Synopsis

Finally, life is good for reluctant family law attorney, Jamie Quinn–her father may get his visa soon, her boyfriend is the bomb, and her law practice is growing like crazy–but when she agrees to take on a high-profile divorce case, everything falls apart. What looked like an opportunity to work with her friend Grace and make some serious bucks has turned into a deadly game, one that could destroy their friendship and tear their town apart. Why couldn’t Jamie just leave well enough alone?

Excerpt

Chapter One

“What do you mean you’re going to Australia for three months? If this is a joke, Kip, I don’t think it’s funny.” I pointed my chopsticks at my boyfriend for emphasis.

When I’m upset I get loud, which could explain why everyone in the restaurant was looking at us. For them, it was dinner and a show, but, for me, it was like being in a sit-com with a live studio audience–minus the laugh track. We had been enjoying a romantic dinner at Heart Rock Sushi (the one in Fort Lauderdale) and drinking enough sake to feel warm and fuzzy when Kip dropped this bombshell on me.

“I thought you’d be happy for me, Jamie.” Kip looked puzzled. His warm brown eyes held my gaze and I couldn’t turn away. “I have this incredible opportunity to work with an environmental scientist and save a species from extinction, all expenses paid. And I need a change of scenery–you know better than anyone that being Director of Broward County Parks hasn’t been my dream job.”

I smiled. “Oh, right, just because you had to deal with three hundred disgruntled employees, a smart-ass vandal, and a psychopath, it’s not your dream job? Anyway, that was six months ago, it’s been quiet since then.”

“That’s the problem,” he said, wedging a piece of tuna roll in his mouth. The wasabi made his eyes water but he didn’t seem to notice. “It’s too quiet. It’s dull, monotonous and predictable. In a word, bo-ring! I can’t stand doing budgets and employee reviews–I want to be outside, doing something real. Know what I mean?”

I’d suddenly lost my appetite. I knew I was being selfish, but I had my reasons. What if Kip loved Australia so much he never came back? Or what if he came back hating his job more than ever? It was a no-win situation, but I could see I’d lost this battle before it began. I resigned myself to the inevitable.

“The County’s okay with you leaving for three months?” I asked, forcing a smile.

“Hell, yeah,” Kip said with a grin. “They’re so glad I didn’t sue them after all I went through that they would’ve given me anything. They even offered me paid leave but I turned it down. It didn’t feel right.”

I shook my head in amazement. “That’s a nice chunk of change you’re walking away from, buddy, and I’d say you earned it–like combat pay. Look, I know Florida is flat and overdeveloped and could never be mistaken for the great outdoors, but we have endangered species, too. In fact, I was just reading about some creeps who were turtle-poaching. Why don’t you stay here and save the turtles? They need you, Kip! I don’t think the turtles can survive without you.”

He laughed and reached across the table to take my hand, “I’m sorry, Jamie, I can’t pass this up, but I promise that the three months will fly by. We’ll talk and Skype every day and you can come visit me. Wouldn’t that be fantastic?”

I refused to look at him, afraid I’d cry. I picked up a chopstick and poked listlessly at the stir-fry congealing on my plate.

“Babe?”

I had to stop fighting this and do the right thing. I’d lost Kip once before, when we were dating in high school and he’d gone off to college. We did wind up back together, eventually, but it had taken fifteen years. This time, I’d just have to have faith. Then there was the other problem…

“I can’t visit you, Kip,” I said. “I’m going to Nicaragua next month to see my dad–finally–and since I’m the one sponsoring him I can’t go to Australia and risk missing the immigration interview.”

No matter how tightly I squeezed my eyes shut, tears were starting to leak out. One was hanging off my nose and I didn’t even care. Kip came around the table and sat down next to me. After gently wiping my tears, he put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. I leaned into his chest, my wet face staining his shirt.

“It’ll be fine, Jamie, and who knows? Maybe your dad’s situation will straighten out early and you can come over. That might happen, right?”

I couldn’t resist that teasing half-smile, those laugh lines on his tan face. I squeezed his hand.

“Sure it could,” I said, sitting up straight, trying to shake it off. “Now, tell me what you’ll be doing out there. What poor creature needs your help so desperately? And I’m not talking about me this time.” I mustered a genuine smile and then polished off the last of the sake. It was stone cold, but still burned all the way down.

Kip’s eyes lit up and he became more animated than I’d seen him in a long time. Pulling his phone from his pocket, he showed me photos of a strange-looking animal with gray fur and a short stubby tail. It looked like a combination Koala Bear, housecat, and pig .I had to admit it was very cute. It reminded me of a stuffed animal I’d won at a carnival years ago that I still kept on my bed because my cat liked to snuggle with it. Okay, I’ll admit it, I liked to snuggle with it.

‘What do you think this little critter is?” Kip asked, playing teacher.

“No clue.”

“Meet the endangered Northern Hairy-Nosed Wombat,” he said. “There are only a hundred and sixty-three of them left.”

“Let me guess,” I said. “There’s also a Southern Hairy-Nosed Wombat?”

“Yup, and there’s a third one called the Common Wombat. The Northern is the largest and can weigh up to eighty pounds. I’ll be tracking them and exploring locations to start a new population. It has to be somewhere safe because they breed slowly and are preyed on by dingoes and Tasmanian devils.”

“Now if I only knew what a dingo and a Tasmanian devil looked like, I’d have the big picture,” I joked.

Kip spent the next twenty minutes describing the project and the Epping Forest in Queensland where he’d be spending most of his time. I tried to look excited for Kip’s sake, but all I could think about was how he’d be gone so long, making friends and having adventures, all without me. Right in the middle of my pity party I thought of something that made me laugh. Other girls might worry about losing their guy to another woman, but not me. I’d already lost mine–to a Hairy-Nosed Wombat. Excuse me, a Northern Hairy-Nosed wombat.

About the Author

Barbara Venkataraman is an attorney and mediator specializing in family law and debt collection.

She is the author of the award-winning Jamie Quinn Cozy Mystery series, as well as “Teatime with Mrs. Grammar Person”, and three books of humorous essays: “I’m Not Talking about You, Of Course”; “A Trip to the Hardware Store & Other Calamities”; and “A Smidge of Crazy”, from her Quirky Essays for Quirky People series. Her books have won numerous awards including three-time winner of the “Indie Book of the Day” Award, First Place in the 2016 Chanticleer Murder & Mayhem Mystery Writing Competition, Honorable Mention in the Readers’ Favorite Contest for Non-Fiction Humor, and Finalist, 2017 Kindle Book Awards.

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