Page 29 of Dreaming of You

"Well, well, well." Barrett clapped his hands as he came through the door. "Very nice, Kate."

"This is outrageous, Mr. Fox," the woman said, finally getting her voice back. "This is a five-hundred-dollar dress." She glanced down at the rumpled silk in complete dismay.

"No, your behavior is outrageous," Barrett replied angrily. "I have just called the police, and they should be here at any moment to see that the two of you conduct your argument elsewhere."

The woman's mouth dropped open at his statement. "But Barrett, he started it."

"I don't care. And I won't be representing either one of you."

"But you're the best," she said. "Give me another chance."

"I'm sorry, no. Please go."

"He's right, we should go," the man said, looking first at Barrett's stony expression and then at Kate's angry face. "I certainly don't want this to get into the papers."

"You and your publicity, that's all you care about," the woman said angrily.

Kate sighed. It looked like the water was only a temporary setback. They were ready to start the second round. But before they could say anything further, Barrett opened the front door and literally pushed them both onto the doorstep, slamming the door behind them, and turning the dead bolt with a resounding click.

He turned around with a guarded expression on his face, and she gave him an uncertain look. She didn't know what to expect. Thoughts of possible eviction sprang to mind as she shifted back and forth nervously, hoping he would speak first because she couldn't think of a thing to say.

"I'm sorry about that, Kate. I had no idea they were going to get involved in such a violent argument."

She let out a relief at his apology. "They might have lost me a client."

His lips tightened at her pointed remark. "I hope the words might have mean you'll be able to smooth things over."

"We'll see. Those two were really nasty to each other. Does this happen a lot in your line of work?"

"It really doesn't. I was just in initial talks with the wife. But, apparently, her husband insisted on following her here and their argument started before they ever got into the building. The woman just found out her husband has had a lover for the past five years, who is now pregnant. Naturally she's a little upset."

"A little upset? If I were him, I wouldn't turn my back on her. She wants to kill him."

"She told me their entire relationship has been volatile."

"I don't know how you deal with all that anger."

"It's not usually that violent or that verbal." He paused as the doorbell rang. "That's probably the police." He opened the door to two uniformed officers standing on the landing.

"We got a call about a disturbance," one officer said, taking a good look at Kate and then at Barrett. "Is there a problem here?"

"No, the problem just left," Barrett replied.

"Are you all right, miss?" the other officer asked, directing his comment to Kate.

She looked at him in surprise. He thought she and Barrett were the ones who had been fighting. "I'm fine. The two people who were arguing just left."

The officer stared at them thoughtfully, his gaze drifting to her splinted fingers. "If you're sure."

"I'm sure," she answered.

"I'm the one who called you," Barrett said with annoyance.

"Okay. Have a good night."

Barrett shut the door and shook his head. "What a day."

"You can say that again," she said, rubbing her aching temple once more. "I thought I had it bad with Jana but compared to your clients, she's a delight. Why do you do it, Barrett? Why this kind of law?"

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