“Hmph.” His father exhaled. In addition to being a lawyer, Bruce had volunteered as a firefighter, until the ceiling of Kim’s Diner had collapsed on him. He’d suffered a broken arm but otherwise had been fine. He’d retired from the fire department right after the accident and married Christina. Colin had never had the urge to fight fires. Instead, his rush came from piloting. He could remember his first solo as if it were yesterday.
Sensing now was a good time to change the subject, he said, “I saw Rachel Palladia today.”
His father swirled the liquid in his glass. “I heard Rachel broke off with her young man.”
Colin glanced out the library window. Night had fallen, and because of the dense trees, he couldn’t tell if any lights were on at the Palladia house next door. “That’s true. Rachel told me the whole story. Did you hear that he’s threatening to sue her for her recipes? Says they belong to him.”
“Hadn’t heard that part,” Reginald said, setting his Scotch down. “What a damn shame. Is that what you and she talked about today?”
“Yeah. She says the recipes came from Kim. Since there’s no specific work-for-hire contract regarding her recipes, meaning they didn’t have a payment plan for those, I’m pretty convinced he’s just bullying her. He’s not happy she broke off the engagement and is probably smarting from having to change his menu.”
“Maybe he should have kept his pants up,” Reginald said sharply. He caught Colin’s shocked expression. “What? Told you I knew everything.”
“Well…” Colin felt embarrassed. Sometimes being man-to-man with your dad was awkward, even if you did work with him. He regained his composure. “I’d like to take on Rachel’s case. I told her I’d discuss it with you first. I don’t think he’ll go as far as a court filing.”
“Okay,” Reginald said easily. “We’ve been handling the Palladia family’s legal matters for years. Adding Rachel as a client is only logical.”
“There’s one little catch.” Colin paused and rubbed the back of his neck. “Rachel doesn’t have a lot of money. She says she’s pretty close to broke, which is why she’s back living at home.”
“I’d heard that, too,” Reginald said. “Kim told me Rachel won’t accept anything from either her mother or grandmother. Kim offered her an outrageous salary and Rachel said no. She’s a Palladia, all right. Take nothing from anybody if you don’t know you can repay it.”
Colin’s chin itched and he scratched the stubble. His five-o’clock shadow was arriving. “Could I lower my hourly rate for her? Do some of her case pro bono? You’re always saying the firm should do more of that, give back to the community.”
Reginald paced for a minute. “I’d have to discuss this with the partners, but as longtime clients, I don’t foresee a problem waiving some billable hours.”
Colin poured himself a glass of water from the small bar sink. “I told her I’d go over at lunchtime tomorrow and let her know.”
“Then I’ll work on getting an answer first thing in the day and give it to you by noon. I’m not missing prime rib, either.”
“Great. I can put in something myself, if that helps,” Colin said, meaning taking a cut in salary on this case. His bungalow was almost paid for. His car was paid in full. Except for the really expensive plane he would be a quarter owner of, he didn’t have any superhuge monthly bills.
Reginald’s eyes narrowed, wrinkling the skin at the corner. “I do have one question before you accept Rachel as a client. Will you be able to maintain your professional objectivity?”
The question caught Colin off guard and his heart seemed to stop. “What do you mean by that?”
Reginald coughed, as was his habit when addressing a delicate matter. “You and Rachel were always good friends. She practically lived over here. She’s like a fourth daughter to your mother and me. Since you two were so close, it’s natural that you want to rush to her defense and be her knight in shining armor.”
Colin stared at his father for a moment, processing his words. He had wanted to throttle her ex this afternoon. But that didn’t mean he would be reactive. He and Rachel weren’t…Then Colin understood his father’s concern.
“Oh, I get it,” he said. “You think I…She. No. No, it’s not like that. She was always over here because she had a crush on Bruce, not me. If you’re like a parent to her, I’m like her brother. She never thought of me as anything else, or as anything more than a buddy.”
Reginald arched his left eyebrow. “Even if you did?”
Colin shifted his weight, crossed his arms and simply waited, as if doing so would deny the truth. He’d always liked Rachel, and now a beautiful and intriguing woman had replaced the gangly girl of his childhood.
“Son, it was so obvious to your mother and me that you had the biggest crush on her,” Reginald said quietly. “Kim, Rachel’s mother—Adrienne—your mother and I would joke that someday the two of you should get married, you were so like peas in a pod. You even finished each other’s sentences. We said it would finally unite our families. After all, we’ve been living next door to each other for generations. Your mother had the whole thing thought out.”
Colin sputtered on the water he’d been sipping. “That’s morbid.”
Reginald waved dismissively. “Oh, it’s a thing parents who are friends do. You’ll understand someday. You like to pretend you can somehow predestine your child’s future. You do it although you know your plans won’t come true. You went to college, she went to cooking school, and each of you moved on with your lives. That’s just how things go.”
Reginald set his empty glass on the side bar. “As much as your mother and I would love for you to settle down, we know you’ll do that when the time’s right. I just want to be sure you’ll be objective in Rachel’s case.”
Colin forced himself not to cross his arms across his chest after he placed his glass in the sink. “As you said, we’ve both moved on. She’s planning on going back to New York. Her life isn’t in Morrisville anymore. And I’m not going to be anyone’s rebound guy, so even if she did choose me, which, may I remind you, she never has and won’t because she’s never thought of me as anything more than a friend, nothing’s going to happen. Client relationship only.”
“If you’re sure,” Reginald said. Colin didn’t have a chance to further refute his father’s doubt, because his sister Kristin arrived and seven-year-old twins bounded in with yells of “Hi, Grandpa! We’re here. Can you tell us apart today?” To which Reginald promptly said Libby was the one with the red bow and Maggie was the one with the blue. He was right, of course, and within minutes all had taken their seats at the breakfast-room table, a more comfortable venue than the massive dining-room table, which sat sixteen.
“So, Uncle Colin, will you be there?” Libby asked, and Colin focused on his niece.
“Be there for what?” he asked.
“We’re doing a St. Patrick’s Day feast at our school. St. Paddy’s Day is on Monday this year. We’ve already started making our leprechaun traps. Anyways, we get to invite someone special. I have to bring cupcakes. They have to be from a bakery. Something about hepa something.” Libby said.
“Hepatitis,” her sister finished.
“What about your mom and dad?” Colin asked. He didn’t want to be usurping anyone’s invitation.
“Dad’s got patients and Mom’s already volunteering, so she doesn’t count. I thought I’d bring you. I keep telling my friends you have a plane.”
“Not yet,” Colin said.
Libby frowned. “But you fly a lot. Remember, you took us up. That wasn’t