Chapter 10: Ask First

"Do you have a printer?" I asked.

"Yes."

"I need three copies of this. And I need to write the venue manager before he leaves for the day."

"Mara."

"Then I'm filing a report. That's forgery. I've read the statute."

"You've read the statute," Cal said. He sounded almost proud.

"I plan weddings. I read every contract. Estelle knows that. She just thought I was too tired to use it."

I wrote the email in six lines.

I said I had never seen the guarantee.

I said the signature was not mine, and that I had never agreed to be liable for any upgrade.

I asked him to preserve the original page and the date it was received, and I told him I would be filing a complaint with the police.

I hit send, and my phone rang almost before it landed.

It was an unknown number from Rome.

"Ms. Linden? This is the attorney Mr. MacIntyre retained for you. I have already written to the venue and to the Thurston family's counsel."

I looked up.

Cal was reading something on the wall very carefully.

"Retained for me," I said.

"On Saturday night. He called at midnight. I've been drafting since Sunday."

"Thank you," I said, in my polite voice. "I'll call you back."

I put the phone down.

"Saturday night," I said.

"Mara."

"You called a lawyer on Saturday night. While I was in the shower. You decided that for me."

"You were under attack."

"I know what I was."

"I did it because I could." He didn't raise his voice. "It was a phone call. It cost nothing. I thought you'd be glad."

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