“Is that work?” he asked quietly.
“Yeah,” she said, distracted. “It’s crunch time. Everyone’s decided to wait until a few weeks before the bill goes to Congress before they read it. Now they all want changes.”
That didn’t make any sense to Zach. In fact, he had to admit, it didn’t even interest him. “Do you like it? Your job?”
“When I can focus on it and give it my all, yes. It’s challenging, and creating law gives me the opportunity to help others. It gives me purpose, pays the bills. The last couple of years, though…” She shook her head. “It’s been rough.”
Purpose. That resonated with him. “Is it something you want to keep doing? Seems like there are a lot of different types of law you could practice.”
“I’m up for a junior partnership. Once this bill goes through with my name on it, I’ll be cemented as an expert in health care reform, which will bring a ton of business to the firm. In Washington, something is always changing in health care, so it means a steady roster of clients who are willing to pay top dollar to be heard.”
“Hmm.”
She smiled. “You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?”
He grinned. “Nope.”
“Not many people do. Let me put it this way, it provides security for Sophia and a future for both of us. So, yeah, I feel like it’s where I’m supposed to be right now.”
“Feels isolating, I bet,” he said, “when no one understands what you do or why you love it. Especially now that Corinne’s gone. Sounds like you two really got each other.”
She nodded and turned her gaze back to his, thoughtful. “You must know how that feels, because no one could unless they’ve been through it.”
“Let’s just say I’m the black sheep of my family,” he told her with a smirk. “Surfing isn’t exactly a household hobby, and it’s definitely not the scholarly pursuit my parents groomed me for.”
“What pursuit was that?”
“Well, my older sister is a surgeon, my older brother is a lawyer by education, but a campaign manager by profession, and my youngest sister is finishing up her masters in clinical psychology.”
“Wow, you really did fall through the cracks.” Tessa chuckled. “How’d that happen?”
He shook his head. “Switched at birth or something.”
“How did you get into surfing?”
“Just a weekend trip to the beach with family when I was five. My uncle taught me how to skimboard. I was hooked. A skimboard turned into a boogie
board. The boogie board into a surfboard. I lifeguarded as a teen. Just one building block after another. The amount of time I spent at the beach slowly grew to become a point of contention between me and my parents. They wanted me hitting the books harder, but I had a four-point-o and I stayed out of trouble, so they didn’t have any reason to restrict my surf time.”
“All that”—her gaze made a sweep of his body—“and smart too. Weren’t you the golden boy?”
“Not to my parents. I tried to get out of college, but they wouldn’t hear of it. I caved under the pressure and tried it. I really did. Gave it two full years. But it didn’t stick.”
“Where did you go to college? A JC?”
“No.” He laughed the word softly. “No. If it had been a JC or if I’d been struggling, maybe they wouldn’t have been so hard on me. But I was at Pepperdine.”
“Pepperdine?” she asked, shocked. “The Pepperdine?”
“That’s exactly how my parents looked at me when I told them I was dropping out to go pro.”
Tessa winced. “That could not have been a fun conversation.”
“Nope, it wasn’t.” The thought of catching not only his parents’ wrath but his whole family’s wrath—and not that one time, but continually over the years—still created a twinge inside him.
“When did you drop out?”
“Summer between sophomore and junior year.”