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“Go! You have to pick up Kia and get to court.” Opal made a shooing gesture, indicating Sullivan needed to leave the Mirepoix kitchen. They’d been making mini quiches for a Portland Night High School fundraiser. “Do you not understand that I could do this blindfolded without you?” Opal added.

Sullivan understood. And she was nowhere near being late to court.

It would just be nicer to whip eggs with Opal than to put on a suit and drive Kia down to the courthouse.

The judge would dismiss the Mega Eats case, which would be great, but then Kia would start work on Taste the Love.

There was no way it wouldn’t devastate the land and Sullivan’s heart.

She had promised her grandfather she would preserve this land in aeternum.

Forever. Now bulldozers would plow under the wood sorrel and the trillium.

Loggers would take down tree after tree.

They’d drag the logs to the edge of the Bois, leaving meter-deep gashes in the land.

Kia would be smart to recoup some of her costs by selling the lumber.

Sullivan had a flight to Palm Springs saved in Expedia for when they started logging, and the site kept asking her if she wanted to book it, but she couldn’t escape the development forever.

“I’m going.” She took off her chef’s coat and hung it by the back door. She kept her eyes on the ground as she walked through the Bois back to her house.

In the house, Kia was sitting in the kitchen, her purse in one hand, a sparkling green coat laid over her lap, as though she’d been waiting all morning and they were late.

Which they weren’t. Kia just couldn’t wait to move out.

That added a layer of sadness on top of everything else, like a bitter coffee glaze on a burnt cake.

Sullivan didn’t know what she wanted. She couldn’t possibly want Kia to stay and plan her destruction of the Bois on Sullivan’s kitchen island, but when Sullivan turned off the part of her brain that remembered what was happening outside her house, it was nice to have Kia around.

She felt like they picked up right where they left off, gently giving each other shit and smack talking without hurting each other’s feelings.

They knew when to throw shade and when to tread carefully.

Usually. She felt bad about dragging Kia into the wetland.

Part of her had hoped Kia would see its beauty and feel crushed by guilt for what she was about to do.

Realistically, she’d suspected Kia would hate it, and had taken Kia out there for that reason.

Neither inclination had been noble, but once she got outside with Kia, she really did want her to see nature’s beauty.

She didn’t want Kia to be frightened. She could still feel Kia’s body in her arms, warm and solid and smelling of honey-spice perfume.

And just like you couldn’t imagine someone throwing a softball and not imagine its trajectory, she couldn’t think about that moment without feeling like it should have ended in a kiss.

Had Kia felt it too? Did Kia have to be so forceful about her desire to move out?

Couldn’t she have been a little wistful?

Sullivan shook her head. What the fuck was she thinking?

“Let’s get out of here,” she said.

Kia nodded and stood up.

“You’re not going to change?”

Sullivan shrugged. She’d meant to change, but why bother?

“Mega Eats can hate me in jeans.”

Nina was seated on a wooden bench outside of courtroom 3A when Kia and Sullivan arrived. She looked like the act of sitting on a bench offended her. Her iridescent navy suit found it too public. But when Nina looked up, she smiled, upbeat as though they were meeting for drinks.

“How’s it going?” Kia asked.

Nina motioned to the bench, almost patting it, but lifting her hand away as though reluctant to touch it.

“Splendid as a ray of sunshine. Ready to get this over with?” Nina said a little too loudly.

Kia and Sullivan had barely sat down when the courtroom door opened and they were ushered into a spacious, wood-paneled room. They sat in the first row of seats.

“Do not worry,” Nina said quietly. “Their case is a ridiculous bluff to intimidate you, and the judge will see that immediately. Put your order in at the Makers Bar. We’ll be out of here before it’s ready.”

In a commotion of noise and bluster, the Mega Eats contingent burst through the courtroom door, causing it to bang against a rail.

The lead attorney—guessing by the fact that he burst in first—wore a boxy, 1990s suit and a wide tie that screamed Miami Vice .

He was accompanied by a phalanx of corporate lawyer types similarly attired like cartoon versions of the Mafia.

Their presence still made Sullivan feel like a rock had sunk to the bottom of her stomach.

These weren’t cartoon lawyers. Even if Nina said they’d be out in five minutes, these were men hired by one of the biggest corporations in the world to crush her.

