Loaded, p.29
Loaded, page 29
Robert pokes his head around the corner just as I hang up. “Ready?”
I’m about to stand when I remember that Ethan might still be on hold. “Almost.”
“I’ll go down and get the car. Meet you at the front?”
“Perfect, thanks.” I press the phone to my ear. “Ethan? Are you still there?”
But he’s not on the line anymore. I should have known. Teenagers aren’t celebrated for their long attention spans. I’m sure he’ll talk my ear off about all the reasons buying a wrecked Razor is the best idea he’s ever had as soon as I get home from work.
Robert’s waiting for me when I reach the ground level, his black BMW sleek and shiny. When he opens the door and stands up, my heart races. He can’t possibly be planning to come around and open my door for me, right? That would be squarely in date territory.
I practically leap for the passenger door and open it myself, sliding inside as quickly as I can in four-inch heels and a fitted suit skirt.
“Where do you want to eat?” he asks.
I have no idea what’s good around here. Before Nate died, I only came in for the morning, never staying for lunch, and since his death, I’ve been coming in at 7:15 after school drop off and leaving at 3:15, so I haven’t had time to take a lunch and still work a full day.
“I’m fine with anything other than Chinese food,” I say.
“You don’t like Chinese?” He frowns. “Really?”
“I’ll eat P.F. Changs or Pei Wei,” I say. “Maybe it’s the MSG, but all the other Chinese food I’ve tried gives me a headache.”
“How about Thai food?”
“I like that.”
“Great.” He spends the rest of the drive and our entire meal discussing his plan for the case and my role in it.
I’m glad I brought a notepad along, because I fill two full pages with notes.
“You didn’t have to write all of that down,” he says. “I’d have been happy to clarify anything you forget.”
“I don’t like asking people to repeat themselves.”
“Probably why everyone likes working with you.”
When the waitress brings the check, Robert doesn’t even glance at it. He just hands her his black American Express.
“You don’t want to verify you were charged correctly?” I try not to let a note of censure enter my tone, but I’m not sure I succeed.
“You’re such a lawyer.” He laughs. “But the firm is paying—we worked every second. We both drank water, and we each only ordered one entree. I’m not sure how badly they could possibly screw it up.”
I look at my hands as I smooth the napkin over my lap. “I do tend to worry about every little detail.”
“It’s what makes you a top notch litigator.”
“And a giant pain in the rear.” I don’t look up, because I know it’s true. I don’t need to see the confirmation in his eyes.
“Abigail.”
I swallow.
“Abby.”
I finally look up.
His expression is soft. “You work harder than anyone I know. No one thinks you’re a pain.”
I am, however, terrible at accepting compliments with grace. “Well, thanks.”
“I mean it. Not everyone wants to add another partner, but one hundred percent of the partners acknowledge that you’re the highest caliber associate.” He sighs. “It actually may be part of the reason they don’t want to promote you. You won’t be available to make their lives easier if you’re handling your own cases.”
“I’m also the oldest associate.” I didn’t mind when Nate was earning money too, but I can’t really catch up on the savings goals for our family on an associate’s salary. I try not to think about the hit our savings took when we paid for the expensive treatments we threw at Nate’s cancer, but I can’t help it when I get the statements. It weighs on me.
“We aren’t that old,” Robert says.
“Bush was president when we were in law school,” I say. “Friends was still on the air.”
“You were so stunning in law school.” He leans back in his chair, his head shaking slowly. “Everyone called you Elle, remember?”
“That pissed me off,” I say.
“You did sort of decide to do law school on a whim,” he says. “You didn’t know the different types of law.”
“I was nineteen years old. I didn’t know gasoline came from crude oil and not natural gas.” I laugh.
“You did.”
“Fine, I was pretty smart for a teenager, but I still don’t get it. It’s not like that character started school young. She was just unmotivated and ditzy. She went for a guy. It was offensive.”
“The women probably intended it as an insult, but none of the guys took it that way.”
I huff. “I looked nothing like Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde.”
He snorts. “Nothing like her? You were blonde, you were in great shape, and you dressed stylishly.”
“I was blonde?” I pretend to be annoyed. “I pay a lot for this color.”
“I’m so sorry,” Robert says. “You were as blonde then as you are now. Is that better?” He rolls his eyes. “Lawyers are the worst.”
“They really are,” I agree.
“Law students may be the only thing worse, but you showed them—top of the class.” Robert looks down at the table. “I was pretty stupid as a law student too.”
