

“But that could change. We could rekindle our?—”

“I don’t think so,” she said sharply. “I live all the way?—”

“You could move back here, take up a position at the firm again,” he said with a smile. “My dad is prepared to rehire you.”

Flabbergasted by the suggestion, as if she had been pining for him all this time without even one shred of evidence to back it up, not to mention the selfish motivation in having her move from San Diego, was outrageous…then it dawned on her. “Did my mother put you up to this? Bombard you with all those memories of us together, apparently happy. How we could merge our families.”

The look on his face would be almost comical if she was amused by her mother’s manipulations, but it solidified her suspicion. Suddenly her cell buzzed, and she pulled it out of her pocket and saw an email regarding a break in the Angel Alzate case. The CIA had discovered after targeting a money man that he had ties to the cartel. This was wonderful, one step closer to justice.

“Leigh—”

“I’ve got to go,” she said. Leaving him in the garden, she went into the house. Her mother was lingering in the kitchen, so suspect, since she hadn’t cooked a meal in Leigh’s memory.

“I’m leaving. Something came up at work.”

Her mother’s face slipped into more disappointment, crestfallen that Leigh was leaving.

“Work? But didn’t Rodney talk to you about?—”

“Yes, Mother, he did. Thanks for the blindside ambush, by the way. After all these years, do you think I’ve worked this hard to return to corporate law? Doesn’t it mean anything to you that I’ve been sworn in as a US attorney? It’s a prestigious?—”

“You’ve wasted your time in—” Her face contorted in disgust. “—public service, low paying, uninspiring jobs. Dangerous jobs. How can you not find Rodney’s proposal attractive?”

Leigh laughed heartily. “What? I broke out in hives, Mother. He isn’t the man for me, and corporate law will never be something I consider for my future.” Her voice caught. “Do you even have any idea what happened in San Diego?”

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