Page 146 of That Moment
Celeste looks up from her notes, reading glasses low on her nose. “The weight of whatever you’re carrying right now is about to crush us both,” she says dryly, lips twitching.
She’s always been good at letting me sit in my discomfort. That’s why she’s an amazing attorney. She knows that if you let someone sit long enough in their silence, they’ll start talking. And she’s never wrong.
“Are you waiting for the world to end first?”
A nervous laugh slips out of me. “Maybe I am.” I exhale, twisting my fingers together. “I came to thank you. For the LA offer. For believing in me enough to even suggest it. It means more than you know.” Her brow lifts, waiting. “But…” I take a breath. “I can’t accept it.”
Her smile comes slowly. She removes her glasses and sinks back against her chair. “I figured.”
I blink. “You—what? YouknewI wouldn’t take it?”
“I knew before you did.” She folds her glasses and sets them down carefully. “But you needed to reach that conclusion yourself. Otherwise, you’d spend the rest of your life wondering if you turned down the wrong path.”
I sit back, speechless for a second. “So you offered it just to… test me?”
She chuckles. “Not test you, sweetheart.Trustyou. I recognized the same look in your eyes that I had at your age. It’s this hungry uncertainty, like you’re trying to figure out what kind of woman you want to be, what kind of lawyer you want to be, what kind of girlfriend, daughter, wife. I knew you’d never really know until you were forced to choose.”
“I thought I wanted that big life again. The city, the challenge. But when I imagined waking up in LA, alone, in some high-rise condo with no one who knows me? It felt hollow.” I smile faintly. “And then I thought about here. The ranch. Sunday mornings with family. Scotty…” My chest warms. “And it just clicked. Like all these years I’d been fighting it, trying to tell myself that I belonged somewhere else but… I belong here.”
Celeste studies me for a long moment, a proud look on her face. “You know what that is, Adrienne? That’s peace. It doesn’t come from money or job titles; it comes when you stop fighting yourself. And you’ll never find peace in a new job or a new city or even a new relationship, unless you find it inside first.”
I laugh quietly, brushing at a tear that slips free. “You make it sound so easy.”
“Oh, it’s not.” She leans back, tilting her head. “You’ll still question it sometimes. Wonder if you should’ve chosen differently. But home isn’t a place, sweetheart, you know that. It’s a lot more than that.”
Her words make my throat ache. “That’s Scotty,” I admit softly. “He steadies me. Makes me feel seen in a way no one elseever has. I feel like I’m my most authentic self around him, and I never even had to try. It just came naturally.”
Celeste’s mouth curves knowingly. “I thought so. You light up every time you say his name.”
I roll my eyes, smiling through it. “Please don’t start.”
“Oh, I’m absolutely starting.” She grins. “Has he proposed yet? Because the way you’re glowing, I’d say it’s imminent.”
“Celeste!” I groan, covering my face. “We’ve barely gotten our footing. Let’s not jump to weddings.”
She laughs. “Relax. I’m only half-teasing. But I will say this: when you find the person who makes you laugh even when you’re angry, and holds you without trying to fix you, don’t let go. Whether it’s next month or ten years from now, that’s the kind of man worth building a life with.”
I smile, my heart so full. “He’s the one. I know that now. It’s just… surreal to finallyknow.”
“Good,” she says simply. “Then the rest will fall into place.”
She reaches across the desk and squeezes my hand. “I’m proud of you, Adrienne. You spent so much of your life trying to prove you belonged at the table. You don’t have to prove it anymore. Youbuiltyour own damn table.”
Emotion surges in my chest so quick that I burst into tears. I stand, moving around the desk to hug her. She hugs me back, firmly, that comforting smell of gardenia enveloping me. “Thank you,” I whisper. “For letting me figure it out the hard way.”
She chuckles softly against my hair. “The hard way’s the only way that sticks.”
Celeste releases me from our hug, eyes shining. “Now that that’s settled,” she says with a teasing lift of her brow, “I suppose I’ll have to break the bad news to my colleague in L.A. that she won’t be stealing my favorite niece.”
I laugh softly, then pause. “Actually… I might have someone perfect for her to steal.”
“Oh?” Celeste perks up, intrigued.
“My friend Agnes,” I explain, reaching into my bag for my phone. “We were at Harvard together. She’s been working for a firm in London for the last two years, but she’s miserable there. She just moved back to the States last month and told me she’s looking for a change. She’s sharp, specializes in mergers and contracts, and she’s fearless in negotiations. I think she’d be a great fit for Catherine’s team.”
Celeste’s expression lights with genuine excitement. “Agnes Weller?” I nod, surprised she remembers. “She was top of her class neck and neck with you. Of course I remember her.” She grins, taking down the number I rattle off. “Catherine will be thrilled to have a solid lead.”
I shrug, smiling. “Least I can do for turning down your golden ticket.”
