Page 70 of Something Borrowed

He steeled himself for her next words. “What’s going on, Brigid?”

She leaned to the side and pulled something out of a bag he hadn’t seen on the floor. She slid the envelope across the table. He frowned. “Open it.”

He opened it and scanned the contents quickly, shock flowing over him. “Is this an offer letter?”

A tentative smile spread across her face. “Yes. I’ve been trying to figure out what to do next. I can’t stay where I am. I don’t have the drive to make partner there anymore. I don’t want the hours, the stress, or, frankly, the work. So I needed another path. I’m not ready to open my own firm and I didn’t want to work at legal aid. So I found another firm that will let me do the work I want. It’s a smaller firm, focused on smaller cases, ones that I might like more. I think I’ll be happy there.”

A spark of happiness burned in his heart at her words, at the hope in her voice. “I think that’s great. If you think you’ll be happy, I support this. So, why are you so nervous?”

She glanced away then back. “I haven’t accepted the offer yet. I wanted to talk to you first, to get your thoughts. This opportunity actually came as a surprise, something I hadn’t pursued. They came to me. I hadn’t thought it was real or even an option. Then they made an offer. So I wanted to talk to you about it.”

The warm feeling spread. She saw him as a partner, as someone to consider for big decisions. “Is this something you want to do? Do you think the position will give you the type of work you want to do?”

She met his gaze this time eagerly. “Definitely. I’ll have my own cases, and I’ll be helping more people. They’re more of a family firm. I feel like I could do more good there.”

A slow smile crossed his face. “If this will make you happy, then go for it.”

She bit her lower lip. “I’ll probably make less money, though.”

He shrugged. “Money isn’t everything. We’ll be comfortable.” He paused, a thought occurring to him. “If that’s what you want.”

* * *

Brigid huffed. They were dancing around the issue, well, one of the issues at least. When she had been approached about the new firm, she knew she had to discuss it with Grady. It would affect their future, if they had one. Of course, it assumed they had a future and lead to her thinking about what kind of future they had or wanted.

Which brought her to the next point of discussion.

She stood and walked around the table, Grady watching her with his brow furrowed.

She started to kneel but the damned dress wasn’t exactly made for graceful kneeling. Damnit. She really should have tried that when she bought the dress

“Brigid? What are you doing?” His voice was tinged with alarm.

She ignored his question and took his hand, settling for standing next to him, since anything else was out of the question without ripping the dress. “Grady, you showed me that there was more to life than work, status, money, and position. I thought I had my life all planned out until the day I met you. I tried so hard to put you in a little box, in a place where I could define you but you refused to stay there. You saw me, beneath the shell, and showed me a future where I could have something more. Something I never even dreamed of.”

He stared at her, his eyes wide, almost as if he wasn’t understanding what she was saying. Brigid’s words faltered, her courage failing for a moment.

She swallowed hard. Had she misjudged where he was in the relationship? Was it too soon?

He pushed away from the table and stood, his body forcing her to step back. Her own courage, or desertion of courage, making her flee a few further steps. Before she could retreat around the table even more, he grabbed her hand. Then he dropped to a knee, fumbling with a hand at his pants pocket.

“I’ve been waiting for the right time. I had even hoped this weekend might present an opportunity but hadn’t planned anything. I started carrying this around a couple of weeks ago looking for the right moment but it never presented itself. Leave it you, Brigid, to pre-empt me and take the next step in this relationship.” He tugged her closer and held out a jewelry box. “Brigid, you kept pushing me away but I knew you needed me. No one ever needed me like you did. But even more, I needed you. You showed me that I could do more, that I had potential to do more. And with you, I became more. If you’ll marry me, then I believe we can both be more together, help each other be stronger together. Will you marry me, Brigid?”

She blinked back tears and flung her arms around his neck. “Thank God you took over. There’s a reason women don’t propose. I had no idea what I was doing.”

He held her close, burying his face in her neck. “You were doing a great job, better than anything I had planned. Which, of course, was nothing.”

She gave him a watery smile. “You gave me a ring. That’s a pretty big something. I love it.” She peered at the beautiful emerald surround by diamonds. “How did you know I would want this?”

He shrugged. “You need color. In the past several months, you’ve added more color to your apartment, to my place. You seem to have decided to let go of the neutral space, for which I’m grateful. And I love you in emerald.” He stroked a hand down her back, down the emerald dress. “I particularly love this dress. But you never gave me an answer. Will you marry me?”

She smirked. “I’m finding a new appreciation for color. Of course I’ll marry you, Grady. I love you.”

He pulled her close and took her lips in a soul-stealing kiss. After a long moment, he lifted his head. “Tell me we don’t have to wait a whole year for the wedding?”

She laughed. “I was thinking this fall, in the backyard, right here. Can we get the house done in time?”

“We can do it. Together.”

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