Starting Now (Blossom Street #9)(101)

“Basically I want to know how you plan to balance your work life and your real life. Because what you’re doing now isn’t working.”

“My real life?” she repeated, amused.

“Libby, I’m serious.”

“Yes, I know you’re serious, and I am, too.”

“You’ve fallen right back into the same old grind. This is exactly what I was afraid would happen if you quit your own practice. I helped you set up those rules only because you asked me to. As far as I can see they haven’t done you a bit of good. You’ve almost given up on working out at the gym. You’ve only talked to Ava once this week and you can’t remember the last time you picked up your knitting.”

“Phillip, I know it looks bad.”

“It is bad. We were supposed to meet for drinks on Wednesday and what happened?”

It wasn’t like he didn’t already know. “Okay, so I was a few minutes late.” She’d been held up at the office.

“Thirty-two minutes, to be exact.”

“I couldn’t leave …”

“So you said.” His mouth thinned to a hard line.

“It isn’t just me who’s changed, you know,” she said. “It’s hard to talk to you. It’s like there’s a concrete wall between us. You were like this when we first met.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know: emotionally stagnant. We used to talk all the time, text, too, but if I text you, I don’t get a response.”

“Mainly because you’re texting to tell me you’re going to be late, again.”

“That’s not true.” Libby didn’t want to fight. Not tonight. Not any night. It’d been a long week and they were both tired. Finding fault with each other was far too easy. She wanted to talk to Phillip about the changes in him but she could see it would serve no purpose now.

Silence stretched between them like a barbed-wire fence, the barbs ready to draw blood if they dared attempt to climb over it. Finally Libby couldn’t stand it any longer.

“It was a lovely party. Julie pulled it off; Scott couldn’t have been more surprised.”

“I was just happy you could spare the time,” he muttered, not bothering to hide the sarcasm.

“Phillip, please, don’t be like this.”

“You’ll always have an excuse, Libby. Just wait. It’ll be the same next month and the month after that. We both knew this could happen, and despite your efforts and promises, everything has fallen apart within two months.”

“Please, Phillip, I don’t want to fight. Not after we’ve had such a good evening.” Reaching over, she placed her hand on his forearm and gave him a pleading look.

He exhaled and nodded. “I don’t want to argue, either.”

The silence was a bit more comfortable until Phillip said, “You think that if you bury yourself in your work you won’t have to think about Amy Jo?”

Libby bit down on her teeth, clenching her jaw in an effort not to give in to the hot surge of anger that instantly rose into her chest. She waited until her heart calmed before responding. His comment was a low blow and not appreciated. “You aren’t going to leave this alone, are you?”

He exited the freeway and stopped at a red light. Keeping his gaze focused on the road, he exhaled a slow breath and said, “Okay, you’re right. I apologize. I love you, Libby. I’d hoped that the two of us could build a future together.”

She reached out and placed her hand on his arm. “I want a life with you, Phillip, and my career. I love what I do, and I’m good at it.” She thought about Martha Reed and the Buckleys. “Just give me a few months and I promise everything will change.” It would be a rough few months. She wouldn’t lie to him. He needed to be prepared to accept the fact that she would be late a lot of nights and miss a few sessions at the gym. She would finish his sweater but it wouldn’t happen before Christmas.

Phillip pulled up to the curb in front of her condo and then exhaled slowly, his shoulders rising and falling as he waged some internal battle.

“All right, Libby, I’ll do my best to be patient.”

“Everything will right itself soon,” she promised, and pressed her head against his shoulder. “Come up for a few minutes, all right?”

He turned off the engine and together they rode up in the elevator. His mood lightened and she was grateful. While she picked up her discarded clothes and shoes, Phillip poured them each a glass of port.

They cuddled on the sofa. Libby was nestled in his arms and she pressed her head against his chest. She enjoyed the steady strong beat of his heart. Leaning down, he kissed her. His mouth lingered on hers and Libby raised her arm and gently stroked the back of his neck. They’d managed to avoid a major confrontation and she was grateful. Phillip was willing to give her the time she needed to settle back into a reasonable routine.

Everything would be different; it had to be. Libby wouldn’t allow history to repeat itself.

Chapter 38

The second week of November Libby tossed back her covers and fell into bed. The firm had challenged her to prove she could be an effective member of their outreach efforts. As a result, in addition to her office duties, she was expected to wine and dine potential clients in the evenings, often not returning home until ten or eleven at night.