Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 89674 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89674 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 359(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
“Who do you recommend take your clients?” she asked.
“Donna Abrams. We’re very similar people,” I said. “She hustles and deserves the leg up.”
“Let me talk with the partners. Does Lon know?”
“I suspect so.” I said before I took the week off.
“Richmond,” Lon barked from his office three doors down from me. I saw Penny flinch at the outburst. Her concerned gaze sought mine.
“I see he’s learned,” Angela remarked with a smirk. With reluctance, I got to my feet and started out of my office, Angela on my tail.
“Don’t forget to bring up Donna,” she said with an air of humor and elitism. I glanced over my shoulder at that remark, trying to read between whatever lines she had going. What was wrong with Donna? The answer was inconsequential. My plans were already in motion. I was relocating to Sea Springs. My year of solitude didn’t imply that I wouldn’t be around him. Maybe, after a couple of months apart he’d want me back. It could happen. Maybe?
24: The Dixie Duke
Dash/Beau
Dash
For the first time in more years than I could remember, I returned to my dark, lonely home before six o’clock in the evening. If I’d made this more of a habit, my love would be here to greet me. As I entered, I switched on the overhead lights and headed straight for the bar to pour myself a vodka tonic with a healthy dose of lime. In the long to-do list I’d made for myself, I needed to work on my alcohol consumption, but that was further down the list. I needed the liquid courage to help get me through the next few weeks.
Glass in hand, I went for the wall intercom system and pushed the button to begin playing the music I craved all over the house, picking up where I left off last night. I was working my way through the Aretha Franklin era. The depth of the lyrics along with the scale of the music had so much more feeling that engaged the senses. Especially from where I found myself today.
I took a hearty gulp of the drink and sat in the seat I’d moved closer to the framed pictures of Beau. The task list I made last night sat on the nearby end table where I left it, pen on top. I picked it up and quickly marked through the first goal of putting in my resignation at the firm. I took a larger drink this time, reliving the afternoon chewing-my-ass-out session that Lon had been intent on giving me. The next few items on the list were going to be challenging but none more difficult than quitting my dream job.
Item number two was to call Carter and catch him up on my changes. He’d sold Beau and I this penthouse. Although Beau had always been reluctant about this place, I’d never been short-sighted. The property was deeded in my name with Beau entitled to half. With the housing market on fire, I could likely sell the place quickly. My half would fund a start-up law firm in Sea Springs as soon as I could get there.
I stuck my finger in the knot of my tie and reached for my phone in the breast pocket of my suit jacket. Carter’s contact information was drilled into my brain, so I dialed the number I knew by heart. Carter had become a father figure to me. We had developed a close bond, and I found I craved his support more than ever.
“Carter,” he said, the king of the fourth-ring answer. Kailey’s giggle had me grinning. She had such an infectious laugh. Linda had to be nearby. They made a dynamic duo, having used their differences to create an even healthier twosome.
“Do you have a minute?” I asked.
“Only a minute. It’s family time. What’s up?” he asked.
I weighed the decision of talking to him with Linda in earshot, but the silence and loneliness of my house were getting the best of me. “I’m planning to sell the penthouse. I’ve contacted a couple of realtors but wanted to talk to you and get your approval first.”
“Why’re you selling?” he asked. I heard movement and Kailey’s voice fading.
“Have you heard from Beau?” I asked. Beau and Linda were quite close.
“Not since his visit,” Carter said, his tone edging toward concerned. “What’s going on?” Well hell, what did I say now? When I took too long to answer, Carter pushed. “What’s going on, Dash?”
Backed into the corner I’d put myself in, I let go of a pent-up sigh and stared at the picture of Beau’s rugged body scaling the side of the mountain. “Beau and I are on a break.” The confession tasted like acid on my tongue. “We’ve broken up.”
“I sensed something was really off between you two, but I couldn’t get Beau to talk to me.” Wherever Carter had gone, he returned to Linda and Kailey, because he asked someone other than me, “Have you talked to Beau?”