First Class Justice (First Class Novels) (6 page)

“No, Janie. I’m not ready yet and he doesn’t think about me
like
that
anyway. He’s become a good friend. I was just curious.”

“Oh,” said Janie. “Well, he’ll be there for the trial at
least.”

Well, better than nothing
, she thought.

*****

The trial was set to begin on Wednesday and on Monday
afternoon Sarah sent word that the Public Defender had requested a continuance.
Katy called Janie to make sure they had heard the news.

“Yes, we got the call a little while ago. I’m sorry. Are you
okay?”

“Hell, no!” Katy yelled through the phone. “The last few
sessions with Dr. LaVaughn I have been working on being able to confront that
bastard in court and now they postpone it for eight weeks? I am pissed off!”

Janie felt terrible for her friend. She wished there was
something she could do, something she could say to make her feel better.

“Come here! Come stay with me, with us for a while.”

“Hmph! How am I supposed to just up and leave? I can’t just
leave?” Katy scoffed.

“Why not? Come for Christmas! It will be my first here in
New York and I would love to have you here. Please?” Janie begged.

“Well, Derek said he was going to spend Christmas with Brett
this year. It’s the first one in five years.”

“See? Perfect! And you still have some vacation at work
right?” Janie’s voice was full of excitement.

“Yeah I do. I’ve only used my sick time.”

“Please?” Janie begged.

“What the hell,” Katy replied. “Why not?”

Janie screeched and Katy had to pull the phone from her ear.
She smiled and had to admit that she was the teeniest bit excited.

*****

“So are you going to see Janie or Mark?” Dr. La Vaughn
asked.

“Both?”

“Thank you for answering the question honestly,” Dr. La
Vaughn said.

Katy stood looking out the window, her usual spot in the
doctor’s office. She wanted to tell the doctor how she felt, but if she were
being completely honest, she wasn’t quite sure yet.

“I miss her so much. We’ve seen each other at least once a
week for forever. It’s weird not having that anymore. And I know we talk on the
phone all the time, but it’s not the same.”

“And Mark?”

“I don’t know. What if he was the one that could make me
happy and it will never happen because of how we met?”

“Katy, you need to find happiness within yourself, not
expect someone else to do it for you. If you are looking for someone to ‘make
you happy’, you’ll forever be disappointed.”

“A girl can hope, can’t she?”

Mark threw himself into his work. He spent every waking
minute focused and concentrating on everything he could find. He made three
trips overseas in three weeks and his body was never sure what time zone it was
in.

On his flight home from Sydney two days before Christmas, he
was mentally and physically exhausted. The flight attendant, Sandra, was
particularly attentive to him and Mark welcomed the distraction. While the
other passengers slept, Mark worked on his laptop until Sandra interrupted him.
She was attractive and looked
very
good in her uniform. And she was
fairly obvious in her advances. He enjoyed their conversation and when she told
him she would be in New York for three days, he figured ‘what the hell?’.

As he left the first class cabin, Sandra handed him a piece
of paper with her name and the hotel where she was staying. No, she was definitely
not being shy about her intent.  Mark stuffed the paper into his jeans pocket
and headed for his apartment.

*****

After her second day in New York, Katy understood why Janie
had fallen in love with the city. Yes, there was more traffic in Manhattan than
all
of Oregon but it was a wonder to be seen. The people, the lights,
the decorations, and the snow made the two women gush at each new sight. Matt
was being a very good sport about visiting every tourist spot with the other
millions of tourists and watched his wife and her best friend act like children
‘oohing’ and ‘ahhing’ continually.

“Ray? Do you know where Serendipity is?” Janie asked.

Matt and Janie’s driver chuckled and moved the black BMW
into the left lane so that he could turn and take the ladies to their
destination. Matt’s phone starting ringing and he answered to hear Mark on the
other end.

“Oh good. You’re back. I have some blueprints I want you to
look at just to make sure I didn’t miss anything,” he said. Then he turned and
looked at Janie with a slight frown forming.

“Yeah, I guess. I’m sure Janie won’t mind. See you at seven
then.” Matt returned the phone to his pocket.

