The Family Plan (The McClouds of Mississippi 1)

“It’s what we both wanted. It’s all we talked about in school.”

“I know.”

“You gotta come out here, Katie. I’ve been talking about you. The partners are interested in meeting you. And this is definitely a good time for you to come.”

“Tom, I told you I couldn’t possibly come to L.A. until after the first of the year. Even if there were an opening that had to be filled immediately, I would have to decline. I have obligations here—a couple of big cases of my own.”

“Like what? DWIs? Divorces? Bankruptcies? Good ol’ boys in neck braces suing grocery stores over faked slip-and-falls?”

She didn’t appreciate his condescending summary of a small-town law practice, even though she had once said the same things when they had dreamed of joining those big, impressive firms with their “precedent-setting” cases. “I’m finding a few cases here that keep me challenged,” she said stiffly.

“Yeah, well, every case here keeps me challenged,” he boasted.

He’d apparently become prone to exaggeration in the almost two years since she had last seen him. She suspected his new circumstances had changed him in other ways, too. She could picture him wearing the “right” suit, tie, watch and shoes, driving the “right” car and living in the “right” neighborhood. Everything he had always wanted—and that she had always believed she wanted for herself.

“Surely you can take a few days off,” he urged. “I’m telling you, the time is hot. One of the junior partners has derailed herself—gotten pregnant with twins, of all things. The suits are going to be looking for her replacement.”

“She’s leaving the firm?”

Tom snorted. “Not officially. But she’s already having to cut back because she’s sick a lot. And she’s starting to make noises about wanting to spend some time with the babies during their first year. They won’t fire her, of course. They don’t want to open themselves up to that sort of litigation, but she can kiss a full partnership goodbye. She had better learn to be happy with ugly divorces and child custody battles.”

“Surely there are high-ranking women in your firm with children.”

“Maybe. If so, they don’t sit around swapping baby pictures. I guess they hire nannies to take care of the kids so they can concentrate on the job. You can bet none of the senior partners here take many personal days off.”

“And you’re happy working there?” she couldn’t help asking.

“Katie, it’s exhilarating! Keeps you sharp and on your toes every minute. I get up every morning fully charged and ready for battle. Every win is a high and every loss makes me only more determined to win the next one. I love working here, and I just know you would, too. It’s everything you and I always hoped we would find. Let me set something up for you.”

“Tom, I truly appreciate your offer, but I really can’t get to L.A. for an interview just now. I have a medical malpractice case that’s taking every spare moment I can give it, and that’s in addition to my other workload. Maybe I’d be able to take a long weekend toward the end of January, maybe February, but it just isn’t going to happen now. Surely you know that I take my work commitments seriously. That’s why you think I’d be an asset to your firm, isn’t it?”

His regretful sigh traveled clearly through the phone lines. “That’s exactly why. But I thought you were a little better at setting priorities. Giving up an opportunity like this for a case any country lawyer in that state could handle, well, it makes me wonder whether you’re really as ambitious as you always led me to believe. There are others from our class who would leave their dying mothers’ bedsides for a chance like this.”

The analogy made Caitlin wince. She had discovered she didn’t much like the man Tom had become in the past two years. Had he always been like this? Had she once been in danger of becoming like him? “I’m sorry you feel that way.”

“Oh, hell, Katie, you know I still think the world of you. I always believed you were too good for some dinky Mississippi two-man firm, and I still believe it. Paula’s twins aren’t due until March. I’ll call you again after the first of the year, okay?”

“I’ll certainly try to make time to talk with you then,” she said because she had learned never to burn bridges.

“Great. In the meantime you can be thinking about where you really want to end up in a few years. Think about what you’ve got there and everything that’s available to you here. I think we both know where the real excitement is.”

They disconnected a few moments later. Rubbing her aching temples, Caitlin turned her chair away from the phone and toward the computer again. The move brought her face-to-face with Nathan, who stood in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl darkening his face. She didn’t know how long he had been standing there, but he’d obviously overheard entirely too much.

Because she was suddenly feeling unaccountably defensive, she spoke a bit more sharply than she intended. “Taking up eavesdropping?”

“Apparently, it’s the only way to learn anything important around here. I didn’t know, for example, that my partner has been talking to a firm in L.A. about arranging a job interview.”

“I haven’t mentioned it because there’s really nothing to tell. I’ve been approached, yes, but it’s nothing formal or definitive. Just an old friend who thought I might be interested in joining his firm.”

“And you didn’t think I’d want to know you’d been approached? Even if you didn’t think I deserved to be told as your business partner, didn’t you even consider discussing it with me as your lover?”

Her lover. For some reason, she had never actually thought of him that way, even though that was exactly what he was, she supposed.

He took a step into the office and closed the door behind him. “Are you looking for a new position, Caitlin?”

“I’m not looking for anything,” she replied in frustration, pushing herself to her feet. “Tom contacted me. I’ve made no arrangements with him because I don’t have time to think about another position right now. In case you haven’t noticed, my workload is quite heavy.”

“I’ve noticed,” he said with little expression.