“All right. I’ll think about it,” he said.
Chapter Three
Ashe was wrapping things up for the day in his chambers when Wyatt knocked on his open door. Ashe motioned for him to come on inside.
“Did you really have lunch with a naked woman at Malone’s today?” Wyatt asked, looking completely baffled.
Ashe winced. “No, I did not have lunch with a naked woman at Malone’s. I had lunch with Lilah, who was fully clothed.”
“Oh.” Wyatt sounded disappointed, then shrugged at the look Ashe shot his way. “Sorry, it was one of the best rumors I’ve heard in months.”
“Well, it probably has to do with the photograph she took to advertise her divorce classes at Eleanor’s estate. I’m sure the posters are all over town by now, if I know Lilah. She wouldn’t have wasted any time.”
“Oh. Okay.” Wyatt frowned but let it go. “So, about Lilah? Do you think I should be worried?”
“I think if those three little old ladies were related to me in any way, I would always be worried,” Ashe said.
“True. Pity me, please, and help me. Should I be worried about Lilah?”
“Probably. I mean, I don’t think she’s a swindler or anything like that. But she likes to shake things up, at the very least. Enjoys it, even.”
“Which Eleanor and company will love, if I know them. Are you going to do this class with Lilah?” Wyatt asked. “Please tell me you are, because if you do, you’ll know what she’s up to.”
Which was a great excuse to help Lilah. He could do it for Wyatt. If only Ashe could convince himself that’s why he’d be doing it. He thought about how she’d looked today, how vibrant and … interesting.
The woman was nothing if not interesting.
How long had it been since he’d met someone he found truly interesting? Who challenged him the way she did?
“The woman quoted Gandhi to me. ‘Be the change you want to see in the world.’ What a beautiful world it would be if we all made an effort to try to fix just one problem. She actually said that to me,” Ashe added.
Wyatt reminded him, “You try to fix things.”
“I do damage control. We all do. You know that.”
“Bad day, Judge?”
Ashe nodded.
“Well, do you think Lilah could help people going through divorce?” Wyatt tried finally.
“I don’t know. God knows, somebody needs to. There are way too many screwed-up people in the world.”
“Look, I’m not asking for a lifelong commitment here. Just do one of Lilah’s little classes.”
“One class. And you’ll owe me big-time.”
Lilah put her posters up all over town, immensely pleased with how well they’d turned out. And—if she was completely honest with herself—how uncomfortable they’d made Judge Ashford.
She got back to the Barrington estate at sunset and found Eleanor, Kathleen and Gladdy just finishing dinner and moving on to coffee and dessert, which they invited her to share. She agreed, having found the trio of women to be delightful, interesting company, although a bit secretive. She always felt as if they were up to something they wouldn’t talk about.
“Were you pleased with your little advertisements, dear?” Eleanor asked, as they all dug into delicious fruit tarts with fresh cream.
“I was, but I’d love to hear what you all think,” Lilah said, pulling out the last poster, which she’d kept for herself, and holding it up for them all to see.
“Oh, perfect,” Eleanor said.
“Absolutely.”
“And eye-catching,” Gladdy observed. “I hope no one gave you any trouble about them.”
“Well, the judge had his reservations, before he’d even seen them. But once he actually looked, he admitted there was nothing blatantly offensive about them.”
“Offensive? It’s a perfectly beautiful image,” Eleanor insisted.
“I thought so, too,” Lilah agreed.
“An absolute shame that such a young, good-looking man would be such a prude—” Gladdy began.
“Gladdy, we don’t know that. Not at all.”
“It certainly seems that way. Someone needs to loosen the man up a bit,” Gladdy said.
Lilah tried to hold back a giggle as she thought of how appealing that sounded. Loosening up the judge. Toying with him was one thing. Teasing him, of course. But to truly loosen the man up would require some effort, some action, which she should not undertake. She’d been bad enough the first time they’d met, and she’d had her fun with him over the posters. But she was ready to try to be good.
“Is he going to help you with your classes, dear?” Eleanor asked.
“He’s going to think about it.”
“Well, I’m sure you can persuade him,” Eleanor said. “The women in our family know how to get what we want.”
Her smile told Lilah that Eleanor was thinking of more than a woman getting a little help from a man with a divorce ceremony. Apparently all three ladies enjoyed men of every age, body type, personality type, ethnicity and any other attribute Lilah could think of. It had been eye-opening and surprising to hear about their exploits with various men over the years.
Which had left Lilah feeling as if she’d led a very sheltered life. She hadn’t admired from afar as many of the men as she should have up to this point, much less actually done the kind of things one didn’t do from afar with such men.
Which had her thinking of the judge.
Lilah certainly found it easy to admire so many of his attributes, both physical and otherwise, and she preferred not to do that from afar. Not with him.
“Kathleen, what did Wyatt tell us about the judge?” Eleanor asked. “Single? Married? Divorced?”
“Divorced, Wyatt said. Apparently, they were very young, and the marriage ended years ago.”
“Hmm. I was just thinking, if he still had some hard feelings over his own divorce, that might explain why he seems reluctant to help Lilah,” Eleanor said. “Any children?”
“No, none. Wyatt seemed to think he was quite sought-after among the ladies.”
“I’d certainly chase him, if I was twenty years younger,” Gladdy claimed.
“Twenty?” Kathleen just looked at her.
“It’s quite the thing these days, isn’t it? The … more mature woman and the younger man?”
Lilah laughed as softly as she could, covering her mouth with her linen napkin, but it was no use. The sound got out, and Eleanor and Kathleen joined her, then finally Gladdy.
“A woman should never be too old to appreciate a good-looking man,” Gladdy said.
“Amen to that,” Eleanor agreed.
“How old do you think he is?” Gladdy asked.
“Late thirties, I’m thinking,” Kathleen said. “He’s so distinguished.”
“No, mid-thirties. I believe he tries