“That guy—” Nina nodded to the first attorney, who was making a show of talking on his phone even though a sign on all four walls read SILENCE YOUR PHONES . “That’s Armand Mulroney and his first-year associates. He’ll mistreat them so badly they’ll be gone by the end of the year.”

Mega Eats’ lead attorney and Nina exchanged a quick nod of recognition before turning their attention to the bench, where Judge Edward Harper’s chamber door squeaked open.

“All rise,” the bailiff said. “The Honorable Edward Harper presiding.”

The older man had a calm, fatherly presence until he spoke.

“Mega Eats versus Jackson-Sullivan on the respondent’s motion for summary judgment. Let’s get this over with,” he said curtly.

Nina’s posture straightened. She buttoned her blazer.

The iridescent navy seemed to sober to black.

They’d been friends for years, but Sullivan was still impressed.

Nina would be almost as frightening as the Mega Eats attorneys if she weren’t on their side, but she was on their side. They were fine.

Sullivan placed her hand on Kia’s shoulder, an awkward gesture since they were sitting next to each other, but Kia gave a wan smile.

It’s okay , Sullivan mouthed.

“As the court is aware,” Nina said, “we are asking for a motion for summary judgment. Mega Eats contends that my clients’ marriage is orchestrated to steal a land deal.

This is not only untrue, but, legally speaking, it is a moot point.

They are arguing that the marriage is invalid because Ms. Jackson and Ms. Sullivan haven’t known each other long enough to fall in love.

” Nina exuded confidence, her voice smooth, persuasive, and slightly amused.

“The thing I find peculiar about this situation is how a billion-dollar corporation known for harassing landowners and businesspeople who stand in their way would have such a romantic outlook on marriage. It doesn’t matter if my clients are in love.

As you know, Your Honor—but perhaps Mr. Mulroney does not—I am a divorce attorney.

If lack of love—and Mr. Mulroney has offered no proof that Ms. Sullivan and Ms. Jackson do not love each other—but if a lack of love annulled relationships…

” Nina shrugged and held up her hands in a helpless gesture. “What would I do all day?”

When Nina finished, Kia swore she saw the judge nod with a hint of approval in his eyes, which was comforting and somehow a little depressing. No need for love? Not even affection?

“Mr. Mulroney, your response?” the judge asked, his tone cool and skeptical.

Mega Eats’ lawyer stood up; his cartoon-Mafia bluster had morphed into calm composure. He walked to the podium with a quiet confidence, his eyes meeting Judge Harper’s.

“Thank you, Your Honor. Nina’s argument is well crafted.”

Nina’s face tightened at the use of her first name.

“But her argument overlooks several key pieces of evidence that create genuine issues, which must be evaluated thoroughly by a fact finder.” He went on.

“The evidence we have submitted shows that Ms. Sullivan and Ms. Jackson have only just moved in together. Photographs taken just a little while ago show them living completely separate lives and, as I mentioned in my brief, they’ve only known each other for a few days. ”

Nina stood. “Objection,” she said. “My clients met over ten years ago and spent four years in culinary arts school together. It’s quite possible they have known each other longer than Mr. Mulroney has been practicing law.

Not that that matters. And while we are talking about cohabitation, Your Honor, I’ve met your wonderful wife at various legal conferences.

In Seattle. Where she lives and practices law for most of the year.

I assume you would not consider yours a fraudulent marriage. ”

“You will not bring my personal life into this courtroom.”

“My apologies, Your Honor.”

“We’d also like to point out that Ms. Sullivan does not appear anywhere on Ms. Jackson’s social media, even though Ms. Jackson makes a point of being a member of the LGBTQ community.”

Nina was on her feet again. “Objection. Being out does not require that she broadcast her private life.”

“It simply seems odd that a woman who has featured her egg timer on her feed would fail to mention her ‘real’ marriage to Alice Sullivan,” Mulroney said.

“A very good point, Mr. Mulroney,” the judge said.

“We’d like to call on case Saville and Saville ,” Mulroney added.

“Those are powerful precedents,” the judge said. “Have you overlooked those cases, Ms. Hashim?”

“Those cases aren’t on point. In both cases, the marriage was an attempt to defraud.

If, hypothetically, my clients did marry to secure the land in question—and I am not proposing that they did—that is the opposite of an attempt to defraud through marriage.

That is working in the open for mutual benefit. ”

“It is an attempt to defraud Mega Eats.”