Page 9 of The Gift of the Maltipoo
“Anthony,” Richard said as he approached with Anita next to him.
“This is Richard, our managing partner, and his wife, Anita,” Anthony said as an introduction. Richard shook hands with both of them, and Anita air-kissed their cheeks.
“Who is this?” Anita asked as Richard scowled.
“This is Daisy. When Richard told me that we were supporting a dog rescue, I asked Tyler to bring her along. He got her from the same rescue we’re supporting tonight.”
She petted her gently. “Isn’t she a sweetheart?” she said to Richard. “I have two dogs myself. One I got from Mitchell as well. He does such good work. Last year he took the animals of a hoarder and ended up with a tiger. Mitchell doesn’t turn any animal away. And that’s why I convinced Richard to have the firm support his work.” She gave Daisy another gentle pet, and then they moved on to find a table.
Servers with appetizers mingled through the room. Anthony got them each a glass of champagne, and they sat at a table with pâté on crackers and lamb lollipops. Anthony snuck Daisy a bit of cracker.
“Does your firm usually go all out at the holidays?”
“No, not like this. Last year it was dinner at one of the conference rooms at the Comfort Inn. That food was okay, but this is amazing.” He caught Tyler’s gaze, and for a few seconds everything and everyone in the room seemed to slip away.
“I see you’re off to the side,” Gene said as he took one of the empty seats at the table. “You should be out there talking to everyone.” He tilted his head toward where Harry stood telling two of the other partners a story.
Anthony shrugged. “Harry can tell a good story and make it seem like he’s the hero, but….” As far as he was concerned, Harry was all talk and little substance. Anthony’s phone vibrated, and he excused himself. “This is Anthony.” Thankfully,as he answered the phone, Gene and Tyler were introducing themselves to each other.
“Casey Brannigan. I wanted to let you know that all charges have been dropped against Hansen Jacobs. We would like to speak to him as a witness, and we assume he’ll cooperate.”
“You let me know what you need and I’ll make sure my client is available to you. Thanks for letting me know.” Anthony was grinning from ear to ear by the time he hung up. Then he dialed Connor Jacobs.
“Do you have news?” Connor asked right away.
“Is Hansen with you?” Anthony asked and heard the phone shift to speaker. “Hansen?”
“Yes. I’m here with Dad.”
“Good. Merry Christmas. We found video of you walking home, proving your story. I showed it to the prosecutor, and all charges have been dropped. They had no case.” He heard whoops go up in the background. “They are going to ask you to testify as a witness, which is what they should have done in the first place. I’ll be there with you. So don’t worry, and have a great holiday, you and your whole family.”
The phone shifted, and the background sounds cut off. “Thank you for helping and for believing Hansen.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Call me after the holidays. I need a smart person like you to be the lead on my company’s new legal team at Langley and Kraus. We’ll finalize details in the New Year. Thank you again.” He ended the call, and Anthony could barely feel his feet touching the floor as he returned to the party. Tyler was still speaking with Gene, who had Daisy on his lap, the little sweetheart looking like the princess she was.
“Something good happened,” Tyler said. “I can tell.”
“Yes.” He glanced at Gene knowing he could keep his mouth shut. “I got the charges against Hansen Jacobs dropped, andConnor Jacobs asked me to call him after the first of the year. He wants to bring on our firm for his company, and he wants me to be the lead attorney.” Anthony couldn’t help grinning.
Gene motioned to one of the servers with drinks and grabbed a glass. “Then congratulations,” he said with a bright smile. The three of them clinked glasses. “To your new client and deflating some of the hot air in Harry’s sails.” He shared a smile with Tyler, and Daisy yipped happily, like she wanted to join in the celebration. They each sipped, and Gene excused himself, handing Daisy over to Tyler. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to steal your thunder. If you tell Richard at the right time, he may even forget about that damned Chicken Dance.” He patted Anthony on the shoulder as he moved off into the gathering as more people arrived.
“I’m sorry if everyone is talking a lot of business,” Anthony told Tyler.
“It’s fine. Gene was nice. He and I were talking about golf. He asked me to contact him in the spring so we can play a few rounds. His handicap and mine are pretty close.”
Anthony was a little surprised. “You play golf? I never would have figured that, for some reason. Gene and I play sometimes, though last summer and fall it just seemed like I was too busy.”
“I love it. My very first game was a golf simulator. It really sucked. But I managed to learn some things from it, including how to take more subtle movements and translate them to the screen. I never went anywhere with my golf game, and there were others who came out with really good ones, so I let it go and started work on other things.”
Jasper and Brenda found their table and joined them, with Anthony making introductions. “Who is this little cutie?” Brenda asked, and Daisy sat on Tyler’s knees, showing off her cuteness to the max.
“Daisy. Anthony invited me for the evening, and since I just got her, I didn’t want to leave her alone for too long.” Tyler slowly petted her as others came up to say hello, including Harry.
“Why the dog?” Harry asked.
“Because this is the face of what we’re trying to do this evening,” Anita said and then clapped her hands for silence. “As most of you are aware, our charity this year is a dog rescue, and this little girl here is the face of the dogs we’re trying to help.”Take that, Harry, you jerkface.“So please remember that some pets need a home, especially at the holidays and through the winter.” She smiled and gently lifted Daisy into her arms and got plenty of kisses for her efforts. “Richard should be so affectionate,” she quipped, and everyone laughed. Then she placed Daisy back on Tyler’s lap.
