Page 156 of Keeping Score

I had a sense of wrongness about it all. Discontentment.

And no matter how much was riding on my performance tonight, I knew it would be almost impossible to give it my all. Because in moments of weakness, when I looked out at the crowd for strength, or encouragement, or a goddamned shred of hope, I knew the one person I needed wasn’t going to be there.

Chapter Fifty-Two

Maggie

My desk wasn’t the most comfortable place to rest my head, but my head wasn’t exactly the most comfortable place to be in at present, so I figured I didn’t owe it any comfort anyway.

With my cheek pressed against the dark walnut surface, I stared blankly at the pictures arranged tauntingly on my desk.

The case was over, and while I had plenty of others to focus on, Mr. Reilly’s had been special to me. Now that we’d come to a conclusion, I was allowing myself a few minutes to wallow before throwing myself into the next thing to distract myself from how utterly miserable I was.

A coworker appeared at my door, peering at me with either amusement or judgment. I didn’t know, or care.

“What do you want, Brian? I’m clearly in the middle of something here,” I responded.

“There’s someone here for you. Should I tell them to go away?”

“A client?” I said, picking my head up. “Why didn’t the secretary call down?”

“Secretary left. Everyone left. It’s almost six,” he said. “I was on my way out myself. It’s the only reason I saw the guy.”

I glanced up at the clock, realizing he was right. The game hadn’t started yet, but it would soon. Brody was there now, getting ready to play what might be his last game in Boston.

I didn’t want to hear a thing about it. I figured it would be better not to know if they qualified or not. If it was truly his last night here or not. Like waiting for disaster to strike, it was better to not know when it might happen.

So, the way I saw it, the longer I lingered in the office, the better.

“Send him in, then.”

“I’m not your errand boy, Brynn.”

“Well, you’re on your way out anyway, aren’t you?” I fluttered my lashes dramatically.

He waved a hand dismissively and turned to leave, but a moment later the client in question was standing in my doorway, causing me to stand from my seat in surprise.

“Mr. Reilly? What are you doing here?”

“I’m sorry to come so late,” he said. “I just got off of work or I would’ve been here earlier.”

“No, it’s fine,” I assured him. “Please, sit down.”

“Oh, no, I won’t be here long. I just wanted to—” He took his hat off, twisting it between his hands. “Well, I’m not very good with words. But I really just wanted to let you know how grateful I am for everything you did for my family.”

I blinked my surprise.

“It was nothing,” I told him. “It’s what any lawyer would’ve done.”

“No.” He shook his head adamantly. “You’re something special, Ms. Brynn. You better believe that.”

“Well, thank you,” I told him.

Like him, I was also a woman of few words. And both of us were clearly not wanting to get any more emotional than we already were.

“Anyways,” he said, holding out a small gift bag in my direction. “This is for you.”

“Oh, you didn’t have to—”