I should've had Ashton come here and coached her a bit," Benny said to Chunk as they sat in the mock courtroom at the TAC office late in the afternoon. Ashton had sent him a short text earlier informing him that she had been called to court the next day.

"Maybe I should stop by her place tonight," the lawyer pondered aloud.

"You think she won't be prepared?" the stylist asked.

"I don't think anyone ever is…and this is hardly what could be considered an average trial."

"She was married to Bull, that had to have prepared her a bit," Chunk offered.

"I don't know," Benny replied uncertainly. "Ashton isn't…"

"Ashton will be fine," Bull pronounced as he walked over to the pair. He had entered the room unnoticed and been standing in a corner listening to the conversation.

"Bull, Ashton isn't you and she isn't a lawyer," Benny countered.

"Benny, Ashton can hold her own. Trust me."

"That's really difficult to do right now. For some reason it seems like I'm more concerned about her lately than you are," Benny argued as Chunk looked on uncomfortably from his chair.

"You think I don't care about her or what she might have to deal with tomorrow?" Bull asked.

"I think you're more worried about yourself. You were married to Ashton. The two of you are trying to put things back together and yet you haven't seen her or spoken to her…in how long…refresh my memory?" the lawyer declared.

"Neither she nor I are happy about the present situation but she understands why it is that way," Bull replied managing to keep his temper in check.

"How can you know that if you haven't spoken to her?"

"And you have. If you know something, Benny, out with it," the psychologist demanded.

"I'm gonna leave now," Chunk quickly interjected and began to rise out of his chair.

"No, stay," Bull told him. As the stylist returned to his seat, Bull turned his attention back to his former brother-in-law. "Well?"

"I don't know anything," Benny finally admitted. "I was with Ashton the other night when you called me to come back here."

"And?"

"And nothing. You called before we could talk. She says she's fine."

"You don't believe her?" Bull asked.

"No. Would you?" Benny retorted.

"Yes."

"Let me be in court tomorrow with you," Benny pleaded.

"You have another case that needs your attention. Ashton will be fine without you there," Bull told him.

"Because you're going to be there?" the lawyer asked with a noticeable edge in his voice.

"No, because she doesn't need you there. Ashton navigates contract negotiation meetings better than most people I've met. When you get down to it, this is very similar."

"I'm pretty sure that the contract negotiations don't include Diana Lindsay. It's not her job to go easy during questioning," Benny said.

"Ashton has claws, trust me," the psychologist declared. "Let me ask you something. If Ashton had been subpoenaed for a case that didn't involve me, would you want to be there?"

The lawyer shook his head angrily and picked up his coat. "I think you're making a mistake."

Bull and Chunk watched Benny leave the room. Neither man uttered a word for several minutes and an uneasy silence took over the mock courtroom.

"Do you agree with him? Am I making a mistake?" Bull asked. The question was accompanied by a probing stare.

"I don't think I'm qualified to answer that," Chunk reasoned and squirmed in his chair. "I only met Ashton once…briefly. You were married to her."

"Benny seems to forget that," Bull mused.

"He's worried. Do you think he'll stop by her place tonight?"

"No. Underneath it all, he knows I'm right," Bull declared smugly.

Ashton stood in front of a rack of clothes aimlessly taking a step in one direction or the other every few seconds hoping that something would jump out at her. She stopped every now and then to push hangers apart and take a closer look. A few items had made the cut and been carefully tossed onto the bed in an attempt to make an outfit. As she looked back and forth from the bed to blouses her phone rang again. Ashton walked over out and picked the device up off the nightstand. After looking at the number, she paused and took a deep breath before answering.

"It's nice to know you haven't blocked my number after all. Thanks for calling me back, by the way," a familiar voice said through the speaker.

"I've got a lot going on right now," Ashton explained to Matt Wagner, glad that he couldn't see her shaking her head or the expression that filled her face.

"You're so busy you can't take five minutes to say hi in the morning? What's your commute, Ash – twenty feet tops?" Matt asked with an edge in his voice.

"You never stop. Maybe I didn't want to deal with the attitude. Hello and goodbye, Matthew," she replied.

"Ash, wait. I'm sorry," he said quickly in an effort to prevent her from hanging up.

"Matty, I really don't have time. I have to be in court this afternoon and I need to finish getting ready." As she spoke, Ashton put the call on speaker and set the phone down. She picked up a deep plum skirt and a coordinating pastel lilac blouse and decided it would do – soft and feminine, yet polished and professional. She had picked up some things from hearing odd and ends of Bull's phone conversations over the years.

"Court? You got called for jury duty?"

"No. I've been subpoenaed to give testimony," Ashton said partially wishing she had hung up earlier.

"For what?" Matt inquired.

"Jason's involved in a civil trial," she told him trying to remain as calm and general as she could.

"Jason? Your ex-husband; the know-it-all?"

"Yes, the Jason I was married to," Ashton said.

"What did he do?" Matt asked doing little to hide the eager anticipation in his voice.

"Nothing," she replied.

"I bet. A person doesn't end up in a trial for doing nothing."

"Matty, please don't go there," Ashton said. "This is hard enough as it is. I really need to get ready."

"Alright but Ash, call me later," Matt said contritely after hearing the pleading in her voice. "I won't shoot off my mouth, I just want to know you got through it okay."