If there was anything good about running into Scott and Cat, it was learning that she would not perish from seeing them together. And while it had been tempting to punch her in the throat, she hadn’t. She had perfected seeing Scott in passing and never lost her cool because they were co-parenting. She didn’t scream at him that he was nothing more than betraying scum, a liar, a cheat, a waste of air. Tears no longer rose in her eyes. She didn’t long for him. In fact, she began to see his flaws more clearly. His hair was not just touched with gray, it must be graying rapidly and thinning fast because he was using some kind of cheap coloring that stained his scalp. He had a weak chin, his nose was crooked and his teeth should be whitened.
He was very fit, she’d give him that. How else should he be since all he did was play? But being fit couldn’t keep your face and neck from sagging. In fact, all that time in the sun was not helping the aging process. But all that was just the rigors of aging, and she would have looked on his flaws with affection, willing to grow old with him. She would have gone to the end, of that she was sure. She never questioned whether or not she was deeply in love. She never asked herself if she was in love enough. She only asked herself how much longer they had if they stayed relatively healthy.
That was no longer possible. There was no more for them now.
But if she was going to run into him and his mistress in Carmel on a sunny Sunday afternoon, she could run into them anywhere, anytime. Avoiding Half Moon Bay was no longer an issue.
Spending the day with Adele had put her in a nostalgic frame of mind. She longed for the comfort of a small beach town. She’d love to get up early and walk to the beach with her sister, exercising before work. She wanted work that was satisfying and a lifestyle that was healthy. When she stopped for groceries after work, she’d rather walk to Bronski’s than fight for a parking space at Super Foods. In fact, wouldn’t it be great to walk to work?
With that in mind, she went to the law offices of Sam Gillespie, Esquire. He was located in what passed for the business district of Half Moon Bay, nestled between a photographer’s studio and a bookstore. Down the block was a beauty shop and day spa. On the other side was a sandwich shop and bank. Also on the block were a secondhand clothing store, a hemp goods store, a UPS store. There was a bakery, a fast food restaurant, a barber shop and a place called The Beach Club, displaying board shorts and flip-flops in the window.
Just looking up and down the street, feeling the desire to browse, to look into the shops, chat with the owners or sales people, confirmed what she was looking for—a quieter, less rushed lifestyle. Room to breathe. A life where all she had to worry about was food, shelter and the ability to take care of and educate her girls. Could she do that, knowing Scott and his mistress were just down the street?
She went into the office; a buzzer sounded, bringing a man from the back.
“Can I help you?”
“I wonder if Mr. Gillespie is in?”
“I’m Sam Gillespie,” he said.
She stretched out her hand. “Justine Somersby, attorney. It’s come to my attention you’re looking for an associate, and I’d love to hear more about the position and your practice when you have the time. I can make an appointment, if you like.”
“I have a few minutes to talk,” he said. “What brings you to Half Moon Bay?”
She smiled. “I grew up here. My sister still lives in the house we grew up in. I’ve been gone about twenty years.”
He leaned a hip on one of two desks in the front of the office. “Almost exactly as long as I’ve been here. Where have you been working?”
She opened her briefcase and pulled out a copy of her résumé. “Over twenty years with the same software manufacturer in San Jose, corporate law, some of that time as general counsel. Given the size of the company and number of employees, I handled some human resources issues. I’m recently divorced, and now that I don’t have to concern myself with supporting a nonworking spouse, I’m looking for a slower pace. I have two daughters, sixteen and seventeen. They both drive. I resigned from Sharper Dynamic.”
His eyes lit up. “There’s been talk of a takeover,” he said.
“Actually, there’s a merger,” she said. “There will be some reshuffling internally. It was an ideal time to move on.”
“I have a lot of questions for you,” he said. “You will undoubtedly have some for me. Why don’t we meet tomorrow, if you’re free. My afternoon looks good. Two o’clock?”
“Excellent. I can’t wait.”
Chapter Ten
The month of June became a month of huge changes for both Adele and Justine. Justine took an associate’s position in the law office of Sam Gillespie just a few blocks from Adele’s house. Justine explained to Addie that Sam wanted to wind down his hours a bit. He’d gotten three kids through college, he was in his late fifties and his wife, Maddy, was a professor at Berkeley. He had no plans to retire, but he and Maddy wanted to travel a little more, spend some time with their kids and two grandchildren and spend less time in the office.
