Client Affairs (Paperback)

The appearance to an outsider that one has their life completely together can often be a sign that things are truly falling apart. Gary Tornow always played by the rules. So much so that he turned his love for uniformity and rule minding into a career. Gary almost wrote his life as a script to a movie-wife, kid, career, white picket fence . . . Everything went so right for so long. Now a practicing lawyer in small town in rural Oregon, Gary has worked so hard on his career that his life at home is falling apart. His wife's depression combined with his busy schedule has led to them barely talking, except when it comes to their son, Sam. Even worse, Gary's chosen career has made him extremely paranoid about his wife's behavior to the point where he wonders if he will be lucky enough to live through the night each time he falls asleep. A young woman, Katelyn, walks into his office to discuss a custody matter with her son, the same age as Gary's son, Sam. Slowly, as his home life gets worse, Gary develops feelings for Katelyn, whom he knows he is forbidden to have. The taboo makes the feelings all that much stronger. He has always followed the rules, but does he really want to anymore? Can he even control himself enough to follow the rules? Practicing law in a small town leads to cases overlapping. After learning a devastating secret in complete confidence about Katelyn from another client, Gary has to choose whether or not he wants to risk his career for a woman he barely knows in a situation her never thought he would find himself in. Does he break the new client's confidence and tell Katelyn? Does he say nothing to Katelyn and hide the devastating truth forever? Does he take matters into his own hands? Should he even be thinking about these things as a married man? As Gary's life collapses around him, it becomes apparent that there is no longer simply one right answer and one wrong answer. No matter what choice he makes next, Gary must begin to go off-script as his personal and professional lives collide.