Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 89553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
He’s still sheltering from the fallout. Even now. Braced. Ready. Waiting for it to happen again. It’s all he’s got room for. My heart aches because I’m not with him, but also because I know he’s in pain and can’t see a way out.
I toss the LSAT book to the side and pull my laptop back onto my lap. I reread Sharon’s email for the tenth time. What am I going to say?
Are you sure you haven’t mixed me up with someone else?
My mother thinks I’m not capable of dressing myself, let alone going to law school. How can you be so sure I am?
Sure, I’ll put my name down for a scholarship, but don’t worry, you’ll never have to pay up because I’ll never get in.
My phone buzzes, and I hurry to grab my cell from my purse, which I left in the hallway.
It’s pictures on the group chat with Ed, Katherine, Hunter, and me. Katherine in a red bikini, holding up a shell. Katherine and Ed holding up cocktails. Ed with a snorkel and mask on. They look like they’re having the time of their lives. It’s nice they want to share it with us.
Hunter and I haven’t officially split because we weren’t officially together. I haven’t mentioned anything to Katherine because I don’t want anything to interrupt her having a great time on her honeymoon. And maybe part of me is hoping the conversation I had with Hunter will be forgotten now that he’s had a chance to process what Ed was saying. Ed loves working with Hunter and doesn’t want to step back in any meaningful sense. He just doesn’t want to work all the time. Then again, he doesn’t have the history Hunter does.
As I’m swiping through the photographs, a video call from Katherine comes through.
“Belize looks horrifying,” I say dramatically as Katherine comes onto the screen. She’s in the hotel room and Ed is behind her.
“It’s awful. I miss you. I wish you were here.”
“It’s our honeymoon,” Ed mumbles behind her. “You’re not supposed to miss your sister on your honeymoon.”
I laugh. “Are you telling me you don’t miss me, Ed?”
He turns to face the screen and steps closer. “Of course I don’t! Belize is awesome and it feels so good to not be wedding planning or worried about . . . anything.”
My heart lifts in my chest at seeing them both so happy.
“Have you seen much of Hunter since the wedding?” Katherine asks, her eyes brimming with hope and excitement. I’m so lucky to have Katherine. She’s genuinely excited when I’m happy. The feeling is entirely mutual.
The question triggers a low, sonorous pain inside me. “Not really,” I say, honestly. “He’s really busy. And . . . worried about stuff.”
Ed shuffles Katherine so he’s now sitting where she was and she’s on his lap. “He’s really stressed?” he asks.
“Yeah. I think so.”
“I remember telling him we need to hire more people so we can enjoy our lives,” he says. “It didn’t go down well.”
I sigh. There’s nothing I can say to make this better. I understand why Hunter has taken it so badly. I wish I could make him see that Ed’s trying to help them both. He’s not about to betray Hunter. I know it. All Hunter can see is history repeating itself.
“Can you reassure him I’m not trying to tank our business?” Ed says. “We’ve both worked too hard for us to let that happen.”
“I don’t think he’s in the headspace to hear it, Ed.” Nothing hopeful has room to grow in him.
“Has it made things tense between the two of you?” Katherine asks.
“A little,” I say. “But I’ve been busy at work too. I have to get back to the partner on whether I want to be considered for a firm scholarship to law school.”
“What?” Katherine asks.
I wince inwardly as I’ve realized I’ve used my outside voice for my inside thoughts.
“Didn’t I tell you that one of the partners offered to mentor me? She mentioned that I should consider going to law school in the evenings.” I try to sound casual, but I’m terrible at faking anything.
Katherine’s brow is furrowed, and she gets closer to the camera like she’s trying to read some small text. “No!” Katherine says. “You didn’t tell me that. When did this happen?”
“I don’t know. Before the wedding sometime. It was all a blur.”
“So what did she say? Do you want to go to law school?”
Now the cat’s out of the bag, I may as well come clean. “She thinks I have a lot of potential and that I should apply. But then again, I’m a good paralegal. Do I really want to work for years and not even know if I’m going to become a lawyer? I might be bad at it, or I might not graduate at all. It’s such a time commitment, not to mention all that money. I might waste it all, and—”