Page 122 of Running Home to You
“Really?” Kate prepared to write it down on her legal pad before he shook his head to stop her.
“They weren’t outright about it then, not an overtly religious institution, but they wanted to promote a certain set of values that aligned with the Church. Compassion, gratitude, respect, community service, and family. They never mentioned God or Jesus or Christianity, but I saw their eyes light up when I mentioned singing in my church choir. They must have misheard or glazed over when I mentioned my husband.” He paused for a brief chuckle, but Kate couldn’t bring herself to join in. “Either way, I believed in what they were doing. A place for kids who struggled in a traditional classroom setting or had a passion they didn’t have the opportunity to express. Kids who might just need a fresh start or to find their tribe. The outcasts, the tough cases, the misunderstood.”
“ ‘Give me your tired, your poor; your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,’ ” Kate said.
“Exactly. Like Jesus himself.” His smile faded. “Then they decided to be more like the Church. Prioritize keeping certain people out. Forget about how it started by letting everyone in.”
Kate stared at the ball in her hands, brushing a thumb along the seams, eyes on fire. It wasn’t just a reminder of Insley or of Abby, but of just how far the game led her. Putting her here, across from Marcus, fighting for him even when she didn’t know how to fight for herself.
She cleared her throat. “Let’s get back to the cross-examination, shall we?”
Isla texted her the next day and assured her that Abby was okay. She’d get off with fines, community service, and a treatment center. Kate didn’t message her back, and while the update brought relief, she didn’t sleep any better. It didn’t close the hole in her chest.
As if to atone for making zero headway in wedding planning, Kate agreed to pre-marriage counseling with Ryan. It was a requirement for their pastor to officiate the ceremony. And while Kate always assumed their large church, with its band and bright colors, the smiling faces and youthful congregation, was less oppressive than the one she grew up in, the first session squashed her delusions.
“Marriage, of course, is more than the flashy wedding or the perfect dress or all those pictures you post on social media,” Pastor Greg said to the circle of couples. They responded with canned laughter, just like during his sermons. “It’s a sacred covenant. A gift from God, reserved for a man and woman to enter into chastely for the procreation of children and the continuation of His church. It’s also an opportunity for you to fulfill your God-given roles. A man to become a husband, a leader, and protector, and a woman to become a wife, who follows and nurtures.”
Ryan squeezed her limp hand, and Kate fought every twitch in her face to resist scowling.
“Kate, we’re all keeping a close eye on your case,” Pastor Greg said, before they left.
“Oh, really?” she asked. “I didn’t think it would be of any interest.”
“It is for a lot of our congregation. They want their children to have a Christian-based education.” He raised an eyebrow, the corners of his mouth twisting grimly. “From what I understand, the ruling could have a major impact on how our schools receive federal funding.”
“Your schools?” Kate repeated.
Ryan grabbed her arm. “Let’s go,” he said. “Thanks, Pastor.”
“Did you hear that?” she asked him.
Ryan shrugged as they stepped outside. “You have to expect it. I don’t mind you playing in the middle, but you can’t be surprised that there are sides.”
There weren’t just sides, but a pseudo-war. Conservative groups like the Family Defense Council and Religious Liberty Alliance financed and effectively pushed First Foundations Charter into refusing the settlement Kate initially brokered. It was as if they wanted to make a statement, stretch the boundaries of the law, and clear the way for others to follow. And it wasn’t as though Marcus and his students were paying for Kate’s obscenely expensive billable hours. LGBTQ rights groups rallied behind them, raising funds for their legal fees.
It kicked up a whirlwind of media attention. Demonstrations and cameras crowded Kate and Marcus as they climbed the steps to the courthouse. Opening statements weren’t for another month. All this for a meeting with the judge and pretrial motions. It caught Kate so off guard that she stammered through an interview with the local news, not sure if she should look straight into the camera or at the reporter.
The next day, a media coach magically appeared in the conference room, sent by her bosses. Then Charlotte Pruitt, a senior partner and the only woman at the firm to achieve such a rank, opened the door. “Come with me,” she said before stalking off.
Kate braced to be berated for her poor performance. Instead, Charlotte led her to a town car waiting outside and took her to a swank shop where security guards stood at the door and sales associates greeted them with champagne. Charlotte scanned her up and down once, guessed her size exactly, uttered a few things to the saleswoman, and said she’d take her to a proper tailor next. Kate followed her every command, though when she said she didn’t know if she could afford it, Charlotte rolled her eyes.
“Charge it to the firm.”
Kate gulped and nodded. As she studied herself in the mirror, she wasn’t the girl who left Deer Park or the one who feared her family. She was a lawyer. She was powerful. She was exactly who she wanted to be but had never admitted to herself.
Charlotte’s smile flashed behind her in the mirror. “You see, I don’t buy this Dorothy misses Kansas, modest little lamb act.”
Kate turned around, surprised but unperturbed by the woman’saccurate read. Charlotte sipped her champagne and nodded at the spot next to her on the couch.
“I’m onto you. I was from the start when we hired you,” Charlotte said. “You’ve taken very specific steps. Berkeley, the clerkship, always at the top, always the best. You are a competitor.” She raised an eyebrow. “You could’ve joined a nonprofit or the ACLU, but you chose Cortell & Griffin, where just down the hall from your admirable cause there’s a senior associate defending a corporation for false advertising and insufficient drug label warnings.”
Kate blushed. Embarrassment hit her, not because this was who she wanted to be, but because she denied it, as if her dreams and wants were too big, too immodest, too impure.
“It’s okay to want both,” Charlotte said. “Because you can, as long as you know who you are. You decide who that is and what you want, and you take it. There’s a reason we chose you for this, Kate.”
“Why?”
“Because you know how to win.”
