All's Fair

It's Complicated

The one thing she'd always appreciated about Jimmy's house was the long dock, stretching out over the water so far that you felt you were in a different place, disconnected from everything that was going on in the world behind it. She wandered out to the end of it and sat down, leaning back and bracing her hands on smooth wood warmed by the sun. She inhaled slowly and let out a long breath. There had always been something calming about looking up at the bluest of skies, while she listened to the sound of the water slapping gently against the sides of the boat and the pilings. Something about it tugged at her, and she appreciated the irony of it since this was the very place she'd sat day after day when she planned her escape from Florida, and the new life she'd yearned for someplace else.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even sense anyone approaching on the dock, until he was practically standing over her. She looked up, squinting her eyes against the glare.

"So I've got strict orders not to discuss the case today." Jack sat down on the dock beside her, where Grace was dangling her feet over the water. "You want to go bug Jimmy to take the boat out? Great afternoon for a sail."

She shook her head. "Maybe later."

Not only had her moment of solitude been interrupted, but now she had to sit around making small talk with her new co-counsel who apparently not only knew her stepfather, but knew him well enough to be invited over for a family dinner on a Sunday afternoon. Which he hadn't bothered to mention when she'd introduced herself, or during the entire day they'd spent together on Thursday going over the case. She stared back out at the water, hoping he would get the hint and just go away.

"Something bothering you?"

Or maybe not. Grace turned and looked at him. "When you picked me up, you must have known who I was – who my stepfather is," she corrected. "I'm trying to figure out why you didn't mention it."

"I didn't know who you were. Wallace isn't that unusual a name, and it's not like I hang out here all the time." He gave her a quick smile other women probably found irresistible, but fortunately she considered herself immune.

"Jimbo and I just go back a ways, that's all."

"Jimbo? Oh, great."

"You know, you haven't spent that much time around here since you left for college."

"What, the two of you were discussing me?" Wasn't that just lovely. She imagined Jimmy telling him how disappointing it was that Ellen's daughter rarely found the time to come for a visit. At least Jack should be able to appreciate the pressure she was under at a major law firm to work harder and bill more hours, since he'd started his own career on the fast track before giving it up for the more relaxed pace of running his own practice.

"Not at all," Jack said, and there was just the hint of that smile again. "He's mentioned his stepdaughter from time to time, but he just called you 'Slick.' Mostly bragging about the awards you racked up in law school. I didn't even remember Ellen's name used to be Wallace. Your brothers use Marlin."

"Yeah. He adopted them."

"But not you."

"Jimmy's not my father."

"Yeah, I think I got that." A seagull landed on the railing and watched them hopefully for a few moments, then, apparently realizing there were no handouts coming, flew off again over the water. Grace's curiosity won out and she decided she might as well take this chance to get to know her co-counsel a little better. After all, there was no point in being hostile toward someone she'd be working so closely with over the coming months.