Page 46 of A Legal Affair
Janie arrived an hour later bearing an armload of groceries and a steaming pot of tortilla soup. She whisked into the house using her spare key and headed straight for the kitchen, tsk-tsking at the piteous sight of Daniela curled up on the living room sofa dressed in her bathrobe, her hair in wild disarray.
“I’m gonna have to start charging your family a co-pay,” Janie teased.
Daniela made a face, pushing slowly to her feet and trailing her sister-in-law into the kitchen. She slumped into a chair at thebreakfast table while Janie set down the grocery bag, then fished out a bottle of flu medicine and passed it to Daniela.
“Oh, God bless you.” When Daniela had swallowed four teaspoonfuls of the nasty but effective goop, she shook her head at the pot of tortilla soup now warming on the stove. “What, you always have a fresh batch on hand to feed the sick?”
Janie grinned, walking back to the table. “But of course.” She laid the back of her hand against Daniela’s forehead. “Yup, you’ve definitely got it,” she announced with a grimace. “You’re burning up.”
Daniela scowled. “Why haven’tyoucaught it?” she demanded, half accusingly. “You spent just as much time with my mom as I did when she had the flu.”
“I don’t get sick,” Janie stated matter-of-factly, pouring orange juice into a tall frosted glass and handing it to Daniela. “I have ‘Mommy Immunity.’ Looking after the twins through all their early childhood illnesses helped build my resistance to viruses.”
Daniela took a small sip of juice, wincing as it hit the back of her sore throat. She set the glass aside. “Speaking of KJ and Lourdes, where are they?”
“With my parents. I dropped them off on my way over here. Mom and Dad are taking the twins to Dave and Buster’s this afternoon, so they were both pretty excited about that. But you’ll be happy to know that your niece and nephew stopped celebrating long enough to send you their love and wish you a speedy recovery. And Mom provided the tortilla soup, much as I’d like to take credit for it.”
Daniela smiled wanly. “Your mother is too good to me.”
“No kidding. She adores you. Every time I see her, she asks me what’s wrong with the men of our generation, allowing a smart, beautiful girl like you to remain single. And then she just looks at me with an indignant expression on her face, as if shefully expects me to answer on behalf of all men between the ages of twenty-one and forty.”
“No twenty-one-year-olds,” Daniela grumbled. “I have a hard enough time dealing with men my own age.” She wrinkled her nose. “Most of the guys in my law classes are twenty-five or younger, yet they seem like they’re still stuck in high school. So freaking immature.”
Janie laughed, stirring the soup on the front burner. The fragrant aroma of chicken, onion and cilantro filled the room, a scent Daniela would have welcomed any other day. Today it only made her nauseous.
Janie turned, and seeing Daniela’s sickly expression, frowned sympathetically. “Go lie down on the sofa. I’ll bring you a cup of chamomile tea.”
Daniela obeyed, and a few minutes later Janie carried a silver serving tray into the living room and set it down on the cedar coffee table. Daniela emerged from beneath a thick comforter to accept a steaming cup of tea.
“I’m really sorry for stealing your Saturday like this,” she murmured, taking a grateful sip of the hot, soothing brew.
“Girl, please,” said Janie, waving a dismissive hand. “Even if you hadn’t called, I still would have dropped the twins over at my parents’ house. And then I would have gone back home and cleaned the house, washed and folded laundry, sorted clothes to be donated to the Salvation Army, putted around in the garden andmaybegrabbed a power nap before picking up the twins this evening.” Her smile was overly bright. “As you can see, it’s not like you interrupted any exciting plans.”
“Where’s Kenny?” Daniela asked quietly.
“Where else? At the office catching up on paperwork. He left first thing this morning and said he probably wouldn’t be back until dinnertime.”
Daniela fell silent, hearing the pain in her sister-in-law’s voice, a pain she’d tried to conceal from the rest of the family for years. But everyone knew that Janie and Kenneth were unhappy, that their marriage was in trouble and had been for a very long time. Gone was the carefree couple who’d fallen madly in love when their eyes met across a crowded dance floor one night, the couple who’d once shared such sizzling chemistry that anyone within a fifty-foot radius felt singed by it. That couple had been replaced by two polite strangers who shared a big, beautiful house and parenting duties, and not much more.
No one could pinpoint when the change in their relationship had occurred, though Daniela had her own suspicions.
“I need a favor from you.”
The quiet request interrupted Daniela’s grim musings. Her eyes snapped to Janie’s face. “Anything,” she said quickly. “Just name it.”
Janie stirred sugar into her tea, then lifted the cup and took a sip. She swallowed carefully, then pinned Daniela with a resolute look. “I want you to help me get a job at the agency.”
Daniela’s brows furrowed together. “At Roarke Investigations?” At Janie’s nod, her confusion grew. “Sure, but…what kind of job?”
“Noah tells me you’re going to have another vacancy for the secretary position.”
Daniela nodded, grimacing. “We’ve had shitty luck so far. The first one we hired called in sick every week, the second one couldn’t type a lick, and now…” She trailed off suddenly, gaping at Janie. “Wait a minute! Are you sayingyouwant to be our new secretary?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
Daniela blinked, nonplussed. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled, lifting a hand to her forehead. “I think this fever is starting to make me delirious. I’m hearing thestrangestthings.”
Janie chuckled. “You’re not delirious, El, and you heard me right. I want you guys to hire me.”
