When Lightning Strikes Twice Read Online Free

every day. And though he seemed to have made a good adjustment this past year, Quint wondered. Brady had spent the first year of his life with his mother, the second year with his father and Sarah. Moved from California to New Jersey.
    Sometimes the enormous changes still boggled Quint’s mind. What did little Brady make of it all?
    Brady deserved a mother like Quint’d had, a strong, loving, fiercely dedicated woman who willingly accepted the sacrifices and inconveniences of child rearing, who’d taken them on with humor and grace. Sharolyn certainly didn’t fit the bill; Sarah Sheely would fill that role for her own children.
    Of course, providing a permanent live-in mother for Brady would mean marriage, a fact that never failed to send a dark chill through him. The Cormack marital track record wasn’t very good; in fact, it was abysmal. His father had been married four times. Quint and Sharolyn’s unwanted quickie marriage of necessity had barely lasted till the endof her pregnancy. No, maintaining a successful marriage was not a talent that ran in his gene pool.
    “Duck, Daddy. Blue duck.” Brady held it up for Quint to see.
    “Blue duck,” he repeated. “Show me the red one, Brady.”
    Brady chose the correct duck, garnering much praise.
    “Y’know, the Saxons are going to freak out when they hear about an updated will,” Sarah said conversationally, as Brady began to throw the ducks out of the pool, one by one. “They’re real thick with the Tildens. Wade gets sick of it. He told Dana that sometimes he feels like a—”
    “Wade Saxon?” Quint’s ears perked. “He talks to Dana?”
    “Sure. They’re practically best friends.” Sarah grinned. “What a waste, huh? Wade’s so cool. And smart and rich, not to mention a definite hunk. But Dana’s dating some nerdy actuary and Wade is—well, I don’t know who his girlfriend is this month, but he’s sure to be dating somebody. He always is.”
    “Did Wade ever say anything to Dana about the Pedersen Car Shoppe case?” Quint cut in, not at all interested in either Wade or Dana’s personal lives. But the idea of having access to the inner workings of Saxon Associates made him feel like a bloodhound must when getting that first whiff of a scent on the trail.
    “Oh man, did he ever!” exclaimed Sarah. “Dana said the Saxons were obsessed with that case! They couldn’t believe they’d lost. And to
you!”
    “Ouch, I think.”
    “I mean, the Saxons always win. Or they always used to. Your dad wasn’t exactly much competition,” Sarah said frankly. “Then you came and things changed. We’re sure the only reason they hired Katie to work at their snobby firm is because Dana works for you.”
    “They’re hoping some of the magic will rub off, huh?” Quint drawled. “Does Dana ever mention Rachel Saxon?”
    He sounded casually offhand. Well, why shouldn’t he?He was merely on a fishing expedition here, looking for some extraneous facts that might prove useful in future litigation. Because if the Tildens reacted as expected, it wouldn’t be long before he was again sparring with Saxon Associates. With Rachel Saxon. A distinctly pleasurable tingle of heat radiated through him.
    “Rachel is Wade’s cousin,” said Sarah. “She kinda drives him nuts.”
    “Ah.”
    “Wade is calm and laid-back and Rachel is—how does Dana put it?—wound really tight. Really,
really
tight. She, like, lives for her work—probably because there isn’t anything else in her life.”
    “Nothing else? She’s a very attractive woman, surely there is a man who—”
    “A man for the Freezer Queen?” Sarah giggled. “Wade told Dana that Rachel could end global warming all by herself, just send her out on a few dates.”
    “She’s cold, huh?”
    “The word is Lady Antarctica never melts.”
    “Though many have tried to defrost her?” Quint no longer sounded casual. He waited for more details with an eagerness he rarely felt for anything anymore. Not even