Page 76 of Objection to Love
Mom glanced at Em with furrowed brows. “I thought Em was coming on as a partner.”
“Em isn’t currently interested. I told her I’d give her a few days to think about it.” His voice was hard. Everyone turned to look at Em.
Her frustration had about reached a breaking point. It had been rising since they’d arrived here tonight, and mingled with the stress coming from the trial starting that week, her uncertainties with Garrett, and the general tension over introducing him to her parents. “And I told Dad I don’t need a few days. While I appreciate the offer, I am very happy in my current job.”
Mom laughed, her congeniality faltering somewhat. “At the prosecutor’s office?”
Em nodded. “Yes.”
Her mom pressed her lips together. “We’d always planned on you joining the firm, September.”
“Yet no one ever thought to tell me of those plans. I like my job, Mom. I’m sorry to disappoint you.”
Mom stared at her. “What was the point of going to law school if you didn’t want to join the firm?”
Em blinked. She didn’t know what to say to that. To the presumption that the only job worth having was one provided by her parents.
“Hey, I wanted to show you the crib I chose, Mom,” April cut in, her voice wavering somewhat.
Mom ignored her. “September, we’ve told all the partners you’re joining. How would it look if we had to tell them our own daughter declined to take the job? You are being handed a position most people work over a decade for. Don’t tell me you intend to turn it down.”
Em took a steadying breath. “I really am sorry to disappoint you both, but I wish you’d talked to me about this before talking to your partners. I am happy where I am—I love the public sector. I have since my second year of law school. I want to make a difference. Find justice for people suffering injustice. Work for victims who need lawyers willing to fight for them.”
“So you think we don’t do good work?” Dad responded, setting down his fork.
“That’s not what I said at all.”
Silence fell over the table. Steam rose slowly from the lasagna, and everyone seemed to be avoiding each other’s eyes. Except for Garrett. From beneath the tablecloth, Em felt his hand find hers and squeeze it. She looked at him and was surprised to see the emotion there. For once, his expression wasn’t dancing with amusement. He was entirely serious as he watched her. And something—pride, maybe?—shone from his eyes. It was enough to relax her shoulders.
“Oh my gosh,” April said suddenly, her voice panicked as she looked at her phone.
“What is it?” Em asked.
“Our neighbor’s house is on fire.” She looked at Jackson. “They are worried it might spread to ours and are urging us to come home immediately. But…”
“But what?” Mom asked, forgetting for a moment about the tense conversation that was just interrupted.
“But we got a flat tire on the way here—it’s why we were a little late. We have the spare on now, but all the shops are closed to have our tire repaired. I figured we’d just stay here tonight and take care of it in the morning.”
“You should just stay here, sweetheart. It’s a two-hour drive. There’s nothing you can do.”
April finally met her mom’s eyes, and April’s looked a little wet. “No, our sweet neighbor will need us. She's eighty-seven and lives alone. The least we can do is get home and provide comfort. She may need a place to stay… Plus, we need to check on our house.”
“We’ll drive you,” Em offered, concerned at the shaking of April’s hands.
April nodded and stood jerkily. “Thank you so much. Can we go now? I’m… I’m so sorry to skip out on dinner, Mom and Dad.”
Mom waved her hand as if it were nothing. But it was accompanied with a heavy sigh that told the truth of her frustration. “Let us know how your neighbor is.”
Despite Em’s empty stomach, she’d never been so grateful to leave a table full of food.
Within a few minutes, they were all in Garrett’s truck. He reversed from the driveway as soon as everyone was buckled.
“I’m so sorry about your neighbor’s house,” Em said, turning around to look at Jackson and April. “I hope she’s okay and that your house is okay.”
Jackson was giving his wife a weird look. “My only question is when did our forty-seven-year-old divorced military vet of a neighbor become an eighty-seven-year-old lady alone in the world?”
April bit her lip. “When we all needed to get out of that dinner.”
