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“Uh, pretty uneventful. My boss is a misogynist and narcissist who never seemed to value me in the first place, so the idea of me not being around didn’t really concern him. There are plenty of other women for him to objectify for his and the clients’ benefit.” Am I ranting? Maybe that smarmy little weasel who used to be my boss just seems to bring that out of me.
“He’s a disgrace to the name,” Grandpa says.
“His name is also Bob,” I explain to those in the room who didn’t already know it.
“Speaking of hitting someone with my cane, I would give almost anything to smack that little twerp.”
“Calm down, Grandpa. It’s okay. Honestly, though, I would love to see that.”
“No, it isn’t okay, sweetheart.” His irritation is rising. I can tell because he has this one vein that makes itself prominent in the middle of his forehead when he’s upset. Fondness for the man who raised me swells in my heart. He’s always been protective of me. “He was so rude to you. What was it that he said at that meeting?”
“Well, he’s said a lot of degrading things in front of our colleagues. But I assume you’re talking about the time he said I was a ‘glorified paralegal.’”
“Such a jerk.” Grandpa angrily forks another bite off of his plate.
“That he was…is.”
“What else did he say?” Mina asks. She sounds like she’s getting just as angry as Grandpa.
“He just shrugged and asked what I was going to do next. When I said I didn’t know, he rolled his eyes. I suppose it is a plus because he said I could just be done in a week or so. In my employment contract, it says I have to give a month’s notice, so I was sure to get that week release date in writing, and signed! ” I didn’t and don’t trust that man.
“Oh, so you may want to start this bee thing sooner rather than later?” Dean muses. He has a frown on his face as if he’s irritated about something. I can’t imagine what that could be, though. Unless he was lying when he said the casserole tasted good.
“Well, I do have some savings to cover us for a while,” I admit. It’s been just Grandpa and me for so long, and then Grandpa, me, and Mina. We were never hurting for money, but I learned to be frugal.
“It’s preferable not to use that, though, right? And the farm will have to become self-sufficient at some point, or we may have to sell the land,” Grandpa offers.
“True,” I say.
“Just curious, but how does it feel to leave the legal field?” Dean asks.
I’m quiet for a moment while I think about that. “Honestly, it feels great.”
“Really?” He seems shocked.
“Yeah, it never felt like the right fit for me. I should have realized that in law school, but I think I genuinely just liked going to school. I loved the homework, the tests, everything.”
“Wow, you are a rare breed.” Dean smiles at me, and I feel my heart flutter.
“And I’ll tell ya, Dean,” Grandpa begins. “She’s always been like that. Every parent-teacher conference I attended would always come with a great report about how enthusiastic she was about school, and she even inspired some of the other kids to get excited about learning, too.”
“Oh?”
I can tell Dean is confused about why my grandfather was the one who went to such meetings.
“My parents died when I was very young. It was a car accident involving a drunk driver,” I tell him.
“I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”
“That’s okay. I was actually in the car too. So was my sister, Phoebe. But I was the only one who made it out.”
“Again, I’m so sorry. Oh man…”
“It’s really fine. I don’t even remember it. Thank goodness.” I’ve heard all the condolences before. Even though I know Dean means them, it’s still hard to hear the sympathy all these years later.
Grandpa Bob leans over and pats my leg. “And she’s been with me ever since.”
“And I am so fortunate for that.” I smile at my grandpa. He’s the best.
