Chapter 6
Janie didn’t want to make a habit of going into her office on Saturdays, but she’d scheduled an appointment with a woman who worked full time during the week and had sounded desperate for a legal consultation. After ninety minutes of patiently listening to complaints about a disconnected marriage and a discontented woman, Janie decided that Sheryl Bowers needed more than just legal counsel. On the bright side, Sheryl and her husband, Jeff, had married late in life and had no children together. That was something.
“Have you been to a marriage counselor?” Janie asked carefully.
“Jeff would refuse to go. He thinks everything is just peachy.”
“Does Jeff know that you’re seeing me today, inquiring about divorce?”
“No. And I don’t want him to know either.”
“What would he do if he did know?”
“Probably start hiding money and assets to make sure I don’t get much in the settlement. For all I know, he’s doing that now anyway.”
Janie looked at her notes again. “And you’ve been married for almost eleven years?”
“Yes. As I said, it’s a second marriage for both of us.”
“You keep your finances separate, but you never signed a prenuptial agreement.”
“He wanted to sign one, but I refused.”
“Jeff has no idea that you’re considering a divorce?”
Sheryl ran her fingers through her short drab hair and frowned. “I don’t think so.”
“And you have no idea how he’d act if he knew? He doesn’t exhibit any anger or control issues?”
“No, not really.”
Janie pressed her lips together, tapping her pen against the side of her laptop and thinking. “You really need to discuss this situation with your husband, Sheryl. It’s not really fair to start filing for a divorce while he’s completely in the dark. If he feels blindsided, it’ll make the divorce process more difficult for both of you.”
Sheryl nodded. “Yes, that’s probably true.”
“It’s possible that with some good marriage counseling you could—”
“I don’t want counseling,” she declared.
“So you’re finished with this marriage? Is that what you’re really saying? Even if it could be saved, you’re done?”
Sheryl looked down at Janie’s desk, then nodded.
“May I ask if there’s someone else in the picture? Another man, perhaps?” Janie might be a couple years younger than Sheryl, but she hadn’t been born yesterday.
Sheryl continued looking down at the desk. She was not going to answer, but it seemed fairly obvious that something or someone had turned her head. Why else was she going to this much effort?
Janie sighed. This was just the kind of legal case she had absolutely no interest in working on. An unhappy woman, probably already immersed in an affair, even if only an emotional one, trying to get the most she could from her husband before ditching him. Corporate law would be preferable to this.
“May I ask something else?” Janie said a bit hesitantly.
“Sure, why not?”
“When you married Jeff, when you made that commitment to him, did you think your marriage would last? Did you want it to last?”
Sheryl looked up. “Of course!”
“Then what changed your mind?”
Sheryl started to talk about her husband more specifically, citing how he wanted to go hunting and fishing and traveling to crazy remote places like Montana, plus a bunch of other “irritating” things. But nothing on the Jeff list seemed too serious—no fighting, no cheating, no abuse, no addictions. The man didn’t even sound stingy—just a bit clueless and unwilling to “grow old gracefully,” as Sheryl put it. As Janie listened to the complaints, it seemed that nothing was really a deal breaker, not in Janie’s mind anyway.
“It’s not really a marriage,” Sheryl finally told Janie. “We share the same roof and sometimes the same bed, but we mostly live our separate lives. We even took separate vacations last year. He went to Alaska, and I went to Palm Springs with a friend. We had a very restful time. Meanwhile Jeff was up there tramping around in the wilderness with a bunch of moose and grizzly bears. Anyway, I’m just tired of this nonsense. I want out.”
“I recommend you speak openly to your husband, Sheryl. Tell him how you feel. If he’s as apathetic about your marriage as you seem to be, perhaps you can agree on a no-fault divorce and save yourselves a lot of time and money and trouble.” Janie suspected this would be unlikely, because the husband appeared to have more to lose financially than the wife. Even so, Janie didn’t want to end up in the middle of what could easily become a hostile dispute.
“Are you saying you don’t want to represent me?” Sheryl sat up straight in the chair, glaring at Janie.
