AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"She's happier than I expected." She's completely without reservations. She embraced us. Which is a lot more than I can say for my feelings about her relationship.
I'll never apologize for looking out for her—
But I need to give her space too. I need to give my entire family space to grow into themselves, make their own mistakes, shape their own lives.
"She's happy," I say. "She always wanted Daphne as a sister."
Alexander smiles. "That's sweet."
It is. "No one would describe Cassie as sweet, but she is. She just hides it."
"Like you." He doesn't say it is a question.
I nod anyway.
"You're an interesting young man, Jackson. You have a firmness to you. An authority. You have the potential to be an excellent trial attorney. But you have a softness too. Clients trust you to hold their hand."
"I try."
"I know it gets tiring, sometimes, but don't lose that," he says. "Don't forget, this job isn't just about winning and losing or enforcing rules. There are people on the other side of those contracts."
Sure. But why is he talking about the philosophy of law? A lot of law students were philosophy majors, yes, but I've never heard him mention Aristotle or Plato. Didn't he study English literature?
Or maybe this is how he starts all hisyou're a partnerspeeches.
Maybe this is it.
The thing I've been working for my entire life.
Only I'm not excited about it. I don't want to stand here and talk shop.
I want to go inside and kiss my wife.
But she won't be my wife for long. I need to follow my head. For the next hour, at least.
I nod as if I understand why Alexander is offering advice.
"You probably know why I asked you here," he says.
It's the new marriage, isn't it?
I don't know anymore.
I nod, but he doesn't see it. He's fixed on the domestic scene inside.
Alexander watches Daphne and his wife laugh as they sip drinks. "It's a magical thing, marrying the woman you love. It starts a whole new phase of your life." He blinks, and a tear catches on his lashes. "It's hard saying goodbye to that last phase, but it's worth it."
I nod, though I'm not quite following. There's some implication in his words. Something I don't understand.
"I'm going to miss you when you move to New York," he says. "But you'll be good there."
New York.
Why would I move to New York?
My brain works too slowly. I don't put the pieces together.
He plows forward with the confidence of someone fully informed. "Have you already lined up a job?"
