Page 41 of The Sweet Life

“I can’t believe she didn’t tell us.”

“It was around the time you got into Harvard and I got into the military. You know Alice, she wouldn’t have wanted to upset us. She wouldn’t want to disrupt our lives. Plus her prognosis was good at the time.”

“Did she opt out of traditional treatments?”

“No, not initially. She did everything the doctors recommended, and she went into remission a couple of times. But when it came back the third time, about eighteen months ago, she told her doctor she was done.”

Sage’s eyes filled. “Why did she keep it to herself? We could have been there for her, spent more time with her. Dammit, I would have come to see her. I would have called her. I would have been there for her.”

He cupped the back of her head, bringing her cheek to his chest. “Her doctor said she was doing well. There was no reason to think she wouldn’t be around for another year or more.”

“It’s why she updated her will recently.”

“Yeah, and I have a feeling once I’d settled in, she would have had the both of us for dinner and broken the news. The last time we spoke, she mentioned that she was going to call you, get you to come and stay for a few days at the farm. Shewas worried about your caseload. She thought you’d taken on too much.”

“It’s not an issue now that I’m suspended.” She felt like she couldn’t breathe and stepped away from Jake. She walked to the patio door, sliding it open and letting in the warm ocean breeze.

She felt the press of Jake’s chest against her back. He moved his hands up and down her arms in comforting strokes. She leaned against him. “I still can’t believe they basically fired me after the business I’ve brought to them, the number of cases I’ve won, and the amount of time I’ve given to them… I’ve given them the past five years of my life, Jake. I sacrificed relationships, time with my family, with Alice.” She choked back a sob. “And they let me go as if I don’t matter, as if I’m disposable. They didn’t even give me the opportunity to defend myself.”

“They’re entitled assholes, and they don’t deserve you. Don’t you dare doubt yourself because of them. You’re a brilliant lawyer. Your clients love you, and so do your colleagues.”

Sage snorted. “Thank you, but other than Brenda, my coworkers barely knew me until I started bringing Max to work.”

“Then why did forty-five of them, including Bill in security, tell the firm that they wouldn’t be in on Monday unless you were reinstated?”

She turned to stare at him. “They did?”

“They did.”

“I’m, I’m kind of speechless, and touched. Really touched.” She wrapped her arms around her waist. “It won’t matter,though. The founding partners never budge on a decision. They’ll wait them out.” She pulled out her phone. “Brenda has to tell them to go to work tomorrow. I don’t want anyone to lose their job because of me. Bill and his wife have a baby on the way, and—”

“Don’t worry. No one is losing their job, including you. I had a talk with the founding partners yesterday. I played your recording for them and made a few threats of my own.”

“When did you—” She made a face. Her grandmother had informed Jake that her family were bringing her home and sent him on his way. “My nonna was a brat yesterday. I can’t remember if I apologized for her. Did I?”

“You did, and so did your mother and your aunt and your sister. They also tried to get your grandmother to apologize, but she ignored them.” He grinned. “You and your grandmother have that in common.”

“Ha. Now tell me, what did you threaten the founding partners with?”

“I told them you were suing for illegal dismissal, and that we’d jointly be filing suit against Robert for conspiring to catnap Max, animal cruelty, and also conspiring to cause irreparable damage to your reputation, as well as conspiring to injure you. I paid a visit to the congressman too.”

“Nice. What is your specialty, by the way?”

“Family and criminal law.”

She blinked her eyes in an effort to keep tears at bay. “You want to help kids like you, don’t you?”

“I do.”

She hugged him tight. “I really am proud of you. Whichis why I’m not giving you hell for handling Robert and the congressman for me.”

“Great. So seeing that you’re really, really proud of me, you won’t give me hell when I tell you that, once they’d rescinded your suspension, I told Forbes, Poole, and Russell that you’d be taking the vacation time they owe you starting now.”

“Are you insane? I can’t take time off work. I have clients who are counting on me.”

He looked like he wanted to shake her until her teeth rattled. “You’re just out of the hospital. The doctor told you to take six weeks off. At the very least, you need a month off work, Sage. You shouldn’t even be here helping me.”

There was a part of her that knew she couldn’t keep going the way she had been. “I promise I’ll do better. I won’t do any more all-nighters. I’ll try to take off some time on the weekend. Don’t look at me like that. I can’t let my clients down.”

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