“Yeah, they should. But everyone is making this about Cam and Xander, not Art. And trust me, if Cam wanted Arthur to die, fighting a legal battle to then wait it out doesn’t really strike me as his style.”

The bell rang as the door opened, and I saw Simon enter in my peripherals.

I jumped out of the booth, and he sighed as he saw me. Oh no. That was a sad sigh. “Simon, is everything okay? I thought you were supposed to be with Art and the doc for the eval.”

“I’m glad I ran into you. Art isn’t lucid today.” He shook his head slowly.

My stomach sank. “How not lucid? Like it’s 1998? Or—”

“Or the psychologist was a claim jumper coming to take the Rose Rowan?” he offered, wincing.

“Oh.”

“Oh.” He nodded.

“But it took weeks to get in with that guy. What does this do to the case?” Cam was going to be devastated.

“He said he has one opening the week before court, so we’re taking it. But if the same thing happens, then Cam’s at a real disadvantage.”

He’d lose.

“Okay. Thanks. Did you want to come join us?” I motioned back to the table and saw Tillie drop off Cam’s food.

“No, I’m grabbing a shake to go. Thanks for the offer, though.”

We said our goodbyes, and I slid into the booth so I could get money from my purse.

“Everything okay?” Thea asked.

“Just stuff with Art’s case.” I took out a twenty and put it on the table. “I’d better go find Cam.”

“Okay, honey.”

“Wait,” Pat said as I slid toward the end of the booth. He took a deep breath, then another, and finally looked over at me. “Yesterday, at the Historical Society council meeting, some people were talking.”

Since there were only nine council members, that narrowed it down.

“They were all getting coffee. The meeting hadn’t started. And someone brought up Art and the case, and of course Xander was pretty mum about it. He’s never going to shit-talk Cam in front of other people. But one member may have suggested that it was impossible not to take into account the history and character of the person bringing the lawsuit.”

I stilled. “My dad?”

“No.” Pat emphatically shook his head. “But your dad agreed. And then said it’s not just the past that a judge would have to take into account in that hypothetical situation but the current decisions that person makes.”

My chest tightened.

“And after someone mentioned a certain fight that happened a few weeks ago on opening day…” Shit. “Well, another member asked—”

“Oh my God, Pat, spit it out. We all know who’s on the damned council,” Thea hissed.