Starting Now (Blossom Street #9)(3)

“I want you to enjoy life,” Hershel repeated. “A real life, with friends and interests outside of the office. There’s a whole world out there ready for you to explore.”

Libby continued to stare at him. Didn’t Hershel understand? She had a life, and that life was right here in this office. She was passionate about her work and now it was being ripped away from her.

“Who will take over working with Martha Reed?” she asked. Surely this was all a big mistake. Martha Reed was one of their most important clients and she enjoyed working with Libby.

“Libby, you’re not listening. The decision has already been made. The firm is being more than generous.”

“Generous,” she repeated, and gave a humorless laugh. Anger took hold then and she surged to her feet. The legal pad fell unnoticed to the floor as she knotted her fists at her sides. “This is a decision unworthy of you, Hershel. You’re making a mistake. I thought you had my back …” She could feel the heat crawling up her neck, creeping into her face, and snapped her mouth closed. Arguing was pointless; as he said, the decision had been made, but by heaven she wanted him to know she wasn’t taking this sitting down. Stabbing an index finger at his desk, she looked him hard in the eyes and said, “I hope you know I’ll have another job before the end of the day.”

“For your sake I hope you don’t, but if that’s the case then so be it.”

“You’re going to regret this, Hershel. I’ve given you and this firm everything.” Without bothering to argue more, she whirled around and stormed out of his office.

With her heart pounding wildly, Libby approached her own small office. When Sarah saw Libby, the paralegal stood, her brown eyes wide and expectant.

“Well?” Sarah asked.

“I … I’ve been laid off.”

Sarah’s face went slack. “You’re joking?”

A security guard came to stand just outside her door, watching as she packed up her things. Libby jerked open her desk drawer and started emptying the contents onto her desktop. “Does it look like I’m joking?”

Sarah wore the same stunned expression as Libby had only moments earlier. “But why?”

“Ask Hershel.” Libby pinched her lips closed as she struggled to rein in her outrage.

“What … what about me?” Sarah sank into a chair as though her knees had given out on her.

“Not to worry, I already asked. You’ll be reassigned.”

“I can’t believe this.”

“You?” Libby choked out, now dumping the contents of her drawers into a tote bag she kept on hand.

“What are you going to do?”

“Do?” Libby repeated, as though the answer should be self-explanatory. “What else is there to do? I’ll find another job. I’ll be working for another firm before I’m out of the building. I told Hershel and I meant it. Jeff Goldstein has been after me for years.” This was no exaggeration. Jeff had contacted her two or three times since she’d been with Burkhart, Smith & Crandall to see if she was happy in her current position. He was the first person she’d call. Already a list of potential firms was scrolling through her mind. Any number of law offices would consider themselves fortunate to get her.

Slamming the final drawer closed, she reached for her briefcase and dumped onto her desk the files she’d spent several hours working on at home the previous night. Next she hefted the bag containing the personal items from her desk drawer over her shoulder.

“Libby,” Sarah said, eyeing the security guard.

Frankly she couldn’t get away fast enough. “I don’t think I could stand it here another minute.”

Hershel had offered her fatherly advice, sounding so righteous and superior … so patronizing. Well, she’d show him. He would rue this day; he’d made a huge mistake and was about to see just how wrong he was. Throughout her life, Libby had faced challenge after challenge and proved herself again and again. This would be no different.

If her mother’s death had taught her anything, it was that Libby should do whatever was needed to rise above setbacks. She’d survive. She had before and she would again. She’d lost her mother when she was far too young, and she’d gotten through her divorce. She’d weather this, too, just the way she had everything else.

Forcing herself to smile, she swallowed hard and looked at Sarah. “Keep in touch.”

“I will,” her paralegal promised. “You’ll let me know where you land, won’t you?”

“Of course.” When she did, Libby would ask Sarah to join her. They were a good team. They’d worked together for so long that they’d become like running partners—keeping pace with each other, intuiting each other’s needs and expectations. When she’d last spoken to Jeff Goldstein, Libby had insisted that if she ever were to join his firm he’d need to hire Sarah, too. Jeff had assured her it wouldn’t be a problem.

Without a backward glance, Libby walked out of the office. She felt other staff members staring at her, but she chose to ignore them. Standing in the doorway to his office, Ben Holmes started to say something, but after one glaring look from Libby he apparently changed his mind. Good thing. Ben wouldn’t want to hear what she had to say to him.

Her cell phone was in her hand even before she reached the elevator. After a quick call to directory assistance, she connected with Goldstein & Goldstein.