Chapter Twenty-Seven
S eriously, she can’t be sleeping. No one could sleep through that noise,” a woman said over the loud bleating of a foghorn, ensuring that her prediction came true.
Sage tried waving her hand to get the woman to stop talking and the foghorn to stop bleating but apparently her body parts weren’t taking orders from her brain.
“Renata, you know she can sleep through anything.”
“I guess I forgot. She rarely does it anymore.”
The conversation sounded weirdly familiar, but Sage’s entire body was numb, including her eyes, and she couldn’t see where she was or who was talking. The name sounded familiar and so did the voices, especially the loud one.
“Jake isn’t going to be happy she’s falling back into her old pattern of work, work, work.”
She knew that voice now. Work, work, work gave her away. Renata probably would rat her out to Jake. She had a big, annoying crush on him. Sage understood why. She loved the man, but he was still annoyingly bossy when it came to her work-life balance. If he only knew how much better she was.
“But we’re not going to tell him, are we? Repeat after me, Sage is our boss, and we are loyal to her.”
“You’d better be loyal to me. I saved your job last week,” Sage rasped, lifting her hands to pry her eyelids off her eyeballs. The firm didn’t appreciate Renata organizing a petition to have a designated meditation space. Sage raised her head and peeled the keyboard from her face.
“Just FYI, ladies, I wasn’t sleeping. I was meditating.”
“Please, you can’t keep that monkey brain of yours quiet long enough to meditate,” Renata said.
“Isn’t that the whole point of meditation?
” Sage yawned and covered her mouth. “Anyway, I had a good reason for pulling an all-nigher. Alice’s celebration of life is tonight, and I promised Jake I’d be home early.
I’m leaving before noon.” She caught the women’s silent exchange.
“What? I’m not supposed to be in court. I worked extra hours this week to make sure my schedule was clear. ”
“Mr. Forbes implemented a new policy. No one is allowed to take off early on Friday, no matter the reason. We got the memo this morning,” Brenda said, holding up an official-looking document.
“I’ve worked till midnight every night this week, except last night, and I worked until four this morning.” Sage got up from her chair and headed for the bathroom. “Brenda, do me a favor and get Emilia to squeeze me in with Robert this morning. And once you have a time, ask Nina to meet me there.”
“Do you think that’s a good idea?” Brenda asked.
“Mr. Forbes wasn’t happy when you intervened on Renata’s behalf.
” She made big eyes at Sage, reminding her that it wasn’t only the meditation space the firm had taken issue with.
Renata had received a warning about her billable hours, and Sage had called them out on their unsustainable expectations.
“There was that thing with Bill in security too, and Roland in personal injury.” Brenda made a face. “You can only push them so far, Sage.”
“You’re right.” She withdrew a small jar of lavender hand cream from her pocket. “I’ll slather this on, and I’ll be completely chillmellow when I meet with Robert.”
“How many times do I have to tell you? That’s not a word.” Renata sighed. “Don’t worry, Brenda. I’ll do some breath work with Sage before her meeting with Mr. Forbes, and she’ll be completely relaxed.”
“Thanks, Renata. That’s very thoughtful of you,” Sage said.
“A little selfish too,” the other woman admitted. “I need next Friday off for my sister’s wedding.”
“Oh my gosh, I couldn’t change my mom’s radiation treatments. They’re scheduled for late Friday afternoons.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve got this, Brenda.”
An hour later, Sage sat in Robert’s office, thinking she should have done at least two hours of breath work and slathered lavender over her entire body. She gritted her teeth and then repeated the hours she’d put in this week in order to clear her schedule for today.
Robert studied his cookies and picked one up. “That’s a shame you’ll miss Alice’s celebration of life. You should have scheduled your personal activities for Saturday, like every other person at the firm.”
“Life happens, Mr. Forbes. You can’t always schedule family obligations outside nine to five during the week.”
He frowned. “Who at Forbes, Poole, and Russell is working nine to five?” He pointed his cookie at Nina. “Look into this immediately. It’s entirely unacceptable.”
“You know what?” Sage said. “The demands you put on your employees are unacceptable. In fact, I’m positive that the firm is breaking several employment labor laws at the federal, state, and local levels.”
He looked at her over the top of his bifocals. “Are you threatening me, Ms. Rosetti?”
