Chapter 7
CHAPTER 7
LAURA
“L
aura, what can I do for you?”
The voice on the other end of the line was strange, and Laura realized just how long it had been since she’d checked in at the office. Sitting back in her chair at the dining room table, she smiled ironically, wondering if they’d missed her. “How’s life been the past couple of weeks, Irene? I assume you haven’t given my office away yet?”
On the other end of the line, Irene laughed. “No, but I did catch one of the first years sneaking in there for office supplies. He left a few layers of skin off his backside shorter than he’d been going in. Other than that, you haven’t missed much.”
“The Christmas baccanalia wasn’t memorable?” Laura asked. “I had two babies in the office pool, you know.”
“After you’ve been here as long as I have, everyone getting their freak on for the Christmas fling is pretty much par for the course,” Irene replied. “I mean, nobody went streaking down the hallway wearing nothing but reindeer antlers like your second year here. Remember that?”
Laura nodded. “It didn’t help Hadley any that he insisted on saying that he was going to be on Dasher, on Dancer, et cetera, et cetera.”
“And he wasn’t talking Christmas poetry either.” Irene laughed. “No, the board partners made sure things stayed a little more under control this year than that. Other than that, folks are basically checking out for the holidays. How about you, how’s your grandfather’s estate coming along?”
“Fine. I’ve got a county courthouse that seems to think that the holidays started sometime around Halloween, but they are actually doing some work. I’ve got all the authorization I need to start settling debts and receiving assets.”
“In other words, his life insurance and Social Security ponied up,” Irene said.
Laura hummed.
“What else? I mean, I miss seeing you around the office, it’s far too much of the old boy network fest on this floor with you gone, but you’re not the kind to just call me out of the blue.”
“Yeah, about that… I’ve got this family asset that I could use your advice on. I mean, I know what my legal standing is, I’m the executor of the will and the primary beneficiary?—”
“Who are the others?”
Laura chuckled, that was Irene. The woman was a legal machine.
“My grandfather left a small amount to the Scouts since he was an Eagle Scout way, way back in the day, another bit to the local animal shelter, and a donation to the Denver Broncos so they can, and I quote, finally buy a decent quarterback. He was a bit salty about the post-Elway years.”
“I can see that,” Irene said. “At least he’s not a Jets fan like my papa.”
“None of those donations are a big deal, in fact, I already cut a check to them out of my own funds in his name to cover it until the life insurance pays up. But there’s two pieces of real estate that are involved. The family home, and his Christmas tree farm.”
“Go on,” Irene said. “What’s the issue?”
“If I sell the farm, I’ve got the buy-in to be a partner,” Laura said. “Actually, I’ve got an offer on the table that would allow me to put the buy-in in escrow and still have enough to have a nice chunk of change for myself. There’s a developer out here who’s all sorts of fired up about trying to develop this area into Pueblo’s next major subdivision.”
“And you want my advice on what to do with it,” Irene says. “Sorry babe, but I won’t give you that.”
“What?” Laura asked, surprised.
“Because of the very fact you called to ask me,” Irene said. “If you didn’t have any feelings at all about this… what sort of farm is it again?”
“Christmas trees.”
“People actually farm Christmas trees?”
“Where do you think people get live trees from? Wild trees in the woods?”
“Haven’t thought about it, I’ve had the same artificial tree since I got married,” Irene admitted. “My point is Laura, you’ve got feelings involved. Sentimentality, nostalgia… something else?”
Laura groaned, Irene was good like that. It was what made her trial work so effective.
“Maybe.”
“Details. Now,” Irene said, but she didn’t sound like an attorney as she said it. “Is he cute?”
“He’s very cute,” Laura gushed. “Problem is, he’s the manager of the tree farm. If I sell it…”
“Ouch, now I’m double-glad that I told you I won’t give you any advice about that sale,” Irene said. “Have you two, you know… trimmed each other’s tree yet?”
“No, and ouch yourself!” Laura replied, cringing. “We’ve been working at the tree farm together. It’s given me something to do while waiting for everyone to get their paperwork in order, after all. I can’t just sit around all day in this house looking at ghosts and trying to decide if I want to build a snowman or not.”
“Snowing there?”
“Three inches last night, roads are still clear.”
“Watch your butt driving,” Irene said automatically. “You’ve spent how many years now riding the subway everywhere?”
“Don’t worry, I’m being careful,” Laura said. “I just… Irene, I’m at a crossroads. Either I sell the farm and have the money to become a partner, or I don’t become a partner for years… if ever.”
“Is there a middle ground?” Irene asked. “For example, sell the family house, keep the tree farm? I mean, what kind of house are we talking here?”
“Something that you’d never, ever find in the city,” Laura admitted, looking around. “Roughly fifty-year-old construction, wood framed, two floors with enough square footage to raise multiple generations in.”
“So in other words, it’s the sort of place that everyone talks about retiring to some day, and most of us never do, or only do it after it’s too late,” Irene said. “Why’d you ever leave in the first place?”
