Page 91 of Key West Homecoming

“It’s not dead.”

“Then it’s deeply unhappy.”

Emma laughed.

“Thank you, Frank.”

“One thing.”

“Yes?”

“When you come back, I want to hear what happened. Not in a managing partner way. We’ve been friends too long for that. And if you need anything from us while you’re down there, legal or otherwise, call me.”

“I will.”

“I mean it.”

“I know.”

“Good luck, Emma.”

“Thank you.”

She ended the call and left the phone on the table.

Twelve years at Ashcroft & Payne. Twelve years of meetings scheduled months in advance, late nights she barely questioned and weekends that disappeared because a client needed something Monday morning. She had just told the managing partner she wouldn’t be there for at least two months.

Emma waited for panic to come.

It didn’t.

She called Priya next.

“Finally,” Priya said.

Emma laughed. “That’s not a very supportive thing to say to someone who just made a terrifying decision.”

“I am being supportive. I’ve been waiting years for you to do something that interrupts your five-year plan.”

“I don’t have a five-year plan.”

“You have a twelve-year plan. It’s called Ashcroft & Payne.”

“Could you just tell me you’re proud of me?”

“I’m very proud of you.”

“Thank you.”

“And I’m still saying finally.”

Emma smiled and tucked one leg beneath her on the chair.

Two days ago, she had been sitting at Gloria’s kitchen table reading a letter that had broken something open inside her. Yesterday she’d driven to Miami and come home with her grandmother’s ring, a photograph of her father and a notebook she hadn’t been ready to read yet. Now she had taken two months away from a job that, until a week ago, she would have sworn couldn’t function without her.

The strange part was that she felt fine.

Better than fine, maybe, although she wasn’t ready to say that out loud.