“Nope, it’s not a threat.” She ignored Nina’s warning squeaks and stood up.
“It’s a promise. I’ll be drafting a list of issues you need to address before I leave in the next hour for the celebration of Alice’s life, and you’ll have until Monday at nine to respond.
If I don’t hear from you at that time, I will be contacting every news outlet on the East Coast.”
His face got red. “Ms. Rosetti, you’re—”
“Save your breath. I wouldn’t want you to strain your heart.” She nodded at Nina. “In case that wasn’t clear enough, I quit. I hope you do too, because life is too short to spend even a second longer at this firm.”
“You’re right.” Nina got up, left her iPad on the chair, and said, “I quit too. And I’ll be signing on to head the lawsuit against the firm.”
“Nice. I was trying to figure out how I’d have time for that too.”
Emilia, Robert’s personal assistant, looked up from her desk. “What’s going on?”
“We’ve just quit, and we’re filing a lawsuit against the firm for unfair employment practices,” Nina said. “And don’t bother with the list, Sage. I’ve been documenting issues for years.”
Emilia looked back at Robert’s office and got up from her desk. “I can add to your list.” She picked up her purse and joined them. “Let’s go.”
Three hours later, Sage found Jake in his office at the farmhouse. He leaned back in his chair and smiled. “I should have taken the bet with Kendra. She said you’d get home five minutes before the event started, and I said no way, she’ll be here at least an hour before.”
“And look at me, I’m seven hours early.” She sat on his knee, wound her arms around his neck, and kissed him. “So, I have some good news and some bad news. What do you want first?”
“Bad news.”
“I quit my job.”
“You’re supposed to give me the bad news first, and that’s the best news I’ve heard in weeks.” He kissed her, long and deep. “Are you okay, though? Really?”
“A little nervous, but honestly, he gave me no choice.” She told him everything that had taken place in Robert’s office.
“I’m surprised everyone didn’t walk out. I don’t know how far you’ll get with the lawsuit, though. They do have friends in high places.”
“But if we give the story to the media first, those friends in high places might not want to be on the wrong side of the story. Honestly, with the documentation Nina has, I wouldn’t be surprised if the founding partners accede to the demands and retire.
Nina put together a committee, and they’re drawing up a list of the senior partners they’d like to see head up the firm. ”
“If that happens, what will you do?”
“I gave it a lot of thought on the way home, and as much as I enjoy living in the city and my coworkers, I miss you during the week, and it gets harder and harder to leave here Sunday night. I want to be your partner in life and at work.” She smiled. “So what do you say?”
His lips twitched. “Are you asking me to marry you?”
“No.” She laughed. “I was asking to be your partner… Huh, I guess I was kind of asking that. We haven’t been dating—I mean living together—for that long, but—”
“Yes.”
“Yes what? Yes, we haven’t been living together for that—”
He took her face between his hands. “Yes, I’ll marry you. Today, tomorrow, a month from now, a year from now. I’ll marry you anytime you want, Sage Rosetti. I adore you.”
“Good, because I love you with all my heart, Jake Walker.”
He stood with her in his arms. “We have seven hours before the guests arrive. I have some ideas on how we can spend them.”
Six hours and fifty-five minutes later, Sage hopped down the hall on one foot while slipping on her other shoe. She heard Kendra say to Jake, “I told you she’d get here five minutes before everyone arrived.”
Sage fast-walked to Jake, covering his mouth before he could out them to Kendra. “And the only reason I could be here five minutes before they arrived was because of you. You’ve done an incredible job, Kendra. Thank you, and I know somewhere up there, Alice is thanking you too.”
Jake glanced at her, and Sage nodded. “We have a little something for you,” he said, pulling an envelope from the pocket of his white dress shirt. “It’s from Alice, Sage, and me. We know this is what she’d want for you. We want it for you too.”
Kendra’s hand shook as she opened the envelope. She pulled out the check and the offer of admission to Boston University School of Social Work and shook her head. “No, this is too much. I can’t take it.”
“It’s not a handout. You’ve earned it,” Jake said, and Sage remembered how he’d reacted as a teenager when he thought someone saw him as a charity case. “There are some strings attached to it.”
“Okay.” Kendra nodded, her eyes shiny and bright.
