Adam telephoned.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t call you before,” he apologized. “I’ve been having meetings on the Senate race and—”
“It’s all right, darling. I understand.” I’ve got to understand, she thought.
“I miss you so much.”
“I miss you, too, Adam.” You’ll never know how much.
“I want to see you.”
Jennifer wanted to say, When? but she waited.
Adam went on. “I have to go to Albany this afternoon. I’ll call you when I get back.”
“All right.” There was nothing else she could say. There was nothing she could do.
At four o’clock in the morning, Jennifer awakened from a terrible dream and knew how she was going to win five million dollars for Connie Garrett.
18
“We’ve set up a series of fund-raising dinners across the state. We’ll hit the larger towns only. We’ll get to the whistle-stops through a few national television shows like Face The Nation, the Today show and Meet the Press. We figure that we can pick up—Adam, are you listening?”
Adam turned to Stewart Needham and the other three men in the conference room—top media experts, Needham had assured him—and said, “Yes, of course, Stewart.”
He had been thinking of something else entirely. Jennifer. He wanted her here at his side, sharing the excitement of the campaign, sharing this moment, sharing his life.
Adam had tried several times to discuss his situation with Stewart Needham, but each time his partner had managed to change the subject.
Adam sat there thinking about Jennifer and Mary Beth. He knew that it was unfair to compare them, but it was impossible not to.
Jennifer is stimulating to be with. She’s interested in everything and makes me feel alive. Mary Beth lives in her own private little world…
Jennifer and I have a thousand things in common. Mary Beth and I have nothing in common but our marriage…
I love Jennifer’s sense of humor. She knows how to laugh at herself. Mary Beth takes everything seriously…
Jennifer makes me feel young. Mary Beth seems older than her years…
Jennifer is self-reliant. Mary Beth depends on me to tell her what to do…
Five important differences between the woman I’m in love with and my wife.
Five reasons why I can never leave Mary Beth.
19
On a Wednesday morning in early August the trial of Connie Garrett v. Nationwide Motors Corporation began. Ordinarily, the trial would only have been worth a paragraph or two in the newspapers, but because Jennifer Parker was representing the plaintiff, the media were out in full force.
Patrick Maguire sat at the defense table, surrounded by a battery of assistants dressed in conservative gray suits.
The process of selecting a jury began. Maguire was casual, almost to the point of indifference, for he knew that Connie Garrett was not going to appear in court. The sight of a beautiful young quadruple amputee would have been a powerful emotional lever with which to pry a large sum of money out of a jury—but there would be no girl and no lever.
This time, Maguire thought, Jennifer Parker has outsmarted herself.
The jury was impaneled and the trial got underway. Patrick Maguire made his opening statement and Jennifer had to admit to herself that he was very good indeed. He dwelt at length on the plight of poor young Connie Garrett, saying all the things that Jennifer had planned to say, stealing her emotional thunder. He spoke of the accident, stressing the fact that Connie Garrett had slipped on ice and that the truck driver had not been at fault.
“The plaintiff is asking you ladies and gentlemen to award her five million dollars.” Maguire shook his head incredulously. “Five million dollars! Have you ever seen that much money? I haven’t. My firm handles some affluent clients, but I want to tell you that in all my years of practicing law, I have never even seen one million dollars—or half a million dollars.”
He could see by the looks on the faces of the jurors that neither had they.
“The defense is going to bring witnesses in here who will tell you how the accident happened. And it was an accident. Before we’re through, we’ll show you that Nationwide Motors had no culpability in this matter. You will have noticed that the person bringing the suit, Connie Garrett, is not in court today. Her attorney has informed Judge Silverman that she will not make an appearance at all. Connie Garrett is not in this courtroom today where she belongs, but I can tell you where she is. Right now, as I’m standing here talking to you, Connie Garrett is sitting at home counting the money she thinks you’re going to give her. She’s waiting for her telephone to ring and for her attorney to tell her how many millions of dollars she suckered out of you.