Page 1 of Someone to Love Tracy Corbett

Chapter One

Monday, 25thMarch

Beth Lawrence had always prided herself in being the ultimate professional. She often stayed up late into the night, studying the latest family law legislation or reading numerous legal publications detailing complex case law. Nothing less would suffice. After all, her services didn’t come cheap. Her hourly fee made her wince, adding pressure to an already stressful job. Her clients came with high expectations. And as such, she needed to earn their trust so they wouldn’t feel ‘fleeced’ by her final invoice. They needed to feel special. Valued. Important. Like they were her only focus and they were receiving the best advice possible.

Of course, that was when they were actually paying for her services.

‘He can’t treat me this way!’ the woman yelled, banging the desk, making Beth’s cold mug of tea vibrate. ‘I deserve better. Thirty-nine years I’ve looked after that man. Borne his children, supported his career, cleaned his house, and what thanks do I get?’

Beth already knew the answer.

‘Tossed onto the scrapheap like I’m nothing!’ The woman stood up, her hands flying into the air with indignant rage. ‘Traded in for a younger woman, a woman half his age. A woman who fawns after him like he’s God’s gift. Well, he isn’t,’ she said, banging the desk again to make her point.

Beth moved her mug of tea to the window ledge. It was safer that way.

‘I’mthe one who supported his career. Raised his kids. Kept his house.Me!Not her. And this is how he repays me?’ She waved the divorce petition at Beth. Anger coloured her cheeks, making her watery blue eyes appear venomous, like those of a provoked python, spitting and writhing.

Beth knew better than to interrupt.Hell hath no fury like a woman scornedwasn’t said without good reason. She’d also learnt that hell has no fury like a scorned woman interrupted ‘mid-rant’ about her husband’s infidelity.

‘Why? That’s what I want to know. What’s she got that I haven’t?’ The woman opened her arms, inviting comment regarding her age-defying appearance. ‘It’s not like I’ve let myself go. Look at me. Not many women my age have a figure like this.’

Which was true. At sixty-two she could still turn heads. Her prominent cheekbones were enhanced by subtle make-up, and her pale grey-blonde hair was youthfully styled, softening the angular contours of her slender face. The woman oozed money, class and elegance. It was indeed a puzzle as to why she’d been rejected in such an unceremonious manner.

But such was life. Or rather, such were relationships. They rarely made sense.

As a family law solicitor, Beth had encountered all manner of betrayals over the years. Relationships that were once loving and faithful, now reduced to disputes over kitchen appliances and who got the dog. Deceit. Fraud. Adultery. Or those who’d simply fallen out of love. She’d seen it all.

She’d even had a case where a man had led two separate lives. Two wives, two sets of kids and two different homes. He’d somehow managed to juggle both existences for years, before the truth inadvertently came to light, courtesy of a misdirected tax bill.

Nothing shocked her any more. Little upset her, and she’d learnt never to become emotionally invested in any of her cases… which was why today’s meeting was so tricky.

Beth took the opportunity of a lull in the woman’s rant to raise her hand. ‘I understand why you’re upset—’

‘Upset? I’m bloody furious!’

‘But it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to impart legal advice—’

‘Why not?’

Beth sighed. ‘Because you’re my mother.’

‘So?’

‘So, you’re divorcing my father. My judgement is hardly impartial.’

‘Good, I need you on my side.’ Connie Lawrence dropped into a chair and folded her arms, defiant in her outrage.

Not that Beth could blame her. She’d feel the same way if a divorce petition had unceremoniously landed on her doormat with no prior warning. It wasn’t exactly considerate. In fact, it bordered on cowardice. Her father had a lot to answer for.

Beth picked up the discarded document from the floor. ‘You’re forgetting that Dad is also my employer.’

‘I don’t see why that’s relevant. He’s hardly going to fire you, is he?’ her mother said, dismissively. ‘Anyway, he can’t. You’re a partner now.’

‘It’s his firm. He can do what he likes.’

‘And don’t I know it. He’s probably off bonking his floozy right now.’

Beth flinched. She really had no desire to invite images of her dad ‘bonking’ into her head. She’d been subjected to too many details of her parents’ acrimonious split as it was – she didn’t want to hear about their sex lives, too.

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