Kiss Me in the Summer - Barbara Dunlop Page 0,70

our own firm,” Elizabeth said.

Cecily grinned. “Me, Elizabeth and, we hope, you.”

“How?” My mind jumped immediately to the practicalities of starting a law firm. First problem was that it took a whole lot of money.

I didn’t have money. I knew Cecily didn’t have money.

“We have a backer,” Elizabeth said. “She believes in me, and in you, and in Cecily. And she wants to support women lawyers.”

I was beyond stunned. This was it, the epitome of everything Julia Ferris had instilled in me, all of my professional dreams. Our own firm, all of us name partners in our own firm.

“Say, yes,” Elizabeth said.

“Of course she’s saying yes,” Cecily put in.

Cecily was right. In law school, we’d talked about starting a firm. It was a long-term dream, meant to happen years in the future.

But here it was, on a silver platter. “Yes,” I said. “I’m in.”

Cecily let out a little squeal, and Elizabeth punched her fist in the air. We all hugged each other. When we pulled back, Cecily stilled and looked curiously past me.

I turned to see Josh standing there, clearly having overheard. And my heart fell to my toes.

He stared at me for a long minute. Then, without a word, he turned to walk away.

“Who was that?” Cecily asked.

“He looked like you kicked his puppy,” Elizabeth said.

The metaphor was apt.

“Josh Rowin,” I said, guilt and remorse collecting inside me. “Dr. Josh Rowin, the local vet, he’s . . . uh . . . I gotta go.”

“Where?” Cecily asked, clearly not yet finished celebrating.

But I had to get to Josh. It couldn’t wait.

“I’ll be back,” I told her, backing away. “I’ll be back in just a—” Feeling a sense of urgency, I stopped explaining and turned to head into the crowd, desperately hunting for a glimpse of him.

*

I finally caught up to Josh near the bandstand.

“Josh!” I called out and slowed to trot.

He stopped but he didn’t turn around.

I caught up to him. “Will you let me explain?”

He stared straight forward. “There’s nothing to explain.”

“That was Cecily and Elizabeth.”

“I got that much. Congratulations.”

“I didn’t mean for you to overhear it like that. I’m . . . sorry.”

He looked at me then, but his gaze was distant. “There’s nothing for you to be sorry for.”

Maybe not technically, but we’d both been inching closer and closer to a relationship. I wasn’t going to pretend I was oblivious to it.

“It’s my dream,” I said, reiterating what I’d been reminding myself. It was a dream that was years in the making. Walking away wasn’t logical. It wasn’t possible.

His eyes unexpectedly softened in the way I loved, the green flecks shimmering in them sunshine. Oh, how I wanted to hug him.

“It’s not your fault, Laila.”

Now I wanted to hug him even more.

“I knew the score,” he said. “You got stuck here. You didn’t choose us.”

“I . . .” It was more complicated than that. I did get stuck here. But so many things had changed since then.

“I got ahead of myself,” he said, shaking his head. “You’d think a guy like me would learn.”

I was filled with regret. “I never meant for that to happen.”

“Neither did I.”

We both fell silent, the festival swirling around us, the scent of blooms filling the air. The people were celebrating. The dogs were all adopted—or nearly so. My career was back on track.

All was well in his world and all was well in mine. But they were separate worlds. They always had been.

I put my hand on his arm, wishing there was something more to say.

He slowly looked down at my hand and stared at it for a minute. “I know it’s your dream. You earned every bit of it.” Then he lifted his gaze to mine. “The problem is you turned out to be my dream.”

Then he pulled his arm away. In a second he was gone, and my world felt empty. My skin turned cold and my stomach cramped while the sounds and the smells and the colors of the festival swirled around me so fast that I thought I might fall down.

“Laila?”

It was Cecily’s voice from a long way off.

“Laila?” she called again.

And then she was in front of me, reaching for me, looking both puzzled and worried. “Laila? Are you all right?”

I nodded. Then I shook my head. “I have to get out of here.”

*

I was in Madeline’s guest room, throwing things into my suitcase in no particular order. Everything was going to get wrinkled.

“He said you were his dream?” Cecily asked with an air of

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