Out of Love(76)

Chapter Thirty-Two




Livy


Five Years Later

“There’s my favorite patient.” Dr. Jones hugged me.

“Graduation day, huh?” I grinned taking a seat on his sofa as he sat in a side chair.

“You graduated from therapy years ago. I just like seeing you.”

I smiled.

“When are you moving?”

“Tomorrow.” I rubbed my lips together while unwrapping a stick of peppermint gum. I held out the pack to him.

He shook his head as his eyebrows lifted a fraction. “Wow, I had it in my head you weren’t leaving for another few weeks.”

“I’m assisting Timothy Morten on a huge case that goes to trial next month, so they want me there as soon as possible to help prepare.”

“We’re going to miss you.”

My eyes rolled. “Sacramento is less than two hours away.”

“And Darren?”

I chewed my gum slowly and shrugged. “He’s staying here.”

“You’re breaking up?”

“Not sure. We’re both feeling very casual about it. If absence doesn’t make the heart grow fonder, then I’d say we’re breaking up. If we can’t stand to be apart, he’ll consider looking into finding work there.”

“I see.”

“What’s that look?”

“No look.” He shook his head.

I laughed. “I think I know you better than you know me at this point—at least I know when you have a look. You’re judging my relationship with Darren.”

“I don’t judge. Not my job.”

I sighed. “I know. If I loved him. If we were serious … every night apart would feel like too much. Is that still how you feel when you’re not with Jess, when one or the other of you travels alone?”

“Yes. But not every person needs the same thing out of a relationship. Some people thrive on independence and space. Some married couples don’t even live together. Long distance relationships can definitely work. And like you said, it’s less than two hours away. Weekends will be very doable.”

“I am independent. I like my space. Even with Slade, I valued my time surfing with friends, or just time alone. My dad is that way. Before Mom died, he thrived on having space. Mom would sometimes tell me that Dad needed a minute. Of course I thought it meant an actual minute. It was more like an hour at least.” I grinned. “Besides … I have Jericho. I’m never alone.”

“Have I mentioned that it’s okay if you find happiness even if it’s not quite the same? Not quite right? Because it might not ever feel the same.”

“I know.” It took years, but I got to the point that I could talk about Slade and not tear up. I could talk about him and feel a sense of peace and gratitude. He saved my life twice. “Some loves are once in a lifetime.”

“Yes, Livy.”

“I’m looking forward not backward. I’ve accepted my past, and I think you said that’s what I needed to do in order to welcome my future. So I’ve accepted the secrets … my father was an assassin like the man I loved. It’s not who they were; it’s what they did. My dad lived to find a new life. Slade did not. But I’m here. And I’m young. I deserve happiness. I deserve love.” I shrugged. “I just don’t know yet if it’s with Darren.”

“Follow your heart, Livy. And maybe what your heart desires the most right now isn’t a serious relationship. Maybe your heart desires a courtroom. Working hard to make partner in a firm someday. Or …”

I bit back my grin. “President Livy Knight.”

He leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees while shooting a wink at me. “Or that.”

*

The next day, my dad followed me to Sacramento to be there when the moving company arrived and helped me get settled. He usually ignored Jericho. Apparently, Mom’s dog Gunner didn’t like my dad. That might have been part of it, but most of it was Slade. Dad hated that I insisted on keeping such a big part of the man who was hired to kill me. Still … before he headed home to San Francisco, he rubbed Jericho’s head and told him to take care of me. It was the first time he made any sort of recognition that Jericho was not only special to me; he was, in fact, my protector.

I had twenty-four hours to get settled before my first day on the job at the most prestigious law firm in Sacramento … maybe in all of California. They had won some of the biggest environmental lawsuits in history: most notably, a multi-billion-dollar one against a petroleum giant and another one against a company that had been knowingly poisoning people with its coating for nonstick pans.

“Relax …” I said, blowing out a breath before stepping onto the elevator that took me to my new firm on the eighteenth floor.

A bright-eyed woman with dark skin and straight black hair greeted me with a warm smile from behind a sleek glass desk the second I stepped off the elevator.

“Hi. I’m—”

“Livy Knight. I’m Rosalie. We’ve been expecting you. Welcome. Follow me.”

Before I could get out another word, she led me down a wide hallway to a conference room with a full glass wall, a long table, leather chairs, and a monitor on the only wall that wasn’t glass or windows to the Sacramento skyline. The familiar face of Timothy Morten, who personally drove to San Francisco the previous month to recruit me, smiled, as did his partner, Trisha Brattebo. We chatted via video after Tim’s trip to San Francisco.