Mountain Top(12)
“After all these years of doctors, exams, procedures, and giving up, I can’t tell you how happy this makes me.”
“A baby,” Mike murmured. “We’re going to have a baby.”
THEY CELEBRATED AT THE MOUNTAIN VIEW, THE NICEST restaurant in town. Peg picked at her salad. Famished, Mike didn’t leave a crumb of a crouton on his plate.
“I wonder if I’m going to have any strange food cravings,” Peg said.
“Right now, nothing would seem strange to me,” Mike replied, looking over his shoulder toward the kitchen area.
“You ordered the biggest steak on the menu.”
“But it’s not here yet. Missing lunch and finding out that I’m going to be a father has increased my appetite.”
“Why didn’t you eat lunch?”
“I had a glitch in my schedule.”
“What happened?”
Mike told her about Muriel Miller’s visit to the church, and his encounter with Sam at the jail.
“How did it feel being a lawyer again?” Peg asked, leaning forward.
“It’s not my world anymore.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course,” Mike scoffed. “The law and the prophets don’t mix.”
Their meal arrived. Mike savored the thick, juicy steak. On the third bite, he thought about Sam Miller and hoped the old man would get out of jail in time to enjoy fried chicken on his wedding anniversary.
MIKE AND PEG AGREED TO KEEP THEIR NEWS SECRET UNTIL confirmed by the doctor. That night, Peg fell asleep in Mike’s arms. In the morning, she didn’t lie in bed with her face to the wall but fixed coffee while he shaved and showered.
“Call me as soon as you know anything,” Mike said as he kissed her on the cheek.
Peg wrapped her arms around him and placed her head against his chest. Mike didn’t know what to think. It had been years since she’d displayed this type of affection before he left for work. He held her for a long time then kissed the top of her head.
“I love you,” he said.
“I love you, too.” She lifted her head and gave him a lingering kiss on the lips. “Have a good day. I’ll call you from the doctor’s office.”
Mike drove to the church in a daze. If pregnancy could awaken this level of passion and tenderness in a woman, it must be the happiest state known to man.
“GOOD MORNING, DELORES, ” HE SAID, STOPPING AT THE SECRETARY’S desk.
Delores coughed and cleared her throat. “I took a message off the answering machine from Mrs. Miller, the woman who came to see you yesterday.”
Delores handed Mike a pink slip of paper. He suspected the lawyer sent to interview Sam Miller hadn’t made it to the jail yet.
“If Mrs. Miller would be patient and her husband would exercise common sense, everything could be handled in proper order,” Mike replied, crumpling up the slip of paper and dropping it into Delores’s trash can. “But I’ll call the court administrator to make sure everything is on track.”
He went into his office and called the courthouse.
“I talked to Greg Freeman and mentioned your concern about the prisoner’s competency,” the court administrator said. “He promised to go by the jail yesterday afternoon.”
Mike didn’t know Greg Freeman, who had come to town after Mike left for seminary. He looked up the young lawyer’s office number. A male voice answered the phone.
“Greg Freeman, please,” Mike said. “Tell him Reverend Mike Andrews is calling.”
“This is Greg.”
Freeman’s voice sounded more like a member of the church youth group than an attorney.
“Welcome to Shelton,” Mike replied.
“Thanks, I grew up in Wilmington, but I’m enjoying the mountains.”
“Great. Listen, I’m calling about a defendant in a criminal case named Sam Miller. Have you been to the jail—”
“I’m sorry about that,” Freeman interrupted. “I met with him yesterday without realizing that you’re representing him.”
Mike sat up straighter in his chair. “I’m not representing him. When we talked at the jail, I made it clear that I wouldn’t get involved.”
“He claims you’re his lawyer. Based on the financial disclosure sheet, he isn’t going to qualify for an appointed lawyer, and I thought he might want to hire me as a paying client.”
“I wish he had,” Mike said, looking out a window at the trees along the creek. “He needs help.”
“No doubt, but there wasn’t any use talking to him. He’s convinced that you’re on the case.”
“He’s wrong. That’s why someone should be appointed to represent him. He may be delusional, and the fact that he thinks I’m his lawyer proves it. I haven’t been in a courtroom in over six years.”