“We’re hoping you come work with us at Alice’s House once you graduate, and we’d like you to work with us here during the holidays. We’ll pay you, of course. And there’s always a room for you here if you need it.”
Kendra burst into tears, hugging them both. “I was afraid you’d want to get rid of me.”
“Of course not. You’re part of our family,” Sage said. “We couldn’t have done any of this without you. Now it sounds like the guests are starting to arrive. We should probably get out there.”
Kendra had created a playlist of all of Alice’s favorite music with some input from Sage and Jake.
At that moment, Robbie Williams’s “Angels” was drifting over the rows of deep purple and soft mauve plants on the warm, late-July breeze, carrying with it the sweet, heady scent of lavender.
It didn’t take long for Sage and Jake to be separated as they greeted their guests, listening to their memories of Alice and the differences she’d made in so many lives.
Over 150 invitations had gone out, and given the crowds of people walking among the rows of lavender and the clusters of guests with their drinks in hand chatting around the pond, it appeared everyone had accepted.
Sage’s family had insisted on catering the event, and the Beaches and her sister’s coworkers at Channel 5 had volunteered to act as their servers and bartenders for the evening.
The trees in the backyard and the ones bordering the pond, the lavender fields, and the lavender store were all decorated with fairy lights.
Her mother’s mural was the focal point of the celebration, and it took everything Sage had not to announce Gia’s secret during her speech.
She’d shared it with her sister, though, and now that the tributes to Alice had ended, they stood arm in arm, admiring their mother’s mural.
Beside it, an easel displayed Flynn’s preliminary plans for Alice’s House.
They were just waiting for the town’s approval before breaking ground.
“The plans for Alice’s House are truly inspirational.
Noah and I’ve been talking about it, and we’d like to document Alice’s legacy in a series,” Willow said.
“We’d open with an interview with you and Jake.
We’d have you talk about working with Alice when you were young and her influence on both of you.
” Her sister smiled at Jake when he joined them, repeating what he’d missed.
“The series would follow you through the planning and building stages, and then wrap up with stories of the women and children who eventually make Alice’s House their home.
We’d protect their anonymity, of course.
” She looked from Jake to Sage. “What do you think?”
“I think it could be a great way to raise awareness about gender-based violence and raise money not just for Alice’s House but also for all the organizations involved in the cause,” Sage said, thinking about Chrysalis House.
She’d spoken to Nina about it already and was hopeful that new management at the firm would continue their support.
“We’ll talk about it and get back to you. When do you need a decision?”
“In the next couple of weeks. I know you two have a lot on your plate but we just need to know if you’re on board so we can start planning. We wouldn’t begin interviews until the new year.”
“You didn’t tell her?” Jake asked Sage, but before she could answer, he said, “Sage quit her job. We’re going to be partners in business and in life.”
Sage laughed. “It really did sound like I was asking you to marry me.”
“Hey, I said yes. You can’t back out now.”
“You’re getting married?” Willow squealed. “Everybody, Sage and Jake are getting married!”
Sage sighed as her sister took off in search of the family, sharing their news with anyone who cared to listen.
Apparently, everyone did, because they were inundated with congratulations as they joined their guests on the walk to where they would release the sky lantern on the plot of land where Alice’s House would eventually stand.
They’d considered doing a group release but had decided that they’d release only one lantern in Alice’s honor.
Their guests had been invited to write a message to Alice or a word that symbolized what she’d meant to them.
Sage and Jake had decided on their message together.
You were and always will be our guiding light.
Sage’s family joined them. “Okay, guys,” she said when they began asking for details about their wedding. “It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing, so we’ll get back to you when we know more.”
Jake laughed. “You’re such a romantic.”
“It’s Alice’s memorial,” she said, a little embarrassed at how unromantic she’d sounded.
“No, it’s a celebration of her life, sweetheart. And trust me, nothing would make her happier than you and me getting married.”
Together they stood out in the open under a star-littered sky with a half-moon shining down on them surrounded by the people who’d known and loved Alice.
They sang “You Raise Me Up” with Josh Groban as she and Jake released the lantern.
Watching the flame flicker as it floated up into the night sky, Sage whispered, “Thank you for loving us and for trusting us with your dream, but most of all, thank you for guiding me back to Jake.”