“I’m simply saying that I would first recommend you make some effort to get quality marriage counseling and see if it’s possible to reconcile your differences. Out of respect of marriage commitments, I’d never tell an unhappy couple to run out and hire attorneys. If your marriage truly can’t be saved, I would still encourage you to be forthcoming with your husband and try to resolve your differences outside of divorce court. If that’s not going to happen, I’d be happy to recommend some experienced divorce attorneys who could be of more help.”
“But I heard you’re doing some pro bono work,” she said in a slightly pleading tone. “That’s why I called you. Like I said, my husband is the one with the money.”
Janie got it. Sheryl was here in the hopes that she would get free legal representation. “Then you should be very thankful you live in Oregon, Sheryl, because it’s not a community-property state.”
“What’s that mean?”
“Oregon is an equal-distribution state. So if you choose to divorce, you’ll probably get a fifty-fifty split anyway.”
“Really?” Sheryl’s eyes lit up, and Janie could almost see the dollar signs there. “So I really do have a retirement plan after all?”
Janie didn’t know how to respond.
Sheryl waved her hand. “Sorry. It’s just that Jeff keeps saying we don’t need a retirement plan. He acts like he thinks he’ll never get old. But let me tell you, it comes a lot faster than you think.”
“Oh.” Janie just nodded.
“I’m not originally from this state. I didn’t know that there was a fifty-fifty split here. That’s a huge relief. You’re sure about that?”
“It’s the law.” Janie closed her notebook and laid down her pen. There was more she could tell this obnoxious woman about the law and the divisions of property in the dissolutions of marriage and how it usually didn’t go smoothly, but she just didn’t want to go there right now.
Sheryl stood and smiled. “Well, thanks for your time.”
Janie smiled stiffly. “Good luck.”
Sheryl had been gone less than two minutes when someone else knocked on the door to Janie’s office.
“Come in,” Janie called as she closed her laptop.
“Hey,” Caroline said as she entered the office, closing the door behind her. “I hope I’m not disturbing you, Janie, but I saw your client leave, and I thought you might not be too—”
“No problem.” Janie pointed to the recently vacated chair across from her desk. “Have a seat.” At least Caroline wouldn’t be here to discuss the upside of divorce and how to make the most of it.
“I need some advice,” Caroline began. “Not legal advice, but friend to friend.”
“Go for it.”
“Well, Paul has agreed to be my contractor on my house renovations and—”
“You’re kidding. How’d you get him to do that?” Feeling slightly indignant, Janie remembered how Paul had flatly turned her down on her remodel. As juvenile as it seemed, Janie felt jealous and actually wondered if it was because Caroline and Paul had been some of the “cool” kids in high school, while Janie had been stuck hanging with the nerds. No, she decided, that was not only ridiculous, it was childish.
“I know,” Caroline said, “I was surprised too. But I guess things really are a little slow for him this time of year.”
“Anyway, that’s great news, Caroline.” Janie smiled, thankful that her friend hadn’t been able to read her thoughts. “I’m sure Paul will do a great job for you.”
“Yes, but there’s a little snag. Paul has strongly encouraged me to hire Bonnie Boxwell to help.”
“Oh.” Janie nodded. “That could be a problem.”
“Yeah. I mean it was one thing when you hired Bonnie to help with your house, but you didn’t know that she was the other woman and—”
“To be fair, we never established that Bonnie and Paul actually had an affair. As far as I could tell, it was more of a business friendship that got a little too friendly, at least too friendly for Abby’s comfort.”
“I know. But Abby still has some hang-ups about Bonnie.” Caroline glanced over her shoulder as if she expected Abby to pop into Janie’s law office.
“What did Abby say about Paul’s suggestion?” Janie asked.
“Abby doesn’t know yet.” Caroline frowned. “I hate to rock her boat. She seems a little stressed.”
“I thought she was all happy about her guests and all.”
“I thought so too, but I was just in the kitchen and she seemed a little glum. Oh, yeah, that reminds me, she told me to invite you to come up and eat breakfast leftovers. She made enough to feed a small army and, as far as I can see, her guests barely touched it. Not only that, but it sounds like they’re checking out today.”
“Checking out?” Janie felt concerned. “Why?”
