"Hoffman-ForRicher" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hoffman Abbie)

I took his arm. His hesitation made me more sure than ever that he was someone
new. "Come home," I said. Now or never. We could start with an early dinner,
then see if the evening followed the old pattern or not. If he still ended
lovemaking with hurt and humiliation, I knew the judge I wanted to see.

As we walked out of the building, Gretchen joined us. "Call me for lunch, Penny.
Don't call me for any more divorce work. I don't think my budget can take it."

"Don't worry," said Rich.

Gretchen gave him a pointed look. "On the other hand," she said.

He grinned at her. Couldn't be Rich; Rich had no sense of humor where my
independence was concerned. He hated it if I had lunch with a girl friend almost
more than he hated it when my advertising buddies and I went out to lunch.

He wrote Gretchen a check for a thousand dollars. "Just in case she needs you
again, here's a provisional retainer," he said, handing it to her.

She swallowed. "What if she doesn't?"

"For services rendered," he said.

"Penny, you witnessed that, didn't you? Now I'm going to deposit this."

"Isn't there something fishy about your taking money from your client's
adversary?"

"Not since you halted the proceedings." She blew us both a kiss and walked off.

"I don't know, Rich," I said. "I feel funny about you paying my lawyer for not
doing anything."

"You want me to take the check back?"

"No," I said. If it came down to divorce again, I might invoke that check as a
provisional retainer, after all. A drop in the ocean of lawyers' fees, but that
drop meant a lot more to me than it did to Gretchen or Rich. It would make
things easier.

"Your car or mine ?" he asked as we went down the courthouse steps. The day was
stormy. Dark clouds looked ready to spit, though there was no rain falling yet.
I leaned closer to his warmth. He put his arm around me, with a little hug.

"Both, I think," I said. I looked up at his face and took a chance. "You know
the way home?"

He could have run with that, one way or the other. He said, "Okay if I follow
you?" so I still wasn't sure.