More Than Friends (52 page)

"Now?" Michael asked in dismay. "This is my favorite program." J.D. shot a look over his shoulder at a pair of teenage boys with sideburns the likes of which he hadn't seen since he'd been a teenager himself. "Now. I can't stay long. Just turn it down," he said as a concession. When the voices lowered, he slipped his hands into his pockets. "Your mother tells me you won't go to Sam's swearing-in. I think you should."

"Why?"

"Because Sam's been a friend of the family since you were born. He helped raise you. He taught you to play ball. He loves you."

"He caused you and Mom to break up."

"No. We'd have done it anyway." It wasn't necessarily true. If nothing had rocked the boat, he and Teke might have gone on forever, with Sam and Annie's assistance. Unless something else had rocked the boat. Like one of J.D."s affairs. So Teke had been caught instead of him. He had been lucky.

"Why would you have broken up anyway?" Michael asked.

"We weren't making each other happy."

"You looked happy enough to me."

"You weren't aware of what we were feeling inside."

"What were you feeling?"

J.D. had let himself in for the question. But what could he say? Your mother wasn't exciting me anymore. I like being with different women. My life was as structured as my father's life, and it was depressing me. Any of those might reflect badly on him, so he said, "We were feeling that we were missing something in life."

"Is that why Mom was with Sam?"

"No. I think she was with Sam because he happened to come to the house at a time when she was feeling low."

"She could have said no. He could have said no."

"There were other things on his mind. He wasn't thinking as clearly as you and I are now. That's the key, Michael. You have to be rational. You have to ask yourself why you are doing what you are." That was Annie's approach, actually. J.D. was trying to follow it. "You have to look ahead and consider the consequences of your actions. You're not doing that, when it comes to Sam."

"Grandpa kicked him out of the firm."

"So Sam ended up with something even better. Don't compare yourself to your grandfather. He let his anger get the best of him. He has cut himself off from Sam completely. But he'll be the one to suffer without Sam. Do you want to suffer, too? When do you stop punishing yourself?"

"I'm not punishing myself."

"Looks it to me," J.D. said. "You could use Sam's help."

"So could you, but you're going off to Florida."

"That's because I've taken Sam's help for so long

that it's finally time to stand on my own. He's been a crutch. I have to start walking without him."

"Well, so do I."

J.D. shook his head. "You're only thirteen. There's still a lot you can learn from Sam. You've been lucky to have a friend like him. So have I."

"Then why are you leaving?" Michael cried.

He sat down on the bed, arm to arm, beside Michael. "I have a chance to do something new. You kids are old enough to fly down and spend time with me. Sam and Annie will, too. Sam made a mistake, but he's a good man. I won't throw him away as my father has. I'm not that dumb."

Michael fiddled with the remote control. "You think I'm being dumb?"

"I think you're being shortsighted."

There was a pause, then an unsure, "You think I'll be sorry if I don't go?"

"Yes. I do think that."

"But I still walk funny."

"Ah, for God's sake, you don't," J.D. said impatiently. "You walk different from before, but not funny. I've seen pigeon-toed people who walk funny--you don't walk funny. Sometimes you have to accept things, Michael. This experience has changed you in lots of ways, but you have to use it to get you ahead. That's what I'm trying to do." Michael looked up. "You are?"

J.D. nodded.

"Are you going to the swearing-in?"

"I wouldn't miss it. Sam will be a big man up there on the bench. I want people to know that I helped get him there." He cracked a cocky smile. "So. Are you going or not?"

"I don't know."

"You'd better decide soon," J.D. advised, rolling to his feet on his way to the door. "You'll need a

pressed shirt and a blazer and dress pants that fit. That fit, Michael. At the rate you've been growing, you're probably out of your old ones. I'm telling your mother to get new ones. I want you looking like my son."

He went down the stairs to tell that to Teke.

Annie took charge of the reception. It was being held at the Four Seasons, an easy walk across the Boston Common from the governor's office, where Sam would be sworn in. She wanted it to be lavishly dignified, which meant a buffet with plenty of food, beautifully cooked and presented. She also wanted a pianist. And fresh flower arrangements. And invitations that were just a little different from the norm, dignified but individual. That was how Teke would have done it, had Annie allowed her to take over as party planner. But Annie had a point to prove to herself and those around her. She wanted everyone to know that her skills weren't limited to the classroom. The reception for Sam's swearing-in was her debut, a time for her to shine as Sam's wife. She bought a stunning new dress. She added tiny little touches to her makeup. She wanted everything to be perfect, and as the day approached it looked as though it would be. Invitations went out, and acceptances came in. One hundred and fifty friends and colleagues would be joining family for the occasion.

Among them were several of Annie's faculty friends, plus Jason Faust, plus Charles Honnemann. She had invited Charles strictly as a courtesy. He had given her a wide berth since the mystery of Jason's overdose had been solved, so she was surprised when he accepted the invitation.

But people loved being with a winner, and Sam

was that. She was proud of him for it. She felt good knowing he was hers.

The big question, as the day approached, was whether Michael would come. Sam wanted it desperately. Michael's presence had become symbolic to him of the end of an ordeal. But Michael wasn't committing himself. No one seemed able to make him budge.

