Chapter 4

With Carley now gone from the office, Thad was the overseer of her files on which there were some things he wanted to do. One of the bodily injury files had a trial date set for three weeks and he was anxious to know if the claim was going to be settled or will he be doing his first bodily injury trial. He phoned Ken Pope the opposing attorney on the file and asked him if they were going to offer what Carley had demanded to settle the claim.

“No, the insurance company rejected the demand and so far is holding firm at what they offered.”

“That’s good because at this time I am withdrawing that demand amount to settle.”

“You can’t do that.”

‘Yes, I can Ken, Contracts 101. When an offer is rejected it no longer is valid or if an offer of settlement is withdrawn before it is accepted it is no longer valid. For your records, you can tell the insurance company my demand now is twice what it previously was.”

“They aren’t going to pay that amount voluntarily.”

“Then I will see them in court.”

Thad was aware that the great majority of lawsuits filed are settled without a trial or going to a verdict. The main reason for this happening besides the cost and preparation needed to try the case was the uncertainty of what a jury would do. From the verdicts, he was aware off if you had a good case a jury would be generous in their verdict. Since auto insurance was mandatory in the State the jury assumed they wouldn’t be punishing the defendant only the insurance company and the company could afford it. The case Thad had called Ken on he thought was a good case.

Thad received a phone from Trish Simon at the country club that he had applied to for membership. Trish was the assistant manager and she told him that there now was an opening for membership and Thad was called because he was next on the list. She asked him when he could come in and he told her he could stop by tomorrow afternoon after he first stopped at the courthouse.

He kept his appointment with Trish who explained how the country club functioned with the monthly fees, some of the activities, and the no-cash transaction procedures. She had Thad complete some paperwork to set up his account. Since Thad was single Trish tried to convince him to be a date she could put on the silent auction at a charitable event. Thad was firm in saying that was something he would feel uncomfortable doing. She did give him a brief tour of the facilities.

While she was doing this Thad had the thought that even though she was somewhat older than him she probably with her looks and her body would be a pretty good bed partner. He had thoughts like that when he was in the company of an attractive woman and admittedly may be at times when the woman wasn’t that attractive.

When Trish was done giving her briefing and the paperwork was completed Thad thanked her and headed to the pro shop.

At the pro shop, Thad asked to speak with the head golf pro. Thad introduced himself as a new member and handed the pro a printout he had downloaded from his handicapping service that contained the information on Thad’s last twenty golf scores. He did this so they could input that information and compute what Thad’s golf index would be here although it wouldn’t change from what it was. He also asked the pro to explain how he could get a tee time and what the golfing activities were.

“We take reservations for twosomes on up and all you need to do is phone us. If you are a single, just show up and we should be able to get you on. Tournament wise we run one every two weeks alternating between Saturdays and Sundays. One-half of the tournaments are net by class and the other half is some form of team net competition, either two or four-person teams. Of course, the annual club championship is on a gross score basis. Here is a list by date of the upcoming tournaments and you can call up to two days before to register. Pairings can be viewed after six the day before on our website. But let me ask you, are you married or single and if you are single do have a significant other?”

“I am single and am not seeing anyone but what has that got to do with golf?”

“It is just how things are nowadays. I used to get and still do requests from men when I do the pairings for the tournaments to partner them up with a good-looking lady. Now I am getting requests from single women asking to pair them up with a good-looking single man their age. I consider you to be a good-looking man so I will try and pair you up that way unless you have an objection. You should know that you probably won’t win many tournaments if I do this. At times I think I should be wearing a name tag that says “Cupid.”

After laughing, Thad said, “No, I have no objection so you can do it, and sign me up for Saturday’s tournament.” He thought it could be interesting and possibly rewarding for the pro to do this type of pairing.

There were no problems for Thad at work with him getting ready for his first bodily injury trial. Everything seemed to be ready and in place for trial. There was some nervousness on his part but that he knew that was to be expected.

On Friday Thad thought he hadn’t heard from Loren in three weeks and he wondered why that was. Instead of wondering any more he picked up his phone and pressed in her direct dial phone number.

“Mr. Dillard’s office, how may I help you?”

That voice wasn’t Loren’s but Thad continued, “This is Thad Conway and I...”

“Thad it’s me, Marcia.”

“Hi Marcia, I think today is Loren’s birthday and I was calling to wish her a Happy Birthday.”

“She’s not here.”

“When will she be back?”

“Thad, she no longer works here.”

“Why, what happened?”

“Right after you left the following Monday she gave a one week’s notice saying her husband had been offered a teaching position at a prestigious university on the east coast and they were moving there. That was it and she left.”

“Thanks for the information and you take care.”

That Loren would just take up and leave without saying something to him bothered Thad. He thought she had more class than that but what could he say or do? He had to admit he did have some nice memories of her. A little later a smile came to his face since he realized he also had a video recording of her.

In the mail were the medical reports along with the doctor’s bills and hospital bills on a Harvey Turner who was an injured client on one of the files. The medical report indicated that Turner had sustained a fracture of his c3 vertebrae in his neck which was non-displaced. An operation was performed to put in a small screw to hold the vertebrae together until it heals. Hell, thought Thad, this guy was lucky he wasn’t killed. The hospital bill alone exceeded the fifty thousand dollars bodily injury liability coverage the file reflected the other party had. Turner was hit on the side of his car by a car that blew past a stop sign.

Thad dictated a letter to the insurance company requesting that they issue the necessary releases to settle the claim for the fifty thousand dollars and enclosed the bills, medical reports, and the letter from Harvey’s employer as to the time lost from work. The credit check Carley had done on the other party involved in the accident indicated he had very limited assets.