"Got it. Don’t disobey. Do whatever they tell me to do."
He nods. "Tomorrow morning. Eight a.m. sharp. Be at their offices wearing your most expensive suit to meet with your new legal team who's going to help you win this case and turn your reputation around."
“Yes sir.”
With that, Caleb leaves the office, his polished shoes clicking sharply against the tile as the door shuts behind him. I sink back into my chair, completely drained.
“It’s going to be okay,” Coach says firmly.
“Easy for you to say.”
He chuckles. “Did I ever tell you about the time I trespassed on an old dairy farm and rode a cow? Got a three-game suspension out of it but a hell of a memory.”
He launches into some story from back when he played pro hockey, but I barely hear a word of it. My mind is already somewhere else, spiraling through the rules my new legal and PR teams are about to shove down my throat.
And how much I’m going to hate every single one of them.
Chapter 5: Rosie
“Hey, wait up!” I call out to my older brother. Cain notices me running across the slick sidewalk in high-heels, and pauses, holding the door to our law offices open for me as I slip inside and shake off the snow and cold.
“Good morning, sis,” he says with a smile, nudging my side.
“Good morning. When did it get so cold?”
He chuckles. “Brookhaven’s lake has been frozen for months now. You need to walk out your back door and look at it next time you’re in town.”
“I know.” I smile. “How was your weekend?”
“Not bad. Piper’s finally sleeping through the night, so Rhiannon’s been in a great mood.” He steps into the golden elevator beside me, looking far too chipper for someone with a nine-month-old baby.
“What an angel,” I reply, grinning. “I'm going to make time to come out there this weekend and snuggle her.”
“You know you’re welcome anytime,” Cain says with a pointed look. “We thought we’d see more of you now that you bought the house on the other side of the lake.”
I sigh, shifting my briefcase to my other hand. The one that still has blood flow and isn’t frozen from the commute.
“I know. The plan was to spend weekends out there so I could be closer to you guys and Piper, but it’s been slow getting furniture moved in and making it feel like home.”
And lonely.So painfully lonely to be in that big house on the weekends by myself.
Not that it isn’t lonely in my apartment in New York City either. But there’s something to be said about being surrounded by families while you’re stuck outlining briefs when it feels like you’re the only single person left in the small town.
“Well, you know Rhiannon and Eden can always help. Actually, I think Eden mentioned that she has a design project this semester where she needs to remodel a room from scratch. She might be looking for a blank canvas to work on. Maybe one of the spare rooms in your house?”
I perk up at the idea. Eden is Cain's younger sister-in-law who is currently in design school at NYU and remodels furniture with her older brother in her downtime.
“That’s a great idea. I’ll text her and try to swing by this weekend. No reason to stick around in the city if I don’t have to.”
Cain smiles, his eyes lighting up in that proud way he gets whenever he talks about his new, little family.
It’s strange, seeing him like this. He was never the type to prioritize love or even slow down for it, but here he is, happier than I’ve ever seen him.
Only a year into his marriage to Rhiannon Carpenter, a woman that I've built a close friendship with who grew up in Brookhaven Lakes, Connecticut, and he's already a doting dad to Piper. She’s so adorable, the sweetest and silliest little girl, and I adore spoiling her anytime I get to see her.
The elevator doors slide open, and we step into the sleek office space where we work. It’s our father’s offices, but we both know that one day we’ll become the owners.
The office manager sits at the front, a woman we’ve known since we were kids. She greets us with a smile and wave, and just like that we mentally flip the switch from siblings into lawyers.