“Who was that?” Janie asked, not liking the expression on
her husband’s face.

“Mark. He got back from Sydney today.”

“What won’t I mind?”

“Let’s talk about that later,” he said.

Ray pulled in front of the restaurant and Matt saw the huge
crowd forming.

“Really?” he asked.

Janie grinned and Katy pushed open the car door.

“Women!” Matt grumbled as he escorted them to get a hot
chocolate.

*****

“Oh no!” Janie exclaimed later that night when Matt told him
why Mark had called. “He’s bringing a date to dinner? Who?”

“I don’t know. This is a first. He’s never dated a woman
longer than a few weeks, and he’s
never
brought a date to a family
event, so, this is really weird. Do you really mind?”

“No, but…well…it’s just that Katy’s here. Does he know
that?”

“I doubt it. I’ve hardly talked to him in the last few
weeks. I haven’t had an opportunity to talk to him about much at all.” Matt sat
in their massive closet while Janie folded a pile of socks and put them in
drawers.

“What do we do?” Janie asked.

Matt shrugged. “No clue.”

*****

It was Janie’s first Christmas married to Matt and her first
Christmas in New York. She was thrilled to have Katy with her. Her sons had
arrived earlier from Portland and Matt had picked them up at the airport. Patty,
her mom, was spending the holiday in Chicago with her youngest daughter,
Janie’s baby sister. But it was still going to be a perfect Christmas. 

The whole Lathem family was gathering at Matt and Janie’s for
Christmas Eve dinner. Matt and Mark’s mother, Maureen, celebrated Christmas Day
at their home after Mass. Janie did not want to disrupt the family traditions,
so she offered to have a big gathering the night before. All the brothers were
coming, except Paul, a Navy Seal, still on assignment somewhere in the Middle
East.

Katy helped her with the copious amounts of food in the
ovens. They set the dining room table and lit the candles. The twenty foot
Christmas tree set off the room with a festive spirit and they waited for the
family to arrive.

“I can’t believe you live here!” Katy said to Janie as they
sat on bar stools indulging in a glass of wine.

“Me either,” Janie grinned. “I love it here!”

“I can understand why.”

Katy had been given one of the new guest rooms for her stay.
Matt had purchased the other apartment on their floor and a massive remodel had
been completed just after they returned from their honeymoon. Katy’s room had
an amazing view of Uptown and she found herself staring at the lights at night
when she couldn’t sleep.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Janie added. “I love Portland, but
with Matt here, this is my home now.”

“I know. I understand,” Katy said with a sad smile on her
face. “But I still miss you.”

The doorman called up to say he was sending Matt’s parents
up. Matt appeared from his office and grabbed his wife and smothered her in
kisses. Katy laughed and took the wine glasses into the kitchen.

“God, I love you more than you can ever begin to imagine,”
he said leaving a trail of kisses down her chin to her throat.

Janie smiled and was about to say something when the
doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it,” yelled Katy as she ran to the door.

Matt gave his wife one more kiss and released her to greet
his parents as they entered the apartment.

“Katy! Lovely to see you,” Maureen said as she drew her into
a hug.

“Hello Maureen,” Katy said, a tad shocked at the loving
embrace.

“Oh, you are looking much better then when I saw you last,”
Maureen said as she admired Katy in her skinny jeans and red sweater.

“Mom!” Matt said.

“Oh Matthew. Really! She
is
looking better. I was
giving her a compliment. Katy, I meant that as a compliment.”

“I know, Maureen. Thank you. And I feel better too.”

“I’m sure you do. That bastard is still in jail right?”

“Mom!” Matt said again. “Come get a drink.”

Peter, Matt’s father, took his wife’s coat and smiled at
Katy.

“It is nice to see you looking well, Katy. I am glad you are
spending the holidays with us.” He gently patted Katy’s arm as he threw the
coats on the chair.

“Thank you Peter. You too. And I appreciate your kind
invitation to spend the day with you tomorrow.”

They made their way into the living room and Matt handed his
dad a drink. Janie had distracted Maureen by asking her advice on how to serve
the food. Matt was completely smitten with his wife. Not only did she complete
his life, she loved his mother and handled her like a pro.

