“Did you approach him about it?”
“I tried to, but he didn’t reply to my emails.”
“We’ll figure it out.”
“Well, I hope so because Sienna is also correct about what that land is worth, and I’d like to start building on it.”
“Don’t touch it until a judge confirms you’re the owner,” I warn him. “Let me do my job, and then you can put a strip mall there for all I care.”
“I won’t do anything,” he says with a sigh as he stands to gather his things. “How quickly can we see a judge?”
“I’ll keep you posted.”
He leaves, and I walk down the hall to my office, a headache beginning to set up residence behind my left eye.
The first thing I do is call Mom, just to check in with her.
“Hello, dear,” she says.
“Did you go to your doctor appointment?”
“It’s good to hear from you too.”
I rub my hand down my face. “I just want to make sure you had a ride, since I wasn’t able to get away from the office.”
“Edna took me,” she confirms, referring to her next-door neighbor. “And the doctor says my blood pressure is fine.”
“I’m glad to hear that. What are you doing now?”
She sighs heavily. “You hover too much, Quinn. Don’t worry about me. Work, find a nice girl to court, go on a vacation.”
“I can do all those things and still worry about you, Mama.”
She laughs. “You always were an excellent multitasker. I’m feeling fit as a fiddle today, so don’t worry about me.”
“Okay. I’ll see you tonight, then.”
“If you insist,” she replies.
“You don’t want to see me?”
“Quinn, I love you, but I see you every day. You’re allowed to take a day off.”
“I’ll see you tonight,” I reply before saying good-bye and hanging up. I glance at the time and curse under my breath.
I’m late for my weekly meeting with Finn and Carter, my partners and brothers. Finn started our firm just after Dad died five years ago, and we’ve been incredibly successful. We’ve thrown around the idea of bringing on another partner, but the truth is, we trust one another and are comfortable with the way things are now.
No need to fix what isn’t broken.
“We were about to come find you,” Finn says when I walk into his office. Carter is sitting in his usual chair across from Finn, and I sit next to him.
Carter is technically our brother-in-law. He was married to our sister, Darcy, before she died five years ago.
It’s a long story.
“Gabby says hi,” he says, grinning at his phone. Gabby is Carter’s daughter, and the apple of all our eyes.
“I haven’t seen her in a while,” I say, rubbing my chin. “I’ll take her to the movies soon.”
“She’d like that,” Carter says and then turns to Finn. “Do you have something to announce?”
“What’s going on?” I ask.
“I saw a small blue box on his desk earlier, but he was defensive and put it away.”
Finn scowls and then sighs. “I’m going to ask London to marry me.”
“Why is this bad?” I ask, confused.
“I’ve mentioned marriage a few times over the past year,” he says, reaching for the box in his drawer. “But every time, she just smiles and says some day.”
“That’s not a good sign,” Carter says.
“Or, rather than talk about it, she wants you to do something about it,” I suggest. “Like, propose.”
“Well, I’m going to,” he says. “At the opening night of the new show she’s backing.”
Carter and I look at each other and then back to Finn, both shaking our heads no.
“What?” Finn demands.
“I think we’ve learned a lot about London over the past year,” Carter says, “and she would not want the proposal to be centered around her work.”
“Agreed,” I say, nodding.
“What are you talking about? It’ll be romantic. I can get up onstage with her when she’s introducing the first show.”
“No!” we both exclaim, holding our hands up.
“Remember when you decided to buy a house for her, without her knowing, and she was so pissed at you? We told you not to do it, and you didn’t listen.”
“This is different,” Finn says, but stops talking when he sees our faces. “Okay, tell me how to not fuck this up.”
“You need to do it privately,” I say, thinking it over. “Not in front of a crowd of strangers.”
“I agree, her whole job always keeps her in the limelight, especially with how well the movie is doing.”
London starred in a musical that continues to sit at the top of the charts. We couldn’t be more proud of her.
“You haven’t had a chance to go away, just the two of you, in a while,” I suggest. “Take her to the house in Martha’s Vineyard.”
“We haven’t been in almost a year,” he says, mulling it over. “Things have just been so busy.”
“It’s where you fell in love,” Carter says with a smug smile. “I’ll send Gabby with you.”