Read Online A Woman's Place: A Novel by Barbara Delinsky - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Barbara Delinsky
Tags: Fiction, General, Popular American Fiction, Fiction - General, Contemporary Women, divorce, Businesswomen, Custody of children
Ads: Link
it. So she needs to see someone fast. I told her you were the best." He paused, listening, still holding my hand, for which I was grateful. This was foreign ground for me. If someone had told me, twenty-four hours ago, that I would be embroiled in a custody suit, much less a cold-turkey divorce, I would have laughed and said, "Me? No way. My husband would never do anything like that."
How little I knew him after fifteen years. That was as jarring a thought Page 35
Barbara Delinsky - A Woman's Place
as the others.
"Eight-thirty tomorrow morning?" Brody asked me. I nodded vigorously.
"She'll be there," he said into the phone. "Her name is Claire Raphael."
"Can I call the kids?" I whispered.
He related the question, listened to Carmen's answer, nodded to me.
"Anything else tonight?" he asked me. Oh, yes. There certainly was. I reached for the phone.
"Hold on, Carmen. Here's Claire."
"Hi," I said. "I am really, really grateful for this. Brody says you're the best."
The voice that came back to me was throaty and amused. "Brody is biased. But your case sounds interesting."
"I want it to go away. I wasn't expecting any of this."
"The good guys never are. It's the bad guys who scheme."
"Can he win?"
"I won't know that until I know more about the case."
"Can we get a reversal of the Order to Vacate on Monday?"
"Same answer."
"You said I can call the kids, but can I see them, too? My son has a football game on Saturday. I want to watch. My daughter will be there. She had an allergy attack while I was gone that I knew nothing about until today. I want to talk to her and make sure she's all right."
"What do your kids know about the situation?"
"I don't know."
"Find out, if you can. You don't want to upset them. Phone calls are easy. The kids don't have to know where you're calling from. But if you show up at a football game and then don't go home with them afterward, there's more to answer for."
"Is there any way to reverse this order before Monday? Can we go to court tomorrow to get an emergency order of our own?"
"Only if your husband suddenly does something to put the children in danger. Will he?"
I wanted to say yes. He claimed I was a distracted parent, but if so, I learned it from him. Dennis was a master of evasion. Without blinking an eye, he could manufacture scheduling conflicts, I swear had a list of excuses ready for why he couldn't do this or that. He had missed Johnny's games and Kikit's recitals. He had missed back-to school nights. He had missed a few birthday parties, and more dinners than I had by a long shot.
But would he put the children in danger? I sighed. "I don't think so." Page 36
Barbara Delinsky - A Woman's Place
"Then be patient. Come see me tomorrow. We'll strategize then." Howard and Elizabeth Raphael were in their late sixties. They had their wits, their health, and the luxury of a retirement fund amassed during Howard's forty years as a regional manager for Granite Savings and Trust. While Elizabeth could be flighty, Howard was solid. He would have been the one to insist that the bank manage his retirement account, rather than handing it over to Dennis, and a good thing that was. As a venture capitalist, Dennis was like his mother, zealous in his causes but too easily taken in.
The Raphaels liked me. I had often suspected they trusted my career more than Dennis's. Even if they felt guilty for that, even if they felt it was time to be more loyal to their son, they knew what I felt for and meant to my kids. I didn't know what Dennis had told them about our separation, but I refused to believe they would hang up on me. As it happened, they didn't have a chance. The voice answering the phone belonged to my baby. "Hello?"
My heart beat up a storm, eyes filled with tears. The sound of her was heaven. "Hi, sweetie." "Mommy," she squealed, then her voice left the mouthpiece to yell, "It's Mommy, Grammy Bess. I told you she'd call. Where are you, Mommy? Daddy said you had to go places
How little I knew him after fifteen years. That was as jarring a thought Page 35
Barbara Delinsky - A Woman's Place
as the others.
"Eight-thirty tomorrow morning?" Brody asked me. I nodded vigorously.
"She'll be there," he said into the phone. "Her name is Claire Raphael."
"Can I call the kids?" I whispered.
He related the question, listened to Carmen's answer, nodded to me.
"Anything else tonight?" he asked me. Oh, yes. There certainly was. I reached for the phone.
"Hold on, Carmen. Here's Claire."
"Hi," I said. "I am really, really grateful for this. Brody says you're the best."
The voice that came back to me was throaty and amused. "Brody is biased. But your case sounds interesting."
"I want it to go away. I wasn't expecting any of this."
"The good guys never are. It's the bad guys who scheme."
"Can he win?"
"I won't know that until I know more about the case."
"Can we get a reversal of the Order to Vacate on Monday?"
"Same answer."
"You said I can call the kids, but can I see them, too? My son has a football game on Saturday. I want to watch. My daughter will be there. She had an allergy attack while I was gone that I knew nothing about until today. I want to talk to her and make sure she's all right."
"What do your kids know about the situation?"
"I don't know."
"Find out, if you can. You don't want to upset them. Phone calls are easy. The kids don't have to know where you're calling from. But if you show up at a football game and then don't go home with them afterward, there's more to answer for."
"Is there any way to reverse this order before Monday? Can we go to court tomorrow to get an emergency order of our own?"
"Only if your husband suddenly does something to put the children in danger. Will he?"
I wanted to say yes. He claimed I was a distracted parent, but if so, I learned it from him. Dennis was a master of evasion. Without blinking an eye, he could manufacture scheduling conflicts, I swear had a list of excuses ready for why he couldn't do this or that. He had missed Johnny's games and Kikit's recitals. He had missed back-to school nights. He had missed a few birthday parties, and more dinners than I had by a long shot.
But would he put the children in danger? I sighed. "I don't think so." Page 36
Barbara Delinsky - A Woman's Place
"Then be patient. Come see me tomorrow. We'll strategize then." Howard and Elizabeth Raphael were in their late sixties. They had their wits, their health, and the luxury of a retirement fund amassed during Howard's forty years as a regional manager for Granite Savings and Trust. While Elizabeth could be flighty, Howard was solid. He would have been the one to insist that the bank manage his retirement account, rather than handing it over to Dennis, and a good thing that was. As a venture capitalist, Dennis was like his mother, zealous in his causes but too easily taken in.
The Raphaels liked me. I had often suspected they trusted my career more than Dennis's. Even if they felt guilty for that, even if they felt it was time to be more loyal to their son, they knew what I felt for and meant to my kids. I didn't know what Dennis had told them about our separation, but I refused to believe they would hang up on me. As it happened, they didn't have a chance. The voice answering the phone belonged to my baby. "Hello?"
My heart beat up a storm, eyes filled with tears. The sound of her was heaven. "Hi, sweetie." "Mommy," she squealed, then her voice left the mouthpiece to yell, "It's Mommy, Grammy Bess. I told you she'd call. Where are you, Mommy? Daddy said you had to go places
Similar Books