“Sam said he’d begun to despair of ever finding a mature, experienced attorney interested in such a small storefront legal firm. The term experienced should be used loosely. I don’t have much by way of small town lawyering, but Sam said he looks forward to showing me the ropes.”
Justine was commuting from San Jose because the girls were there. She was spending her days in Half Moon Bay while Adele was at the college working. Sometimes they’d have an early dinner together. Justine was getting settled into the neighborhood law office. and she was still staying at her friend Jean’s house in San Jose when it was Scott’s night with the girls.
After working in Half Moon Bay for two weeks, she texted Scott.
Sharper Dynamic downsized again and I left the company. I’ve accepted a position at the law office of Sam Gillespie in Half Moon Bay. I will be commuting to work from San Jose and keeping close tabs on the girls as usual. There’s no need to change our schedule.
Amber and Olivia shared a car, and there were times they drove down to Half Moon Bay to have dinner with Adele and Justine. In all the years they’d all lived in this close proximity, they’d never had so much togetherness or such fun.
Adele couldn’t help but notice that Justine was changing; she had always been confident but now she was also calm and self-assured. It was just a slight change. She was a friendlier, happier person.
“Is it possible you weren’t entirely happy with Scott?” Adele asked her while they were preparing dinner one night. “Because you’re more fun now. You seem better than ever.”
“I was happy,” Justine said. “I loved Scott. But there was a lot of pressure. I had a serious job and a husband and two busy girls to think about. I was keeping a lot of balls in the air, constantly afraid to drop the glass ball, never knowing which one it was. Scott wasn’t under any pressure. I think the girls have experienced real stress and pressure for the first time with our divorce. They’ve had a few meltdowns but they’re doing so well. Don’t you think?”
“You’re all doing well,” Addie said. “There’s one thing. The girls don’t seem that interested in their dad these days. They hardly talk about him.”
“He comes with baggage now,” Justine said. “He’s been pressuring them to meet the girlfriend. He asks them every week. And since they won’t do it, he’s spending more time away from home, away from the girls. I can’t believe I’m saying this but mark my words—he’s going to give up his daughters. I’ve noticed that he doesn’t get home to the girls as he should. He misses dinner with them most nights, gets home late, leaves early. That’s why I’m staying close. I check in with them constantly. If Scott isn’t going to be home for dinner, I bring them something or take them out. I’ve stocked the freezer with easy microwavable meals.”
“Isn’t he hanging out with them on the weekends?” Adele asked.
“They took a long bike ride together three weeks ago or so, but I haven’t heard of anything else. He says he’s working. You’ll never guess where...”
“I know where,” Addie said. “The kayak shack. I see his car there almost every day. I walk a little out of my way to check because I just can’t stand it. I can’t believe he can abandon his family like he has.” She snapped her fingers. “So fast, so easy.”
“It hasn’t been easy in my heart,” Justine said. “But the last couple of weeks have been great. Sam Gillespie’s practice is like the fantasy I’ve been having for about ten years. In fact, the whole town is like a fantasy. Of course I didn’t appreciate it when I was young, but after twenty years in Silicon Valley, this is paradise. Have you noticed that no one honks at a stoplight? The only people I see rushing are young mothers trying to get their kids to school on time. It took one week for everyone in the market and on most of Main Street to know me by name. When I start living in the area, after the girls are gone and the house can be sold, I’m going to spend a lot more time walking that beach.”
“You know there’s a guest room here. No bed or dresser yet, but we could take care of that,” Addie said.
“For now I like being either with the girls or only a couple of blocks away,” Justine said.
“I can understand that,” Addie said. “And...we’ve never lived together.”
“Maybe we never will,” Justine said.
“I hope we do,” Adele said. “I hope we at least have sleepovers.”
It had been a long time since all the bedrooms in Adele’s house had been used. When Justine went to college, she commuted at first. When she left home, she took her bedroom furniture with her mother’s blessing—it was pretty old, after all. Adele’s mother’s furniture, by the end, had been functional hospital furniture. It was gone within days of her passing.