And that was all wrong.
* * *
As it turned out, it wasn’t just her and Jamie out for lunch, and they weren’t at a table for two. Christine chided herself as she sat down at a table for five and was introduced to Tom, Judge Tom Sanders; his lawyer and close friend, Michael Waterson; and Jamie’s lawyer, Tanya Brennan. In her brightly colored floral sundress and red sandals, she felt a bit foolish for the extra attention she’d given to makeup and matching jewelry, thinking that she was going to be on display at a table for two.
“I hope you don’t mind joining the others,” Jamie had said quietly to her as he’d walked her toward them from the parking lot where he’d been waiting for her. It wasn’t like she was a member of the club and could walk right in like the rest of them. She could be if she wanted to be. She could use her mother’s inheritance for her own aggrandizement. She just didn’t want to. “Tanya and Michael work in the same firm and were having lunch with Tom. When he saw me in the parking lot, he was delighted I’d rejoined Sunday brunch and invited us to join them.”
“It’s fine,” she said, had to say, really. Reminding herself that these get-togethers with Jamie were at his pleasure, part of the contract, allowing his baby to become familiar with sounds from the life he or she would be living. Part of why he was paying her such a hefty sum.
Yes, she had a say in the when and where. She didn’t just have to show up wherever or whenever he told her to. But, she did have to agree to show up on a regular basis. His money guaranteed her cooperation.
She’d kind of lost sight of the funds along the way. Because, other than living expenses, she wasn’t spending any of it until she’d passed the first trimester. She wasn’t just being a good Samaritan, helping him out. She’d been hired to do a job.
And that job didn’t entail noticing how delicious he looked in long, very nicely fitting tan pants and a brown polo shirt that hugged his biceps. Nor did it entail the peek at his butt when he moved in front of her to greet the people at the table. She hadn’t meant to do that. He’d just leaned right when she’d been assessing seating arrangements and there he’d been. In her line of vision.
It didn’t take her long to figure out that Judge Sanders’s personal lawyer, Michael, and he had lunch often. While it wasn’t clear to Christine why Tanya, Jamie’s surrogacy attorney, was having lunch with the judge and Michael, she figured it wasn’t her business.
Until, five minutes after they’d all made polite introductions and ordered beverages to accompany the three-room, sumptuous brunch buffet, Judge Sanders, instead of heading toward the food as their waitress had suggested, looked across at Jamie and Christine, who were sitting side by side—with Michael next to Jamie and Tanya next to Christine.
“I asked Michael to do some research for me, and he sought Tanya’s expertise as well,” he said, somehow looking as powerful as if he’d been in a robe and up on his bench, even in a light green polo shirt and white pants. “They’re about to tell me what they found out, and I figured, since you two are here, you might as well hear it as well.” He glanced from her to Jamie. “That way if we have any action to take, we can be in agreement on what it should be.”
She didn’t want lunch. Or the juice she’d just ordered. “Do I need my lawyer here?” she asked, glancing at Tanya and Michael, too.
“Not at this point,” Tanya said. “May I?” She looked to Michael, who nodded and then at the judge, who also gave his okay with a lift of his hand.
“The judge was concerned about his rights to the baby, in the event that something ever happens to Dr. Howe,” she said, smiling toward Jamie.
He smiled back. Not a sexy smile. A polite one. And she was reminded that they knew each other. That they’d worked together on the contract that bound him to Christine. Them against her, if there was ever a legal battle between them. A need to enforce the contract.
Shards of jealousy shot through her, shocking her. Christine didn’t get jealous. Found the emotion a complete waste of time. Counterproductive to...productivity.
“Isn’t it a conflict of interest for you to be advising the judge
and Dr. Howe at the same time?” she asked. Because she was feeling stupidly defensive.
Stupidly wanting to put some kind of distance between Jamie and this...this...perfect woman. His professional equal. Which could matter a lot to him, being a college professor and holding a doctorate like he did. Her little master’s degree in health management suddenly seemed less significant.
Which was ludicrous. She knew it even as she acknowledged the strong and completely unfamiliar negative emotions passing through her.
What in the hell was wrong with her?
The only answer that made any sense was hormones.
The seconds it took her to come up with an explanation she could live with had her missing the first bit of Tanya’s reply.
She checked back in at, “Since I’m not in any way representing the judge, just reporting what I know about this particular area of the law, and because Dr. Howe knew when he sought out our firm that we represent Judge Sanders, it’s within my legal jurisdiction to have the conversation. I’m not in any way reporting any parts of Dr. Howe’s agreements, contracts, or dealings with our firm to the judge. Only giving general information regarding the law.”
Wow. The woman had that down. Christine nodded, feeling stupid for having asked the question. After all, they were sitting with a superior court judge. But as the surrogate, she knew she was within her rights to question legalities.
“The bottom line is that California law states that grandparents have the rights to visitation of their grandchildren if certain requirements have been met. One is that the grandparent would need to show that there is an existing bond between the child and the grandparent. It would be up to you, Dr. Howe, to provide Judge Sanders with that opportunity...”
“I included Tom in this process before I’d even consulted Christine,” Jamie said, looking to Tom and between the lawyers. “Of course he’s going to have a bond with my child.”
Tanya nodded. “Again, I’m not here to advise on particular circumstances, just to give you generalities in terms of the law, and I’m trying to lay them out in as clear a way as possible so that there are no surprises.”
She was covering her own backside, Christine thought. And was ashamed of herself. The other woman was doing her job. Well.
And with compassion.