Starting Now (Blossom Street #9)(51)

It wasn’t until they were dressed and ready for their day that Libby mentioned opening her own office. She hesitated and waited for her friend’s reaction. She could trust Robin to be straight with her. If this was a foolish idea, she wouldn’t hesitate to tell her so.

Robin seemed to take a long time mulling it over.

“Well? What do you think?” Libby hated to be so obviously anxious, but she valued her friend’s opinion.

Slowly Robin nodded. “If anyone could make a go of it, it would be you.”

“Thank you,” she whispered, embarrassed by how badly she needed encouragement and approval.

“Are you sure you can get Sarah?”

“Positive. She says the morale of the entire law office is in the gutter. Everyone is afraid of being the next one cut. The workload has doubled and the staff is expected to keep up this killing pace without a pay raise. Sarah told me they’re all supposed to just be grateful they have jobs.”

Robin frowned. “It’s the same with the city. It’s been a nightmare with budget cuts. You won’t believe what they did last week,” Robin said, and exhaled. “They called it amnesty day.”

“Amnesty day?” Libby repeated, perplexed.

“Yup. If you return office supplies within a twenty-four-hour period … rubber bands, pencils, paper clips, the things that somehow inadvertently got taken home, then the city won’t prosecute.”

“You’ve got to be joking,” Libby said, and shook her head, aghast. If it weren’t so ridiculous, she would cry.

“I wish I was. Now, let’s get back to you setting up your own practice.”

“Okay.” Libby was open to any advice her friend was willing to give her.

“Where will your office be?”

“I’m not sure … I’ll think about that later.”

“You don’t want to work out of your condo,” Robin said. “There are probably restrictions on setting up any kind of business that uses your condo as an office. Plus you’ll want to get away at the end of the day and ‘go home.’ ”

Libby had already thought of that. “I’ll need to find a space to rent.”

“It won’t be cheap and you’ll be required to sign a lease.”

Libby had taken that into consideration as well.

“That’s the bad news, but there’s good news, too. There are complexes that come with a receptionist and all the necessary equipment, copy machine, fax, that sort of thing.”

“But I have Sarah.”

“You think you have Sarah,” Robin reminded her.

“I have her,” Libby insisted. Whenever they talked, Sarah spent half the time complaining about all the changes at the firm and relaying the latest gossip. The rest of the time was spent telling Libby how much she had come to hate her job now that she’d been assigned to work with Ben Holmes.

“Call Sarah before you contact a realtor,” Robin advised. Dressed for work, she headed out of the locker room.

Libby stopped her and shocked them both by briefly hugging Robin.

“What was that for?” Robin asked, clearly taken aback.

“Because you’re my friend and I’m so grateful.”

Robin straightened her jacket front and adjusted her sleeves. “Well, get over it.”

Libby smiled. She hurried back to her condo and settled down on the sofa before she reached for her cell. She knew the direct number to Sarah’s desk and was able to sidestep the receptionist entirely.

“Sarah,” Libby said anxiously when her friend picked up. “Happy Monday morning.”

“I’ve got news,” Sarah said, cutting her off.

“What’s up?” Libby was all ears.

“I meant to call you over the weekend but didn’t get around to it. Mrs. Reed has left the firm. Ben dropped the ball on something and she said enough is enough and told Hershel she was through. This would never have happened if you were still working on her account.”

“Mrs. Reed has left?” That meant that Libby had to move fast. The first thing she intended to do was phone the older woman—probably this afternoon—and set up an appointment with her. She thought of Mrs. Reed as the grandmother she barely remembered. Well into her eighties, the widow had been frugal and wise with her money her whole life and she was wealthy now. While demanding, she’d been wonderful to work with and Libby had missed her. No one was going to pull the wool over this wise woman’s eyes.

“Yes, and Hershel isn’t happy about it, either.”

Libby could only imagine. Mrs. Reed was a major client and Hershel had decided to keep Ben instead of Libby even though Ben wasn’t half the attorney she was. His one attribute, and apparently most important asset, was that he’d brought in two big clients to the firm. The clients Libby had brought in were small potatoes by comparison.

She had to know, had to ask. “Did my name come up?”

Sarah hesitated. “Sorry, no.”

Well, Libby couldn’t be too disappointed. She had her own plans now and they were big.

“I’m calling with news, too,” Libby said, doing a poor job of disguising her eagerness.

“You found a position,” Sarah guessed.

“No.” And then she quickly added, “I’ve decided to open my own practice.”