Starting Now (Blossom Street #9)(98)

“I look ridiculous,” Robin muttered from inside the fitting room.

“I doubt Roy would say that.”

“I wish now I’d paid more attention to my mother. She has a sense of style, which unfortunately completely escaped me.” Having said that, Robin opened the dressing room door and stepped out in a bright red dress that looked incredible.

“Robin …” Libby’s mouth sagged open.

“I know. I look like an overweight poinsettia.”

“You look gorgeous.” Libby meant every word.

“Really?”

Libby nodded.

Robin looked at the salesclerk. “I’ll take it, the blue outfit, and the pink one, too.”

Robin in pink. She probably hadn’t worn anything that wasn’t blue, black, or brown in years.

After Robin paid and carted the garment bag to the parking garage, they decided to eat lunch.

Her friend waited until after the waiter had taken their order before she spoke about Libby’s meeting with the firm. “Two questions.”

“Ask away.” Libby set her water glass down.

“What did Phillip say?”

Libby slowly released her breath. She was having a difficult time reading his reaction. He’d been encouraging, but not overly so. She sensed that he would rather she moved ahead with her own practice instead of returning to the firm, but he hadn’t said so. “He told me he’d support my decision. He knows how important this is to me. I don’t think he wanted to say anything to persuade me one way or the other. Besides, they offered me a terrific package and he knows I’ve practically gone through my entire savings. I need this. My bank account needs this.”

Robin frowned as she reached for a roll from the middle of the table, as if to say she knew this was about more than the money. The waiter appeared with their salads. She waited until he’d turned away before asking her second question: “Did you contact Martha Reed?”

Libby smiled gleefully. She’d been waiting all afternoon to share this news. “I did and I explained that Hershel had asked me to rejoin the firm, and Mrs. Reed told me that it shouldn’t come as any surprise.”

Robin set the buttered roll aside. “The sweet old lady decided to pull her account once and for all if you weren’t the one working on it, didn’t she?”

“Bull’s-eye,” Libby said. “Mrs. Reed told Hershel that upon reflection—her word, not mine—that upon reflection her rapport with me outweighed her history with the firm and their offer to cap fees.”

Robin clapped her hands. “I love it. So they are about to lose her.”

Libby was ready to burst with a deep sense of self-righteousness. “It was exactly the ammunition Hershel needed to convince the other partners they needed me. I still don’t know that her children would have been comfortable with her bringing the estate part of her business to me, but it was definitely a concern.” It didn’t hurt that Libby had clients she would potentially be bringing into the firm, too.

“Another question,” Robin said.

“That’s three.”

“It’s important.”

Robin had gone quite sober, which surprised Libby. Libby sat up a bit straighter, and gestured toward her friend. “Ask away.”

Robin looked her straight in the eye. “Are you sure … are you absolutely convinced that your willingness to go back to the firm isn’t an escape from the pain of losing Amy Jo?”

A rush of fresh hot pain shot to the surface and emotion clogged Libby’s throat. She waited until it passed before she answered, waited until she was sure she could trust her voice. “I … I don’t know, but what I do know is that this is the opportunity of a lifetime and I’m grabbing hold of it with both hands. This is my chance to vindicate myself.”

“Then go for it,” Robin advised. “Give it everything you’ve got.”

“That’s exactly what I intend to do,” Libby said.

Later that afternoon, exhausted from shopping, Libby sat in her condo watching the sunset. Phillip would be back from Vegas the next afternoon. He planned to come over as soon as he landed. In mulling over his response to her news, she’d reached an insight. While Phillip might be unwilling to share his feelings, she could pretty much guess his thoughts on the matter.

He was afraid of what would happen to them as a couple if she returned to the firm. With her own practice the only person she had to compete with was herself. At the firm there were the partners who would be constantly looking over her shoulder, critiquing her performance and her ability to bring in new clients.

What Phillip didn’t understand was that he didn’t need to worry. She wouldn’t allow anything to come between the two of them. She wouldn’t fall victim to that treadmill mentality again. She’d found her life and she was determined not to repeat past mistakes.

As she headed for bed that night, Libby paused to look into the nursery. The room was empty now. The Armstrongs had come and collected all the furniture—they’d been grateful and appreciative. Libby stared at the empty space for a long time. Then, with a lump in her throat, she bounced her closed fist against the wall and turned off the light.

Chapter 37

Two months later Libby tore into her condo, unfastening the buttons to her business jacket with one hand as she tossed her briefcase to the floor with the other. She kicked the high-heeled pumps from her feet, and one flew onto the sofa and the other landed somewhere in the kitchen. She didn’t care. She was already late and Phillip would be over to pick her up in a matter of minutes. Julie Busbee, one of the doctors’ wives, was holding a surprise birthday party for her husband, Scott, and Phillip and Libby had been invited to attend. They couldn’t be late—it would ruin the surprise.