“I’m not sure. I just overheard the guy telling his wife that he wanted to go look for another place to stay.”
“Oh, dear.” Janie shook her head. “That will probably upset Abby. She was so looking forward to having them here for a whole week.”
“Yeah. She seemed pretty bummed. And that’s just one more reason I don’t want to mention the Bonnie situation to her.”
“I can understand that.”
“So what do I do?” Caroline held up her hands. “Paul said he’ll start work on Monday if I can get my ducks in a row. And he said the only one he knew who could help me to do that was Bonnie Boxwell.”
“Well, other than Abby.” Janie sighed. “She’s pretty good at that sort of thing too, but she’s got her hands full with this inn. I have to admit that Bonnie takes décor and design to a whole new level. I really don’t think you’ll be disappointed if you hire her.”
“Unless it ruins my friendship with Abby.”
“Oh, your friendship is sturdier than that.” Janie smiled. “Remember, Abby forgave me for my Bonnie transgressions.”
“I know. Maybe I could just forget to mention it to Abby. For a while anyway, until she’s feeling better about the B-and-B situation.”
Janie stood. “Breakfast leftovers are sounding good to me. I haven’t eaten yet. If the guests are gone, maybe we should go foraging before Abby puts it all away.”
As it turned out, Abby had really outdone herself. The crepes and blintzes and sausage and bacon and eggs were impressive.
“I know, I know,” she told them as she waved her hand over the feast still spread in the dining room. “It was temporary insanity on my part. Maybe I was thinking of that old Costner movie Field of Dreams—if I cook it, they will come.”
“Well, we came,” Janie told her as she took a second crepe. “And it’s delicious.”
“Yeah, if this B-and-B thing doesn’t work out for you, you might want to consider a restaurant,” Caroline suggested.
Abby groaned. “Do you know how much work that would be to run a restaurant? I’m sure Paul would leave me.”
“But you could promise him three solid meals a day,” Caroline said.
“So your guests are really checking out today?” Janie spooned some raspberries onto her crepe.
“How’d you hear that?” Abby asked.
“I mentioned it to her,” Caroline admitted. “I overheard them talking in the foyer this morning.”
Abby let out a long, sad-sounding sigh. “It seems I’m a failure as an innkeeper.”
“No, you’re not,” Caroline told her.
“I am.” Abby nodded in a dismal way. “The guy practically accused me of a bait and switch when he discovered that the inn isn’t on the ocean.”
“Did you advertise it as that?” Janie asked.
“No, but my website does have some scenic photos that might be misleading.”
“I’ve seen your website,” Janie said. “There’s a lighthouse picture and a dunes shot, and some ocean photos as well as some other local spots of interest. Those are the sights you’re encouraging people to come see here on the coast. Surely they don’t think they’ll see all those things while staying right here in the B and B. They expect to look out the window and see all of that?”
“I don’t know.” Abby shook her head. “The Hawleys seemed to.”
“Hawley?” Janie asked. “Is that the guy applying for the city manager job?”
“I don’t know.” Abby shrugged. “He didn’t mention anything—well, other than my ‘false advertising.’”
“I heard someone at the fitness club talking about a guy named Hawley. You know the city has finally decided to hire a replacement for Cathy.”
“Well, I sure hope they don’t hire that sourpuss.” Abby scowled. “The sooner he leaves my inn and Clifden, the happier I’ll be.”
“So he didn’t check out yet?” Janie asked, confused.
“Not officially. They went out to look around the town. I’m sure if they find a better place to stay, they will check out. Although Jackie’s B and B is booked.”
“Then they’ll probably stay here,” Caroline assured Abby.
“Great.” Abby scowled.
“So you really don’t want their business?” Janie asked.
“Oh, I suppose I do.” Abby stood and picked up the big platter of blintzes. “It’s just that it’s not turning out to be quite how I hoped it would be.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I think … I’m afraid I’ve made a big mistake. I … I’m just not cut out to be a businesswoman.” Then she let out a sob and turned and ran.
Caroline and Janie exchanged glances then both simultaneously stood and followed Abby into the kitchen, where she was standing in front of the sink, crying.
