Page 83 of Doing Life

“Of course. It’s my pleasure.” She stood and came around, her heels clacking, put his hand on her sweater-covered arm. “Now when you get up to the third floor, you’re going to walk out into a short hallway. When you get there, if you head tothe end of the hallway, it’ll go left and right. Courtrooms are left. The county clerk is right.”

“Perfect. I’m meeting someone for lunch as soon as he gets finished in the courtroom. Courtroom number three.”

“Well, there will be benches, in front of the courtrooms, and there should be someone outside the courtrooms to help you should you need it.”

“Thank you, ma’am. I really appreciate it.”

She walked them to what had to be some kind of a little smaller entryway or hallway because the sound immediately stopped echoing. Lance could hear the tinnydingof a single elevator. “Okay, here’s the elevator. Jim, are you going up?”

“Yes, ma’am.” That voice was deep and low, rich as the scent of wet coffee grounds.

“Excellent. This young man here is going to the third floor, and he needs to have a seat outside the courtrooms. If you could give him a hand. This is our security guard, Jim Bennett.”

“No problem, ma’am.”

He walked into the elevator with Abby, and they turned around. He had a sudden moment of panic. Were they waiting for him to push the buttons. “Do— Do I?”

“The button’s already pushed, and I’ll ride up with you. I was going that way anyway. They like to have someone in a uniform standing upstairs around the courtrooms just in case. We never have any trouble, but it’s a job.”

The doors closed, and Abby sat. “I understand that.”

“Yeah. No one loves to work, but we do all love to eat and have a roof over us. I swear to God, though, I wish they’d let us wear jeans instead of this itchy damn stuff. Do you know which courtroom you’re needing to go to?”

Lance shook his head. “I’m not needing a courtroom. I’m meeting someone for lunch. It’s— I’m just going to wait. She…she said there were seats up there.”

“Oh yeah. There’s a nice bench. Yeah, I’ll totally get you there. No sweat.” There was a moment of blessed silence, and then he could feel the elevator crawling up, like it was a huge effort. “So were you in an accident?”

“In a manner of speaking.” He didn’t laugh, but he wanted to. “A bomb went off on a mission. I was deployed.”

“Well, thank you for your service.”

He nodded once like he was needing a gate pulled at a rodeo. “I appreciate it.”

“Ah. I was in the 101st during the Gulf War, so it’s been a long time.”

“Yeah, I was little in that when it happened. I was stationed at Fort Liberty.” He didn’t tell people they were special forces. He didn’t feel he needed to. He guessed some guys did.

“I’ve been there once or twice to visit. My daughter was 82nd Airborne.” The elevator bell dinged, and the doors opened. “All right, you’ll just follow me. I’ll keep talking, and I’ll lead the way.”

“Thank you, sir. Forward, Abby.”

“She’s just about the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen. I do love me a shepherd dog. I have hound dogs personally. I’ve got four out at the ranch. Ranch. I have myself a little hobby farm. Four dogs and a little horse for my granddaughter.”

Jim wasn’t lying. He did talk the entire way to the courtroom lobby. “The bench is open, it’s right here. If you need anything, I’m going to be wandering around. Just give me a holler.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you. I appreciate it.”

Go away, leave me alone now. Let me just sit with my dog and wait for Sloan to get done.

He felt like he’d done all right—not perfect because he hadn’t done it on his own. He’d had folks help him, but he supposed that may be even harder than wandering aroundwithout help. To ask and receive help was a blessing, right? At least that was what a preacher would tell him.

The corridor was quiet, the murmur of voices muted, echoing some like all big public spaces did. Churches, courthouses, those big old houses and shit in Europe. He’d toured a couple of those when he’d been on leave.

His heart slowed its pounding, Abby leaned on his leg, and in no time it, he was dozing a little. This kind of place always made him feel sleepy.

He lost track of time, and before he knew it, he heard Sloan’s voice, happy as all get- out. “Lance! Hey, babe. Look at you, all out and about.”

“Hey.” He stood, struggling for a moment with Abby’s harness and its handle. “I came to take you to lunch.”

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