A Very Hero Wedding - Chapter 1

As promised, here's the first of a few sample chapters from my next release. . .

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The heat inside the Lechuza Building didn’t match the last blaze of sweltering summer in Canyon Pointe. No, the heat inside was much worse. Nor could it be soothed by the iced version of Aisha Franklin’s favorite no-fat, sugar-free peppermint mocha.

As much as she wanted to see her blood kin at her baby brother’s wedding, she wished she could leave her adopted family behind. She glared at her law partner and best friend, Harri Winters, who sat across their office conference room table.

“We need someone to cover the office. We can’t leave for a week with no one—”

“Then find someone we can trust!” Harri yelled.

“I said I would stay—” Susan Kennedy, their third and newest partner, started to say.

“No!” Aisha and Harri shouted at the same time.

Loud banging filled the room before Patty Ames, their legal assistant and all-around Girl Friday, shoved the door open. “Keep it down in here. The clients on the phone can hear you.”

Patty didn’t yell. She used what their tenants, the Esperanza boys, referred to as her “Mommy-growly” voice. Not even Aisha’s husband Rey or her brother-in-law Steve messed with Patty when she used that voice, and they were both supers.

“We’re sorry,” Aisha said. “We’ll be quieter.”

“Harri?” Patty’s voice carried an obvious warning. Ever since her daughter Grace was born, their assistant acted more and more like their boss. Or their mother.

“I’ll be quiet, Patty,” Harri grumbled.

“Thank you.” Patty closed the conference room door behind her.

“All I’m saying is opposing counsel will use the opportunity of the office being closed to pull shenanigans,” Aisha said.

“Because that’s what you’d do,” Harri snapped.

“Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black?” Susan asked. When Aisha glared at her, Susan held up her palms. “Was that racist? I swear I wasn’t going there.”

Aisha blew out a deep breath. “Too bad Steve isn’t licensed yet. We could stick him with desk duty as the newbie.”

“Why don’t we?” Susan said. “He’s not going to Martin’s wedding because of classes. He’s taking the legal clinic at the law school next year. Let’s give him the experience. If something happens and he needs a licensed attorney, he can call one of us.”

Aisha exchanged looks with Harri. “It’s a good idea. I’ll fly home if there’s a major problem.”

“You can’t,” Harri said. “It’s your brother’s wedding.”

“You can’t,” Aisha replied. “It’s your foster brother’s wedding.”

Susan waved her arms. “Excuse me! I said I would stay from the beginning.”

“Shhhhh!” Aisha and Harri said at the same time.

Harri glanced over her shoulder, but the conference room door didn’t open. She looked at Susan. “You don’t want her back in here, yelling at us, do you?” “So, we’re agreed?” Aisha said. “Steve handles the phones except when he’s in class?”

“What about when he’s not in class?” Harri asked.

“What about Javier’s friend Josie?” Aisha suggested.

Harri shook her head. “She’s finally back in school. I don’t mind giving her odd jobs around the building on the weekends and summer, but I am not giving her an excuse to drop out. What about her mom Veronica? Javier said something about her losing her job again.”

Aisha slowly nodded. “Yeah, that might work.” Like a lot of people in the neighborhood, Veronica had grabbed her kids and fled north because of trouble in Central America. In their case, Veronica’s family had immigrated legally. However, Veronica had a lot of trouble getting her teaching certification in the U.S. She fell into a downward spiral her pride and American prejudice wouldn’t let her pull out of. Maybe this was a chance to do some good. “I’ll talk to her.”

“I can do it,” Harri said.

“Your Spanish sucks,” Aisha and Susan said in unison.

“I’ve been—” Harri started loudly. When Aisha hiss and pointed at the door, Harri lowered the volume of her voice. “I’ve been practicing.”

“I’ll talk with Veronica,” Aisha said.

“You mean the Ghost Owl will talk with Veronica.” Harri crossed her arms and sulked.

“The Ghost Owl will get through to her better than a bunch of stuckup gringa lawyers,” Susan said.

“She’s got a point,” Aisha said.

“Fine,” Harri said while she stood. “Anything else we need to talk about?”

Both Aisha and Susan shook their heads.

“Fine,” Harri repeated before she stomped out of the conference room.

“What the hell crawled up her butt?” Susan muttered. “It’s just a wedding. I’m not even sure why your brother invited me.”

“This isn’t about the wedding,” Aisha replied.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Susan rolled her eyes. “This is still about the Paris thing?”

“Unfortunately.” Aisha tapped her nails against the conference table. Harri better get her shit sorted before they flew to Atlanta for Martin’s wedding. Otherwise, Aisha might just drop her best friend from thirty thousand feet.