Page 36 of Already At Risk
A grin split across Natalie’s face. “Yes, and you don’t know how happy it makes me that you can actually tell what it is.” She laughed, lightening the mood. “It’s for Chloe. I like keeping my hands busy. I hope that’s okay while we talk.”
“It’s definitely okay,” I assured her. “It shouldn’t surpriseme that a surgeon is good at knitting, but that’s impressively good, Natalie.”
I thought back to the brief glimpse of Chloe’s bedroom I got when I brought Natalie upstairs last night, remembering the pile of stuffed animals on her bed. Had Natalie madeallof those? Where the hell did she find the time?
“Crocheting,” she corrected. Her eyes flicked from the bundle of yarn to my face. “And yeah, I’m…pretty okay with my hands.”
Fuck me. I had no doubt she was, but that was the last thing I needed to be thinking about right now.
“So.” I cleared my throat. “We went over a lot of the basics the other day in the office. But what we need to dive into is your schedule and how it impacts Chloe’s schedule. Because that’s a big part of what Korey is using to come at you.”
Natalie took a deep breath, absorbing that as I sat on the opposite end of the couch, putting as much distance between us as possible. If we were going to use her living room to do business, then I was going to pretend it was my office, and I wouldn’t dare get close to her in my office.
It was really hard to imagine this was my office, though. Being in Natalie’s home felt like she was wrapping herself all around me. She was in the warmth of the fireplace, where I imagined flames would crackle on a cold night. There were piles of medical manuals stacked on the mantle above it, sitting alongside a burning candle that smelled like…her: notes of vanilla and something even sweeter.
She was so sweet.
And so off-limits.
Behind her, streetlamps streamed in through big bay windows, illuminating her graceful silhouette.
“My schedule isn’t very consistent,” she said, sounding regretful.
I nodded. This wasn’t news to me.
“Korey’s lawyer is going to ask you who is taking care of Chloewhile you are at work and how often it happens. And he’ll probably probe into the specifics.”
Natalie wrapped her cardigan around her tighter, and it physically pained me not to be able to reach out and touch her, even in just a friendly, reassuring way.
This was an office. We were in anoffice.
“It’s really just Blake and Noah.”
“You’ll want to have a specific number of days that she’s spent with them, oh, in the last month or few months. He’ll probably also ask what their careers are,” I added, “and then point out that they also work in high-demand settings.”
Natalie bristled a little, and honestly, I preferred that to her feeling like she was losing hope. I liked seeing the fight in her.
“Noah has months every year where his job islowdemand. It’s called an off-season for a reason.” She flicked her eyes up in irritation before returning her attention to her hands, and I smiled to myself.
“I thought Noah has historically spent his off-season partying, spending time with women, and ending up in the tabloids?” I countered.
Natalie narrowed her eyes at me.
“I’m only doing what they might,” I said under my breath.
She pushed her shoulders back.
“Noah has never been as much of a partier as the media likes to make him seem. He’s also in a committed relationship now and has a daughter of his own.”
“If he has a daughter of his own, doesn’t that limit the time that he can spend taking care of your daughter when you’re at work?”
A muscle in Natalie’s jaw jumped.
“That’s why Blake has been helping me. And while he might be a doctor, too, his position is very different from mine. He mostly works normal business hours, and his schedule is much more predictable. If Korey were to co-parent with me—” She made a face of disgust. “—then he’d be far less available than mybrothers. Unless he’s made changes to his work schedule that I don’t know about.”
“Korey’s shortcomings are for me to worry about, Natalie. I’ll be sure to find out his work schedule when I go to depose him so it’s very apparent to the judge.”
She looked at me with interest. “You’re going to interview him?”