“You have done a beautiful job putting this place together.” Janie put a hand on Abby’s shoulder. “Anyone with any sense would be grateful to stay here. Everything is so lovely and elegant and tasteful and clean. Even without an ocean view, it’s got a lot of the same amenities as a five-star hotel.”
“And your food is killer,” Caroline assured her.
“The Hawleys are vegetarians.” Abby blew her nose on a paper towel.
“Well, that’s their problem,” Janie said.
“You just need to give it some time.” Caroline put her arm around Abby from the other side. “You’ve barely opened your doors. Christmas is coming, and then there’s winter, and well, maybe it won’t be too busy at first.”
“But I need to make the mortgage payments.” Abby turned to Janie. “Believe me, I will make payments. I promise you, Janie, I will keep up my end of this deal.”
“I’m not worried, Abby. And I love having my office in your basement.”
“And I love having you here. But I need to bring in some income—my savings won’t last forever. Eventually I have to make some money on this place.”
“You will,” Janie said with confidence. “But Caroline is right. Starting an inn in the winter is probably a challenge.”
“Hey, maybe you need to do something to lure people in here,” Caroline said. “Give them something they can’t resist.”
“You mean like a bait and switch,” Abby said bitterly.
“No, I mean like a winter special, or a coupon, or a free night if someone stays for like, say, three. Something to get some attention. Everyone likes to feel they’re getting a deal or a special offer.”
Abby’s eyes brightened. “You know, Caroline, that’s not a bad idea.”
“Go online,” Janie suggested. “See what other B and Bs do to get business. Learn from them.”
“I’ll do that,” Abby said eagerly.
“And don’t worry about the silly old Hawleys,” Caroline told her.
“Maybe they were just your initiation,” Janie joked. “Now you’re officially in the club and it’ll go better from here on out.”
Abby smiled at both of them. “What would I do without my friends?”
“Have way too much food left over.” Caroline plucked a blintz off of the tray on the counter.
They helped Abby clean up the breakfast things, and then Janie returned to her office to lock up. She checked her appointment calendar for the rest of the month, which was shockingly open, and wondered if she’d made a mistake in turning down Sheryl as a client. Really, could she afford to be that choosy? Here she was, partnered with Abby, but what if Abby’s inn didn’t make it? What if it continued to flounder and fail? And what if Janie’s fledgling law practice went bottom-up as well? Were they crazy, at this age and stage in life, to take these kinds of risks, reinventing themselves at a time when they’d probably be wiser to plan for retirement? Good grief, in five years Janie and her friends would all be in their sixties! Janie remembered when her parents were that age—in her mind, it was as if they’d both had a foot in the grave.
Yet Janie didn’t feel that old. Oh, sure, she had a few new aches and pains occasionally and she couldn’t do everything she used to do. Plus there was this whole business of hot flashes and bouts of irritability and an inability to focus at times. But for the most part, Janie still felt fairly young and vital. She wasn’t ready to start thinking about retirement. Why should she? Well, except when she had “clients” like Sheryl Bowers. That alone gave her cause to question her long-term career plans.
Janie caught a glimpse of herself in the bronze-framed mirror by the door. Her auburn waves hadn’t started to gray yet, but there was no denying that the color had faded some, and gray was probably right around the corner. Still, it wouldn’t be anything a good hairdresser couldn’t fix with more highlights. Even the crow’s-feet by her eyes weren’t too distressing. Plus there was always Botox, although she was determined not to go that route if she could control herself. All in all, things could be worse.
She picked up the yellow legal pad from her desk and tore off the pages of Sheryl notes. She wadded the paper into a tight ball and lobbed it into the trash basket. Growing old might be fine for some people, but why rush things? Wrinkles, gray hair, and sore joints would arrive in their own due time. There was no stopping them. But she was not going to obsess over things like retirement plans, elderly health care, and AARP issues today.
Today she was going to remind herself that she would never be younger than she was right this minute. She was going to count her blessings—and thank God for them! Tonight, she planned to dress up like a much younger woman and go out with Victor and kick up her heels. Let those who wanted to sit back in their rockers and be old have at it. Janie was going to live like age really was just a number!