The swearing-in was called for five in the afternoon. After installing his parents in a suite at the Four Seasons, Sam returned to Constance to change clothes. Annie was waiting when he stepped out of the shower.

She stood on tiptoe and coiled her arms around his neck. He smelled of soap and Sam, her favorite combination. "How do you feel?"

"Nervous. Why did we invite so many people?"

"We invited them because they're our friends and want to share this with us. And because I am so proud of you." She kissed him once, then nipped at his mustache. "I want everyone to know what you've achieved. I want everyone to know you're my man."

He caught her mouth, kissed her, framed her head with his hands, and ran his eyes over every inch of her face. She felt the tenderness of it and was deeply moved. "You're beautiful," he whispered.

"Wait till I shower and put makeup on."

"I like you this way. It reminds me of the waif of a girl I met when I was nineteen and fell in love with on the spot. You haven't changed, sunshine."

"Yes, I have. I have cellulite."

"Where?"

She touched her backside.

He swung her around and kissed the body part in question. "Smooth as a baby's," he said, and took her back in his arms. "Thank you for planning all this. It'll be great."

"I hope so." She caught the flicker of a frown creasing his brow. Michael was never long gone from his mind. "Do you think he'll come?"

"Don't know."

"If he doesn't, Sam, it'll only be because he's young. We can't expect him to be mature at thirteen. I certainly wasn't."

"But he knows how much it means to me. Maybe that's the trouble. Maybe I shouldn't have told him. I gave him the tool to hurt me." Annie hurt on Sam's behalf. "One part of me wants to run over there and shake some sense into the kid. Only he's bigger than I am, now."

"Anyway," Sam said, "you can't force something like that. If he comes, it has to be of his own free will."

As Annie let him go and stepped into the shower, she prayed it would be. She had done her best to convince Michael herself. She couldn't do more.

By the time she was done with her shower, other thoughts took over. She had painstakingly shopped with Zoe for a dress and now helped her into it. She wanted the girl to feel beautiful in the ways Annie hadn't when she had been her age. By the time Annie was done, Zoe's hair was like waving gold silk, her cheeks were faintly blushed, her earlobes delicate with tiny diamond studs. Sam whistled when he saw her, and her blush deepened.

Sam whistled at Annie, too, when she stood only in a lacy slip. He whistled again seconds after he zipped her dress, then again when she came down the stairs ready to go.

Jon raced in seconds later, after stopping at the Maxwells to give encouragement to Leigh, who had been through a frenzy of clothes hunting that afternoon when the outfit she had chosen to wear was suddenly too tight in the middle. She was too thin to

look pregnant and too bloated at the waist to feel thin. Annie remembered that stage and how quickly it passed.

"Any sign of Michael?" Sam asked Jon.

"He was there."

"Is he coming?"

"I don't know. He hadn't gotten dressed yet." Annie put a reassuring hand on Sam's arm. "He's fighting it. Give him time."

"There isn't much left," Sam said sadly, and led the way to the car. To Annie's relief, he seemed to push the sadness from mind during the drive from Constance to Boston. She had the kids to thank for that. With the reality of Sam's new job finally sinking in, they had a steady list of questions for him.

"What do my friends call you?" Zoe asked.

"Zoe's father."

"I'm serious. The Honorable Judge of the Superior Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Samuel F. Pope?"

"Judge Pope will be fine," Sam said.

"Will that scare them away?"

Jon answered. "Nah. My friends are psyched. They're already planning to get their speeding tickets fixed."

"Forget it," Sam advised.

"My words exactly," Jon assured him.

"What is Mom called?" Zoe asked.

Sam said, "Dr. Pope."

"Judge and Dr. Pope?"

"Are we talking about a formal introduction here? That would be the Honorable and Mrs. Samuel F. Pope." He glanced at Annie. "The Honorable and Dr. Samuel F. Pope? That's not right. The Honorable Samuel F. Pope and Dr. Anne H. Pope."

"The Honorable and Mrs. is fine," she said.

"How many robes do you have?" Zoe asked Sam.

"Three. One to wash, one to wear, one to keep my closet in line."

"Did Joy mind leaving the law firm?"

"Nope. She's getting more money for working shorter hours."

"Does the court adjourn for the summer?"

"No."

"Then when do you take your vacation?"

"Whenever I want. I let them know."

"Will you find lawyers in contempt of court?"

"Sooner or later, I assume."

"Like on TV?"

Jon groaned.

And so it went. Smiling, Annie might have liked to freeze the moment in time. These three, so precious to her, were in synch with each other. There was a feeling of excitement and hope.

The excitement grew the closer they came to Boston. Before Annie was quite ready for the intimacy to end, she was being ushered into the State House and up to the second-floor corner office where the governor and an official photographer waited. There were pictures. The room filled with people, none of whom was Michael. There was a brief introduction by the governor, then all sixty seconds of the actual swearing-in, then handshaking, congratulations, and more pictures. It was an emotional time for Annie, whose throat grew tight whenever she heard the words Your Honor directed at Sam.

When almost everyone else had set off across the Common, they followed suit. Sam was flanked by several other judges, who talked as they walked. From time to time Annie saw him anxiously scan the people walking ahead of them. He caught her eye. She shrugged. She hadn't seen Michael, or J.D., either. Her heart broke for Sam, who had so badly wanted them there.

it passed.