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When she left Mrs. Brennerman, she had made a friend and held a list of shrubs to get in her hand. Opening the front door, the thoughts started spinning in her head again. Groaning, Neha grabbed her camera and went for a hike all by herself. She kept to the short route Jay had shown her the first time, only today she was taking many photographs.

Just behind that bridge over the creek, she saw a group of elk grazing on the grass beside the path. One of them, sporting wide antlers, stood and looked Neha directly in the eyes. She hardly dared to breathe and very slowly raised the camera and fumbled for the right settings. The elk stood in front of a backdrop of the light spring foliage of the aspens. Neha just hoped that she could do the beauty of this sight justice with her photograph.

CHAPTER TEN

The next day Jay was at work, Neha got into the most professional clothes she had, printed out a personal resume, and drove downtown to meet the lawyer. The office was in an old brick building near the courthouse. White columns and railings formed a porch with a balcony on top for the second story. Old trees partially hid the building and added to its charm.

Neha went into the building and found herself in an entrance hall that looked more private than an office building. Having worked in big city offices, she was not used to blending private and workplaces. She froze on the spot and looked around. Should she just leave?

“Who’s there?” someone called from a room to her right. She went to the cracked door and stuck her head in. “Hi, I’m Neha Gupta. Sorry for intruding like this.”

The office was in major disarray. Enormous stacks of files covered all available surfaces. So many loose pages were crammed into a cabinet that it couldn’t close anymore.

“Sorry, I am not taking any new clients.” A woman stood by a coffee maker and made a mess trying to put a pod into the machine while balancing her underarm crutches.

Neha jumped to her aid, catching the container with the pods as it threatened to fall. “May I?” she asked and quickly prepared the coffee as the woman hobbled to her desk.

“I am Juliette Brendan, by the way. Owner of all this mess.” She waved her hand at the room around her and plopped down into her chair.

“I apologize for my clumsiness. I’ve had a skiing accident that is too stupid to be talked about and consequently have found out I hate crutches.”

Neha chuckled. She brought the cup over. “I hope you forgive me for asking, but did you get into this fix all by yourself?”

“I wish I did. Then I might have a clue of where to find things.” She took a big sip of coffee and moaned, satisfied. “While I was in the hospital, my paralegal ran the office. Seems she did not want to encumber me with any problems she ran into. I wasn’t scheduled to come back for almost another month, but Holly’s had a heart attack and now is worse off than me.”

“Would you take me as your assistant? I am a lawyer from Georgia and will retake the bar exam here in Colorado. Until then, I would love to organize your office and get you fully started.”

“There are easier ways to practice law here.”

“I know, but there’s a story to it.” And Neha told her everything.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Neha looked around herself. She had cut up the Swiss cheese plant into separate small plants and treated them as the garden store had advised. The plant basically was dead, but Neha hoped to salvage the cuttings. But nobody had warned her what a mess this would be. She had covered the wooden floor with sheets of old newspaper, but the dirt spread through the entire room. Dead leaves and roots were everywhere. It would have been so much easier to buy a new plant. Why had she even thought surprising Jay with five small, freshly planted scions was a good idea anyhow? Why had she decided the lilac tree she planted in the front yard would not be enough?

She went to get the vacuum. She’d have to risk waking Jay with the noise, as the mess was intolerable. When she walked back into the living room, dragging the vacuum behind her, she heard fast footsteps from upstairs. Jay pounded down the stairs while talking on the phone. “We’ve got this. Thanks for the heads-up.” He hung up and, for the briefest of moments, took in the mess. Dirt on the floor, the coffee table, the small rug beneath it… Dead sections of the plant lying around, the dirt on Neha’s face. But he didn’t even comment on it. His hair was messy, and he looked incredibly sexy. She did her best not to show her breath was labored. Quite successfully, too. Unless that gleam in his eyes meant he was onto her. She was getting tired of all the times she’d had to dampen her reactions.

“Mom just called. There is someone at the hotel asking about you. He showed a photo around. He didn’t give a name, but she describes him as Indian, her age, reddish complexion. She didn’t tell him anything, but someone will.”

Neha felt her body contracting until every muscle was tight. She tried to think of something to do or say but was petrified.

“Hey…” Jay’s voice was sweet and caring. “It’s okay.”

Neha nodded. “Yeah, sure. Right now, I only regret not having talked to my parents earlier. That way, I could have set the scene.”

Less than thirty minutes later, she and Jay had cleared the plant-induced mess when they heard a car in the driveway. They stood at the living room window and watched Neha’s father storming to the front door, while her mother still was getting out of the car.

Through the noise Neha’s father made ringing the bell and pounding at the door, Neha heard Mrs. Brennerman’s voice. “Oh, they don’t appreciate that much.”

Her father glared at her, and her mother explained, “We’re here to get our daughter.”

Mrs. Brennerman’s head popped up over a bush. “Well, does she want to be gotten?” Neha made a mental note to gift her neighbor some flowers for her garden. She took a fortifying breath and nodded. Jay went to open the door, with Neha following suit. Her father brushed Jay aside and grabbed Neha roughly by the arm. “Did you seriously think we would not find you?” he exclaimed.

Jay cautiously squeezed himself between the two, freeing her to get out of the melee. Her father yelled something unintelligible and launched himself at Jay, who stepped back and tried to ward his attacker off. “Hey now, be reasonable,” he said. And the next moment, Neha’s father landed a punch to Jay’s chin. Jay reeled away and tongued his mouth cavity. He swayed slightly, and tears ran down his face.

Neha gasped and stared at Jay. Just as she took a step in his direction, her father held her back. He whined, “See what you made me do?”

What she had made him do? Neha stared at him incredulously.