Unbreakable (City Lights, #2)(114)
Mr. Dooney sucked air between his teeth. “I beg your pardon?”
“I’m sorry, Jon. Mr. Dooney. I’ll write a formal resignation and have it couriered to you by Monday.”
Jon Lawson looked betrayed. “But Alex…Munro…”
“What an utter waste of time.” Mr. Dooney turned on his heel and strode out.
“I’m very sorry,” I said. “Not for quitting, but for leaving you to deal with Munro. And Mr. Dooney.”
“Can I ask why? Not as a boss, but as a friend?”
I smiled. “My head’s not in the game. Not anymore. At least not the way you need it to be.”
Jon sighed, tucking the portfolio under his arm. “Well, that’s business, right? I can’t say that I’m thrilled to lose an attorney of your caliber, but I’ve always admired your courage.” He kissed me lightly on the hand and let me go. “You know who I really feel sorry for is Christopher. If Munro doesn’t fire us, he’s going to have to get back in it.”
I laughed, but my heart ached to say goodbye to my boss. Dooney was flapping his hands impatiently from the front of the restaurant.
“Let’s keep in touch,” Jon said, turning to go. “Oh, and if you need references,” he added with a wink, “make sure you tell HR to get them from me.”
#
The private room had cleared out for all but Lilah, Drew, his parents and mine. Matthew, Lilah’s date, was discreet and slipped out to get their car from valet.
Lilah embraced me. “I’m proud of you.”
“I’m proud of Drew,” I said, watching him talk to our parents, calming my distraught mother with a hug. “He pulled it off, dignity intact.”
“Yes, he did. And now what? For you?”
“Now I have to find out how much I owe my parents for tonight, and the dress, and wedding deposits… It’s all going to cost a fortune.” I heaved a sigh and laughed ruefully. “Good thing I quit my job!”
Lilah laughed incredulously. “You did? When?”
“Tonight. Because when you’re imploding your life, I find it’s best to do it all at once.”
“That’s best,” Lilah agreed and hugged me again. “Now I’m really proud of you. Does this mean you’re going to come work in my firm?”
“We’ll see. I have some things to work out. With…him.” The thought of seeing Cory now filled me with equal parts dread and heart-bursting joy. Did he want what I wanted? Or did he mourn what he lost with Georgia? I forced a smile. “But whatever happens, you’re going to be seeing a whole lot more of me.”
“I’d better.”
Lilah embraced me a final time and left, and my mother descended on me.
“Well, I can’t say I’m thrilled with this turn of events, Alexandra. Are you really throwing away your life with that wonderful man—” she pointed at Drew who was talking to Craft’s manager—“so you can be with some…construction worker?”
“Marilyn…” my father warned. “That man you disparage saved our daughter’s life. And she loves him, don’t you, sweetheart?”
I started to speak, but my mother flapped her hands, her eyes filled with angry tears. “It was going to be a such beautiful wedding.”
“I don’t want a beautiful wedding, Mom,” I said gently. “I want a beautiful marriage.”
“And what? Now you’re going to marry that strange man?”
“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” I said. And that’s the damn truth. “But whatever I do, whomever I’m with…from now on, I want to be happy.”
My mother dabbed her eyes. “Oh, Alexandra. I’m a mess. I’m going to the ladies’ room. I need a moment…”
“And that’s what we want for you too,” my father said. “For you to be happy.”
“I hope so, Daddy. Because I quit my job tonight. I don’t want to be the Shark Lady.”
A wide smile split my father’s face. “Oh, honey, I’m so relieved.”
“Relieved? You’re not disappointed?”
“Honey, I couldn’t be more proud. I learned that all those hours I put in the courtroom weren’t worth the time I spent away from you and your mother. I’m just so happy that you learned the same lesson so much sooner than I did.”
“Geez, you could have told me,” I laughed.
“I could. But you weren’t ready to hear it. Were you?”
He pulled me close and I rested my cheek against his chest for a moment. “No. You’re right. But I still want to work hard. I still want to be a lawyer and I still want to argue the hell out of a case. I just want it to mean something, and I don’t want it to be my whole life. That should be easy enough to find, right?”
My father laughed. “I have no doubt that if you can’t find that sort of job, you can talk your way into one.”
“I hope you’re right, because this was a very expensive non-wedding. I’m going to pay you and Mom back for everything—”
“That’s not necessary…”
“Yes, it is. It’s important to me.”
“We’ll talk about it later.” He raised a brow, his smile gentle. “Don’t you have somewhere you need to be?”