Meet Cute(68)

I press my fingers to my lips, my panic turning into real fear. “I don’t know if that’s what I want anymore.”

“I think you need to figure that out. More than one person’s heart could end up broken here. Dax needs support, and I’m concerned you’re caught up in being his savoir. And if you end up working together, too, it adds another layer of complication.”

I know all of this. I knew it before I spent the weekend with him, but hearing it from someone else makes it so much more real. And it’s the reason I haven’t said anything until now.

“It’s the first time I’ve really connected with another person in a long time. It feels good to be needed by someone, to take care of someone else emotionally and feel like I’m being taken care of, too. Does that make any sense at all?”

“Of course it does. You took care of your mom when she was sick, you took care of your dad after she passed, and then he died, too, and you’ve put everything into being the best trust lawyer in the state. Maybe you want to save other families from struggling financially like you have when there’s already emotional turmoil. And now you’re taking on these pro bono custody cases for me. The security thing makes sense, and Dax…he’s suffering and you’re familiar with what that looks and feels like. He also represents so many good things from your childhood that you want to hold on to.”

I rub my temples. “Are you going to charge me a hundred and fifty dollars for this session?”

“You can just get lunch.” Holly laughs but reaches across the table and covers my hand with hers. “Am I wrong?”

I consider all the connections she’s made and how I’ve started to put them together recently, too. Making partner has been the goal since my dad passed, a place to focus all my energy, but in doing that I’ve neglected forming new attachments and relationships, at least the kind that can end up hurting me, until now. “You’re not wrong. But it’s not just being a savior, or holding on to good things from my childhood. I care about Dax. And Emme.”

Holly takes a different approach. “Okay, so what if things were different. What if making partner wasn’t this thing you felt you needed to do? Would you still be working on trusts? What about family law? Would that be something you’d want to do beyond personal favors for me?”

“I consult for you because I want to, it’s not just personal favors.”

“But would you want to do it as a job?”

Five years ago I would’ve said no, definitely not. The grief of losing my mother lingered, and then after my dad passed, the idea of working on pro bono cases was untenable because I couldn’t afford to. But now it’s different. I have other things in my life to help ease those losses, and two of them are a very recent addition.

“Maybe?” I run my finger around the rim of my glass.

“Something to consider, isn’t it? That way you could do what you love and have what you want, too.”

It sounds so simple, but I know it’s not.





Chapter Eighteen





The Birds and the Bees


Dax



The week following the alumni conference is busy, and Kailyn and I don’t have much of an opportunity for alone time. I pick her up for dinner one night—she’s practically on the way home—but Emme monopolizes her for the most part. On the upside, picking her up means I also get to drive Kailyn home. We have frantic, intense sex in the middle of her front entryway, Kailyn pressed up against the wall, both of us mostly dressed.

It isn’t until we’re both sated and sweaty that I notice the hallway is lined with family photos chronicling her life with her mom and dad from childhood to college kid. She’s incredibly sentimental. And her cats are clearly very reliant on her based on the way they rub themselves all over her ankles as I kiss her goodbye.

Tonight, Kailyn’s taking Emme out for girl time. Apparently, going to a dance means Emme needs her nails done and stuff. It gives me the opportunity to spend some time with my friends, which I admittedly haven’t done much of lately, too caught up in my sister and Kailyn.

I follow Felix’s Porsche to a bar close to the office and we settle in, waiting for the rest of the guys to arrive. “So you and Fangirl, huh?”

“Don’t call her that.”

He gives me an arched brow. “She’s out with Emme tonight?”

“They’re getting their nails done, I think. Kailyn said it was girl stuff and I wasn’t invited, which is fine by me.” I relax in my chair. It’s nice to be able to hang out after work and not worry about picking someone up for one lesson or another, or about making dinner that a thirteen-year-old won’t turn her nose up at. I’ve mastered spaghetti and grilled cheese, and that’s about it so far.

“So what exactly is going on there? She’s a little stiff, yeah?”

I flip him the bird. “She’s not stiff. You were a dick to her in school and she has a good memory. She also gets what I’m going through and she’s good with Emme.”

He frowns. “So that’s what this is about? You two are friends and she’s, what, like a stand-in mom?”

“It’s not like that.”

“Then what’s it like? You were together the entire alumni weekend. You gotta be banging her, right? She not really your usual type.”