Southern Attraction (Southern Heart 3)

It’s going to have to get us through until the wedding.

This morning sucked ass. It was harder this time to say goodbye to him. I hate it. Only two weeks until the wedding. I’ll be there the entire week, and I’m staying with him. To say I’ll be counting down the days is an understatement.

“Good morning, Jamie. How was your time off?” Mr. Warren asks.

“Good. Thank you for the time.”

“You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m just sad to see him go. I didn’t think it would be this hard.” I can’t believe I’m spilling my guts to my boss about missing Mike.

“Come on back to my office. There are a few things I’d like to talk to you about.”

Standing slowly, I follow him. I’m pretty sure I know what’s coming, and today is the perfect day for it. I’m already sad that Mike had to leave, so now at least I have something else to blame it on, not just my feelings for a man who lives too far away.

“Have a seat.” He points to the chair in front of his desk. “I know you’ve had to notice that things are really slow around here?”

“Yeah,” I agree.

“I’m retiring, Jamie. I’ve practiced law now for over thirty-five years, and it’s time to spend some time with the missus. We want to travel and go visit our grandkids.”

“How long?” I ask.

“I’ve already arranged for you to receive a full year’s salary.”

I gasp. “Mr. Warren, that’s entirely too generous.”

“Nonsense.” He waves me off. “I consider you family. You’ve been with me for years, and you are the backbone of this practice. I couldn’t have done it without you. I want you to have time to choose where you go next, without the worry of income. With that being said, all the cases are cleaned, you have them organized, and Tom Farris is going to take them over for me. As of Friday, I’m shutting the doors.”

“Fr-Friday?” I ask, shocked. “I thought it was coming, but I didn’t think it would be this week.”

“I didn’t want to worry you. I knew financially for the next year you would be good. Honestly, I didn’t have a date until yesterday. I met with Tom and he convinced me that he could wrap everything up. He knows how meticulous you are.”

“So me being good at what I do caused you to close early?”

“No, child. It’s just the right time. Everything has fallen into place. I’m sorry for springing this on you. I

see now that I should’ve been more open about what my plans were. Thank you for all your years of service, Jamie. I meant what I said about you being family. I hope we can keep in touch. You know the missus and I think of you as one of our own.”

“I-I’m really going to miss you, miss this place,” I say through my tears. I don’t know if the fact that he’s retiring and I was right is causing them or the pain in my chest from watching Mike drive away from me this morning. A combination of both more than likely, heavy on the Mike.

“Now, all the cases have been transferred. I’m selling all the furniture with the building, so I’ll leave this next part up to you. You can hang out with me the next four days, or you can follow that man of yours back to Kentucky and see where that road leads you.”

“How did you…?”

“Like I said. Think of you as one of my own. Besides, I’m an attorney. I can read people.”

“I’m going to miss you,” I say, standing and rounding the desk to give him a hug.

“The missus already has a party planned. You’ll be receiving your invitation in the mail.”

“Please tell her that if I can help, I would be happy to.”

“I’ll do that. So what’s it going to be?”

“I guess… I mean, I could help Whit with the wedding. It’s in two weeks.”

He chuckles. “Uh-huh. Go on now. Be safe and keep in touch. Your severance will be deposited in your account on Friday, along with this week’s pay.”