His Fresh Start ✔ (Book Three)

Chapter 27

December

"Your ability to focus amazes me," Louise said over the knocking of hammers and whirring of drills.

We'd been holed up in my office at the bistro for a few hours. Louise was working on an important case while I tried to plan the cooking lessons. I decided to give them a go in November, but the bad weather delayed the construction works, crashing my plans to start cooking classes in early December. 

Despite that, I gave a couple of lessons to Jim and Lou to see what worked or didn't. Marco and I would take turns teaching once we were ready, but judging by the weather forecast, starting before Christmas was unlikely.

"I'm used to the noises by now," I said to Lou. "Did you make any progress?"

She closed her laptop and slumped into the couch. "I did, and I didn't. Don't you hate it when things don't depend on you? I did my part, but I don't trust my client. I have a gut feeling she's going to do something impulsive and ruin everything, and this case is too important."

I drummed my fingers on the desk. "Important because of your client or the other attorney?"

The soon-to-be-ex husband of Louise's client hired Lou's ex to represent him. The rational part of me knew it was irrelevant, but I'd never seen her so rattled.

She huffed. "John? He'll be happy if I lose, so yeah, I need to win this one."

"Why would anything related to him matter to you?"

Lou hopped to her feet and strode over to me, laughing. "Wait...Are you jealous?"

I shrugged. She flopped on my lap and drew her arms around my neck. "Don't be silly. He's just condescending. He never gave me enough credit, and not being taken seriously bothers me. I also worry about my client because she's risking losing the custody of her kids if she's portrayed as someone emotionally unstable."

"Even though it's true, you shouldn't care about his opinion. You won enough battles in court to know your worth regardless of what he thinks."

Lou sighed. "I know. I just worked so hard to get where I am now. I'd like to secure my position in case later we have kids or get—"

She groaned. "Subtle, Louise. Blame Samantha for giving me ideas."

I inched away, studying Louise's face. "Blame her why?"

"Michael proposed. She told me yesterday."

"Good for them. They make a great couple."

"They do."

Silence stretched between us. Despite pretending I didn't, I got the hint. But Michael didn't keep secrets, unlike me, and I'd been delaying telling Louise the truth, using my new project as a pathetic excuse. 

"Oh my God, look how late it is." Lou stared at my watch. "Ellie will land soon. I've got to hurry."

"You'll bring her here, right?"

"Of course. " Lou freed herself from my arms and stood, straightening her clothes. "She's dying to see you."

"Me too." I rose to my feet and pecked Louise’s cheek. "I'll walk you out."

***
Before the whole cooking classes mess, we’d planned to travel to Paris for Christmas and spend the holidays with Ellie and my dad. Aiden, too, although Louise still had no clue he was living with her daughter there. He would come here as soon as he was done with work, and all of us would finally come clean. 

It might not be the best plan, but it was the only one we had, and I was ready to take the blame for keeping Louise in the dark. 

The kids were happy, far from Steve’s intrigues and Aiden's past, and there was hardly anything more important than that.