Chapter 3: Showdown Time

I was watching for Pete when I saw Joyce walk toward the entrance of the law firm. She looked very professional, very upright and confident. I wonder if she realized what Pete had in store for her. Surely Ocsana had briefed her on what her tax returns had revealed. Maybe Joyce was holding out on Ocsana, not telling her just how little she contributed to our household. That didn't strike me as possible, but I would soon know.

I was lost in thought when I felt a tap on my shoulder and jumped as I turned toward Pete.

"Jesus, Pete. Don't do that. I nearly had a seizure."

"Sorry, Geoff. I saw Joyce just a couple of minutes ago. I take it she's gone in to the offices?"

"Yeah. I saw her too. She looked pretty confident. That surprised me."

"May be just a ploy. She might have spotted you and decided to put on a show. Hard to say."

We walked across the street and with Pete watching our timing, rode up the elevator to the third floor and the offices of Wendler-Milton. With the instincts of a practiced professional, we entered their lobby at exactly three o'clock.

"Mister Mahoney and Mister Nelson to see Ms. Dirovich," Pete announced.

We waited for five minutes before a fifty-ish woman with gray hair and a stout figure appeared in the lobby.

"Hello, Pete. Nice to see you again. And you must be Geoffrey Nelson," she said, turning to me with her hand out.

I shook it and nodded, but said nothing. I was going to obey Pete's instructions to the letter. He turned to me and grinned, acknowledging my willingness to follow his direction.

We entered a very nicely appointed meeting room with an oval shaped table suitable for eight or ten people. There would be only four of us today. As I entered the room, I saw Joyce already seated at the near side, but not looking up to acknowledge me. Okay, if that's how she wanted to play it.

Ocsana and Pete exchanged a few pleasantries and then got down to business.

"I'm sure you must have explained to your client that concealing her income and holdings is improper, Ocsana. Mrs. Nelson's income over the past three years has been in excess of two hundred and thirty thousand dollars, not including the benefit of her company car. She has contributed seventy-eight thousand dollars to the household over the same period. It begs the question ... where is the remaining one hundred and fifty-some thousand dollars?"

"Mrs. Nelson has disclosed her income tax returns in full and is holding nothing back in the way of information on her earnings."

"That doesn't answer the question. Where are the rest of her earnings? Mutual funds? Savings bonds? Stock market?

"Mrs. Nelson is reluctant to disclose that information," Ocsana said carefully.

"Have you advised Mrs. Nelson that we could have the court oblige her to reveal that information?"

"I have."

"And?"

"She does not wish to reveal that information."

"Then ... I see no option to take this matter before the court," Pete said in an even, controlled voice.

"What is it you want?" Joyce suddenly snapped. "I earned that money legally. I paid taxes on it. I don't owe anyone anything." Her face was red and she was looking at Pete, not me. She hadn't looked at me since we had arrived.

"On the contrary, Mrs. Nelson. It is part of community property. It was earned while you were married to Mr. Nelson and living in the same household. Surely Ms. Dirovich has explained that to you."

"No! It's my money. I don't have to share it with anyone. I earned it and I'm keeping it."

I was shocked at Joyce's outburst. Her lawyer had tried to get her to be quiet, but she was having none of it. At least now I had an inkling of what was going on in her mind. I didn't like what I was seeing in my wife at that moment.

"Well, Ocsana, there seems little point in continuing this meeting. I will contact the court and we will set a date for a formal hearing. I wish you could convince your client that it is not in her best interest to refuse our request. The court will take a dim view of her attitude."

Ocsana said nothing but smiled faintly and nodded. She understood, but clearly had no control over Joyce at that moment.

As Pete and I exited the elevator and walked out into the early June sunshine, I turned to him.

"Who the hell is that woman?"

Pete shook his head and shrugged. "I'm proud of you Geoff. You didn't rise to the bait. As for Joyce ... I can't answer your question. She seemed completely irrational and Ocsana must be just as frustrated and unhappy as I would be in the same circumstances."

"What now?"

"Well, I can file for a hearing with the court. God knows when that will happen. However, once the notice of hearing is posted, Ocsana will get a copy and then it's showdown time. We can cancel the hearing at any time, and I'm hoping that Ocsana can talk some sense into Joyce before she gets herself into real trouble. If not, we go to court and the whole thing gets played out in public. I doubt Koch Motors will be very pleased with that."

"So ... maybe with a bit a leverage at Koch, and some more pressure from Ocsana, we can get this done without the court?"

"You're pretty good at strategy, Geoff. Yeah. That's my thinking."

When I got back to my car, I called Matt.

"Hey, Matt. How are you?"

"Fine, Dad. What happened at the meeting today?"

"You knew about that?"

"Yeah. It's all Mom talked about for the last few days. She was upset about something, but she didn't say what."

"I think your mother is heading for some trouble, Matt. She won't listen to her lawyer's advice and it's going to end up in court and she's going to lose. It could be real bad news for her."

"Jeez, Dad, it's bad enough around here already. Do you mind if we come up to Orondo this weekend. We want to get out of here for a couple of days. Mom's driving us crazy."

"Sure. It's the long weekend, so you can have three days of fun and sun. Just make sure you let your mother know where you're going and then meet me at the store on Friday afternoon about five. Bring some clothes for the weekend and don't forget your swimsuits. You're going to love the place."

"Great. Thanks, Dad. It'll be good to be with you again."

If Joyce wasn't listening to Ocsana's advice at the meeting, she was listening when she was told not to contact me directly. I heard nothing from her about the boys coming up to Orondo on the weekend. I was certain Matt would tell her, so I assumed they had at least grudging permission. Maybe a weekend alone in that big house would have some affect on her thinking.

I told Terry what had happened at the meeting and he was all for having the boys at the cottage that weekend. He wasn't able to be there, but said it would be important for them to get away from the hostility and tension at home. We talked about the possibility of them staying with me if things got too ugly at home, and he had no problem with that.

I phoned Pete and asked him about getting permission for the boys to be with me for the summer. He said he'd talk to Ocsana about it, but not to get my hopes up. He didn't like Joyce's attitude at the meeting and wondered if she would put up roadblocks. He'd get back to me with an answer. In the meantime, he had filed with the court for a formal hearing on the divorce. It looked like we would be going to court after all.

I heard nothing from the boys or Joyce for the rest of the week. Just as well since I was busy getting Jana and Jimmy settled in their jobs. Happily, they didn't require a lot of supervision or instruction. They caught on very quickly.

Shortly after four on Friday afternoon, the boys showed up at the shop with a couple of gym bags.

"Everything okay with your mom and this weekend," I asked Matt.

"Yeah. I don't think she was thrilled, but I got the impression she would be just as happy to be alone for a while. I wish it was longer than just a couple of days, though. We can hang around the house most of the day when she's at work, but sooner or later we have to be there with her. It's like we're a pain to deal with."

"I'm still thinkin' she's got a boyfriend somewhere," Ross added.

"Any reason to think that?" I asked.

"Naw. Not really. It's not like she's goin' out at night or getting funny phone calls. Just ... she's actin' so weird. Ever since you left, she's not the same. Maybe she misses you and doesn't know how to deal with it."

"Well, when she was at the meeting the other day, she never looked at me and never said a word to me. She just yelled at Pete, my lawyer. I'll tell you about it this weekend, but for now, let's just get out of here and head to the cottage. Like I said, you're going to love it up there."