“Because it’s Podunk as you can get without worrying when your neighbors start playing their banjos,” Laura explained. “And because it’s the sort of place that sure, you can raise a family… only to see them move away if they want real opportunities to make it in life.”
“Seems like people are making it there, though.”
“Do you want me to quote you the number of people in this area who are on food stamps?” Laura shot back immediately. “This area’s got exactly five main businesses to work at. A tiny, understocked Walmart, a truck stop, a ‘green’ dispensary, a clanky gym, and ranches that’s mostly seasonal work. Almost everyone else is small, single-family businesses, or they’ve got to drive into Pueblo to find a job. Or they’re retired. That sound like the sort of place you want to raise a kid, Irene?”
“I’ve heard of worse, I’ve lived in worse,” Irene replied. “Including in this very city, Laura. Look, I’m not trying to sway you one way or another on this. What you need to do is take a little bit of time and think . You’ve got a big, beautiful brain tucked between those ears, you know. So use it. Do you care about this guy? Do you care about him enough to look at not being a partner here at the firm? Do you want to be a partner enough to give that up, and the property, to pay for your buy-in? Because to give you the sales pitch for here babe, you know that partners, even junior partners, pull in mid-to-high six figures on a yearly basis. Senior partners start their annual compensation at seven figures, and it just goes up. You get yourself a good civil case, and we’re talking you can buy yourself ten Christmas tree farms, and raise your kids on summer vacations in Ibiza if you want.”
“What sort of psycho would take young kids to Ibiza?” Laura asked.
“Cheaper than Disney World, last I checked,” Irene said. “You get my point though. This isn’t about money, Laura. This is about your heart. Do you want to be a high-powered lawyer? Or do you want Mr. Christmas Tree? Farm’s secondary to that.”
“I… I don’t know,” Laura admitted. “You know, I’ve put on five pounds since coming back? When was the last time you felt comfortable gaining weight?”
“Not since having to get my first suit tailored,” Irene said. “Look, I’ve got a meeting with John Steele in five minutes, there’s one of those civil suits I talked about coming down the pipe, and I think John wants me on the defense team.”
“Big client?”
“One of the biggest,” Irene said. “Anyway, if you want anyone to listen again, give me a call tonight. Or midafternoon your time, what time is it there, anyway?”
“Nine seventeen.”
“Yeah well, early enough,” Irene replied. “Talk to you later, bye!”
Irene hung up, and Laura groaned. Irene was right, this had nothing to do with money. It had everything to do with her heart. Getting up, she walked to the front door and went out on the porch, where she looked out on the front yard. Her family house was built on a half-acre of scrub woodland, connected to Granite Road, the main road for the Rockaways, by little more than a well-beaten dirt driveway that had four foot high posts driven into the ground to mark the path for winter. The yard was pristine now though, the yellowed winter grass hiding underneath the blanket of pure snow that covered everything.
It was the world when everything was quiet, and even Granite Road looked like it could be a lot further away than the hundred or so odd feet it was. The one tall pine, far too tall to ever be a Christmas tree, thrust its way into the searing blue sky, and as Laura watched, a blue jay screamed its harsh cry into the winter air before taking off, probably looking for something to eat. There were a lot of people in the Rockaways who’d put out various feeders for birds, squirrels, and chipmunks in winter, figuring that their animal neighbors could use a little extra to get by. For a long time, Grandfather had put out sunflower seeds he’d get from the store, until he learned that it was better for the animals to have unsalted seeds.
This was her home, from as far back as she could remember. She wanted it.
She wanted Ethan. No man had ever been so even with her, determined but honest, fair, sweet, and strong. He wasn’t some fake alpha male, bossy and insecure in his manhood. He wasn’t threatened by her legal degree, trying to talk himself up because of it. He was just… himself.
And he could kiss her and make her swoon without even trying.
Best of all, he didn’t expect her to be anything other than herself, either. Sure, he wanted her to not get rid of the tree farm, last night’s isolation had made that clear. From the moment they’d finished their conversation, things had gone weird very quickly, with Ethan only coming into the trailer to either deliver payment or to warm up when his fingers got too cold that his gloves and pockets weren’t enough. Even after they’d closed up, they both silently acknowledged that his offer of having a drink together was off the table.
But she couldn’t have it all. She couldn’t have the man, the farm, and the house, and the legal career she’d dreamed of for years. And turning her back on the firm now, with partnership so close that she could taste it, was almost a rejection of everything she’d done over the past twelve years. It would make the long nights studying until her eyes burned and her hands cramped, the days when she’d sneak bags of ingredients out in her backpack instead of seeing them get thrown away in the dumpster even though it was against the health code, the long hours at her desk, putting up with the impossible demands of the partners, everything she’d done…
What would it mean, then? To just… give it all up?
The blue jay screamed again, and Laura sighed. “Yeah buddy, that’s sort of how I feel,” she said as she turned and went back inside. Screaming inside.
It wouldn’t help her reach a decision about a choice she never anticipated coming, but at the same time, it wouldn’t hurt things either.