“Good woman you got there,” Peter said to his son.

“Don’t I know it?” Matt chuckled.

Next to arrive was Andrew, another of Matt’s younger brothers,
and his husband, Rory. They had gotten married in the spring and spent many
weekend evenings joining Matt and Janie for dinner. Then Ben and Tim, the two
youngest brothers, arrived together and the noise level was at a mild hum.
Janie’s sons, Adam and Tyler appeared from the family room, it being halftime
of the Knicks/Lakers game. Ben and Tim wanted to watch the highlights and so
they all headed back to watch the second half until dinner was ready.

A short time later, with Maureen rearranging the ornaments
on the Christmas tree, David arrived. He was the black sheep, so to speak. He
was the middle son that hadn’t really decided what he wanted to be when he grew
up.

“So what are you doing now?” Matt asked his younger brother.

“Well, I’m thinking about investing in a new cool
opportunity. It’s something I really think you might be interested in,” David
began.

“And what would that be?” Matt asked wryly.

“Water filters that fit onto your faucet and you don’t have
to replace the filter, just clean it every month. It’s gonna be big, bro. Real
big!”

Matt rolled his eyes at the latest scheme David was in to.
It was always something that he was sure would be his big break. Matt understood
that it was probably difficult living in his shadow. He had achieved the kind
of success most people only dream of, but David needed to grow up and actually
get a job and move out of his parent’s house. Being thirty-three, jobless and
living at home was just embarrassing.

Matt was saved from having to further discuss water filters
when the doorbell rang. Mark and a tall leggy blonde stood on the other side of
the door. Matt gave her the once over and was totally dumbfounded. She looked a
lot like Katy.
This should be interesting
, he thought.

He took their coats and Mark introduced Sandra, his date, to
his brother and Janie, as she appeared at his side.

Mark escorted Sandra and began introducing her to his
family.

“Shit!” Janie mouthed. “What the hell?”

“I know,” Matt frowned.

*****

Katy pulled the massive roast beef from the oven to let it
rest. She could hear the laughing coming from the other room and was anxious to
see the brothers. She really liked Matt's and Mark's family. They were
everything she wished she had as a child. Her friends used to tell her they
would have loved to be an only child, and even though Katy knew her mother
loved her unconditionally and spent as much time with her as she could, she
always felt lonely, until she met Janie, and then her extended family grew
exponentially with a second mom, in Patty, and Janie's younger sisters.

Now here she was in New York with Janie and her new extended
family. She was enjoying this Christmas. If Derek was with her it would have been
perfect. She put the oven mitts back on their hooks and washed her hands.
Walking into the great room she could see Maureen at the tree. She laughed as
she realized she had rearranged all of the ornaments.

"They weren’t symmetrical," Maureen smiled as Katy
walked to the tree.

"You've done a lovely job," Katy grinned. There
was no malice or intent in Maureen's actions. Janie absolutely loved her new mother-in-law
and had told Katy many times of her 'helpfulness'. Maureen was beside herself
with joy at finally having a daughter to enjoy and Janie gave her free reign to
enjoy all she wanted. Once again, Katy was thrilled for Janie, but also wished
good fortune like that would rain on her.

"Well, thank you," Maureen patted her arm and took
her hand in hers. "Come say hello to my sons!"

Both Andrew and Rory gave her a hug. David was talking to
his father about water filters, and as they turned to the tree, Katy caught a
glimpse of Mark. He looked good in his black suit. He wore a pale mauve dress
shirt with the collar open.
He's very secure in his manhood
, she thought
and grinned. He was talking to Matt and as she started to take a step towards
him, she froze. He stood next to a blonde woman, his hand on her back. She was
laughing and looking at him like she was a cat about to eat the cream.

"Are you okay, dear?" Maureen asked.

"Um, yes, thank you. I need to check on the
roast." Katy turned and all but ran to the kitchen, heart beating against
her ribs.

This is ridiculous!
she thought.
I have no claim
on him and he obviously isn't interested in me!