Page 104 of Sins of the Father

Harper tilts her head and picks up her phone.

“Who are you calling?”

“Vivian, it’s Harper. What dress size are you?”

Hope taps my cheek, and I make a funny face. She hides her face in my chest.

“Great. I have a black-tie event to go to. How many dresses do you have you’ve worn once and will never wear again?”

I zerbert Hope’s neck, and she giggles.

“Thought so. Is it accurate to say you wouldn’t care if I came over and tried on any one of those fifty dresses and borrowed one?”

Hope pulls my ear.

“Awesome. Thanks.” Harper hangs up. “Problem solved. So, what are we doing tonight?”

“My guess is we aren’t going dress shopping?”

“Nope.”

“I would have been happy to buy you a dress.”

“I know. But I wouldn’t have been. Not after everything you already did today. And I’m going to pay you back.”

“Harper, I don’t want you to—”

She puts her fingers over my lips. “I’ve done a lot of thinking today.”

“Before or after your office visit?”

She bites her smile. “Both.”

“What about?”

“I need to get a job. I have to stop trying to figure out what’s going to make me happy and just go back to work. I’m an attorney. I went to school for it and was almost a partner. Whatever I have to do so I’m not in this situation I’m currently in, I need to do. It’s time to suck it up and deal with it.”

My stomach twists. “Are you saying you’re going back to your old firm in New York?”

She scrunches her face. “I don’t know. They would take me back, but I left for a reason. They do pay well though.”

“There are a ton of high-paying firms in Chicago. Why don’t you look for something here?”

“I’d have to take the bar exam in Illinois.”

“So, take it. Or look for something else. The job market is booming right now. You could do anything here.”

“I’ve been out of work for two years and don’t have anything to put on my résumé besides my attorney experience. I’m not exactly marketable right now.”

“I don’t think that is true. A lot of employers would love to hire you.”

“You’re biased.”

Panic grips me. “So you’re just going to leave?”

She softly says, “I don’t know. I don’t want to.”

“Then don’t,” I sternly say.

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