Page 80 of Because of You
“Well, this doesn’t exactly fit onto one of your spreadsheets, does it?” I ask in a teasing tone hoping to lighten the mood.
She lets out a short laugh but there’s no humor in it. “No, it really doesn’t. And if this is what Hallie wants, then I want it for her. Of course we can make it work. What are the chances she’ll forgive me?” Jules stares down at her hands clasped tightly in her lap.
“Hallie loves you, Jules. Apologize. Then listen to her, and then apologize again. Then you can move past this and make a plan. She’s always going to be yours, Jules. I swear she is.”
“I know, and I’m actually ahead of you on the plan. I’ve been sitting here for four days working out how to integrate Charlie’s practice into our firm. I’m almost done. I’ll call Hallie tomorrow.”
I lean forward and press a kiss to Julie’s forehead. She’s hardheaded and frustrating a lot of the time, but she has the biggest heart. She just doesn’t often show it.
“No one better with a plan than you, Jules.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.” She rolls her eyes, but her smile is real.
I laugh then say goodbye to Julie and walk out of the office. I head for Hallie’s, feeling for the first time in a week like things are going to work out just fine.
Chapter Forty-Eight
Hallie
My fingers fly over my laptop keyboard, typing furiously. Sometime between when Ben left for the gym this morning and now, I was consumed by a flood of righteous indignation. Every time I think about Julie, I want to scream. I’ve stopped myself at least ten times from running out the door straight to her house and telling her exactly how I feel about her and her “no fucking way.” Fuck her is how. But I can’t go to her like this. I need spreadsheets. Facts and figures. That’s Julie’s language, and if I’m going to get her on board, I need to speak it. I’ll be fucking damned if I’ll grovel, but I will go to her with a plan.
I’m almost finished when there’s a knock at my door. When I open it, it’s Ben with a bright smile and a coffee cup. He leans in to kiss me and then hands me the cup.
“Vanilla latte. Thought you might need one.”
“God, this is exactly what I need right now. How did you know?”
“I—”
“Yeah, yeah, you see me and whatever. Are you ever going to tell me how you do the coffee thing?”
“Maybe one day, Hal. Maybe one day. So, you’re spicy today.”
I lead him back into the living room, which is currently covered in files, papers, and my laptop. “Fucking right I am. After you left this morning, I started thinking. How fucking dare she, you know? I know it’s our firm, but this is my career. I want this, Ben. I want it so damn badly. And I’m going to have it.”
Ben positively beams. “Damn straight, Hallie girl. Looks like you found your mad. I’ve been waiting for it.”
He has? “You have?”
“Sure. I knew you wouldn’t stay sad forever. You do your best work when you’re a little bit angry.”
He’s so right. I do. How is it possible that this man knows me better than I know myself?
“Well, I’ve done some of my best work today. I contacted all the clients who are coming over with me from my old firm and they are all happy to have their files transferred to Julie. I created a whole bunch of lists and spreadsheets and plans to explain how it’s all going to work. If I’m going to talk to Julie, I need to speak her language.”
“I’m proud of you, Hal. I know you want this, and you’re going to have it. So, here’s what’s going to happen. You are going to tell me all about these plans you’re making. Then, we have dinner with your parents. After dinner, we are going to come back here, and I am going to worship every inch of my gorgeous girl who is going to be a fucking brilliant adoption lawyer. What do you say about that?”
“I say, I’ve never loved someone more than I love you right now.”
Ben scoops me up and tosses me onto the couch, covering my body with his and raining kisses all over my face until I am breathless and hysterically laughing. He buries his face in my hair and whispers in my ear, “I love you too, Hallie girl. Always.”
After spending the afternoon with Ben sprawled around my living room and going over all my plans, we’re late getting to my parents’ house. My family is already sitting down in the dining room when we walk in the door.
“So, Hallie, what’s going on at the firm?” My dad asks, once we all settle around the table.
I hesitate, and Ben squeezes my leg under the table. My righteous anger from earlier today disappears and is replaced by bone deep exhaustion. I’m suddenly so tired. I’m tired of keeping secrets. I’m tired of hiding the thing that has me happier and more excited than anything has since the day I first started the family law clinic in law school. I’m tired of tiptoeing around everyone. I’m doing this, whether Julie likes it or not, so it’s time to let it all out. I take a deep breath and start to talk.
“I’ll be changing my practice when we open the firm in January.” Every head at the table swivels in my direction.