“Whoa,” I say. “Are you finally admitting that your Birkenstocks were a crime against fashion?”
He meets my eyes, his gaze as intense as I’ve ever seen it. “You had just broken up with your college boyfriend when we started, remember?”
For some reason, mentioning my breakup with Shawn makes my heart race, which is crazy. That guy was a major loser. “I do, yeah. I was kind of wrecked.”
“Nate and I had been roommates at UCLA and we both met you at orientation—you were wearing that yellow sundress. But I’m not sure you ever knew that we were both interested.”
What? I’ve never heard this, not once.
“Nate insisted he was going to go after you right away. My sister told me that was idiotic—if you really like a girl, you wait for her to rebound first.” He swallows. “I thought it was wise to play the ‘friend’ angle. Once Nate struck out, I figured you’d be ready for something real.” He sighs. “Then you married Nate.”
“Robert—”
“I know it’s probably a shock, but I just need to get it out there. That’s still the biggest mistake I’ve ever made, but I never let myself regret it. I loved both of you, and you were really happy. But now. . .”
Robert liked me? I had no idea. “But you and Maisie—”
“You mean the girl who was the closest I could find to a facsimile of you?” He snorts. “She wasn’t nearly close enough, clearly. You know how miserable we were better than anyone.”
Is he implying that if she’d been more like me, they’d have been happy? “I’m not sure—”
“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me, right? That’s how the saying goes?”
He’s hopping around so fast I can’t keep up.
“Earlier today, I was asking you on a date, or at least I was trying to ask you. Then you looked like I’d stabbed a puppy, so I pretended it was a work lunch. I almost let it be, but I can’t do that, not again, Abby. Because if I miss my chance a second time, I’ll never be able to live with myself.”
* * *
That’s the first chapter of The Bequest, so if you enjoyed it, you can grab it on any platform where you like to read.
Acknowledgments
I am so grateful for my readers. You guys make this whole thing possible.
And for this book, I’m grateful that I have an epic cousin, Katie, who always taught me that true beauty goes far deeper than our skin.
I’m grateful for my husband and kids and their endless patience.
I am NOT grateful for my horses, who kept going lame and having issues that made it almost impossible for me to finish this book. Stop being stupid, horses. PLEASE. (Just for, like, two months??) :P
About the Author
I have five kids, eight horses, three dogs, three cats, thirty chickens, and just the one husband. I’m a lawyer who gave up law to follow her passion, and thankfully, I’ve found readers who appreciate my books enough that I’m not a laughingstock… I LOVE my job, which you guys make possible. Thank you for loving my weird stories almost as much as I love writing them.
Also by B. E. Baker
The Scarsdale Fosters Series:
Seed Money (1)
Nouveau Riche (2)
Minted (3)
Loaded (4)
Filthy Rich (5)
The Finding Home Series:
Finding Grace (1)
Finding Faith (2)
Finding Cupid (3)
Finding Spring (4)
Finding Liberty (5)
Finding Holly (6)
Finding Home (7)
Finding Balance (8)
Finding Peace (9)
The Finding Home Series Boxset Books 1-3
The Finding Home Series Boxset Books 4-6
The Finding Home Series Boxset Books 7-9
The Birch Creek Ranch Series:
The Bequest
The Vow
The Ranch
The Retreat
The Reboot
The Surprise
The Setback
The Lookback
* * *
Children’s Picture Book
Yuck! What’s for Dinner?
* * *
I also write Fantasy Romance under Bridget E. Baker.
* * *
The Dragon Captured Series: (dragon shifter romance!)
Ensnared
Entwined
Embroiled
Embattled
The Russian Witch’s Curse: (horse shifter romance!)
My Queendom for a Horse
My Dark Horse Prince
My High Horse Czar
My Wild Horse King
My Trojan Horse Majesty
The Magical Misfits Series: (paranormal humor!)
My Pigeon Familiar
My Mongrel Pack
The Birthright Series:
Displaced (1)
unForgiven (2)
Disillusioned (3)
misUnderstood (4)
Disavowed (5)
unRepentant (6)
Destroyed (7)
The Birthright Series Collection, Books 1-3
The Anchored Series:
Anchored (1)
Adrift (2)
Awoken (3)
Capsized (4)
The Sins of Our Ancestors Series:
Marked (1)
Suppressed (2)
Redeemed (3)
Renounced (4)
Reclaimed (5) a novella!
A stand alone YA romantic suspense:
Already Gone
B. E. Baker, Loaded
