Page 73 of She’ll Steal Your Heart
“There are absolutely lawyers with a better work-life balance than I had. I could have chosen that route. I could have gone into private practice or something similar, but I was so miserable and sick and worn out at the time, I threw in the towel and bought a cat café.”
Lauren flinched, remembering that the café had been her idea, even though she’d only meant it as a joke when she’d suggested it. “Do you regret buying the café?”
Mia scrubbed a hand over her face. “No. I’m just…I don’t know. I’m out of sorts today.”
“Because you saw Kristin.” Lauren poked at her food. Neither of them had eaten a single bite, which was a shame after how much effort Mia had put into cooking it.
“Because I saw Kristin, but not because I want tobewith Kristin.”
“Are you sure? Because you keep telling me you’re not ready to take things further, and maybe it’s because…maybe you’re not over her.”
“Stop that. There’s not any part of me that wants to be with Kristin.” Mia sounded harsher now, almost angry. Abruptly, she stood from the table and held out a hand to Lauren. “Come here. Obviously, we need to talk this through before we eat.”
Lauren stood and faced her. “I’m sorry for pushing.”
“Don’t apologize for voicing your concerns.” Mia’s hands came to rest on Lauren’s hips. “Never apologize for that. I have baggage to work through, but none of it affects my commitment to you. My relationship with Kristin wasn’t healthy, and I’m glad to be out of it. You and I…we’re good together. We’re so good together that I don’t want to rush in and mess it up.”
“Are you sure?” Lauren asked, and she could hear her voice waver.
Mia drew her closer, wrapping her arms around Lauren. “Positive. You’re the only person I want to be with. I was so lonely here last night without you, and I…I think I’m falling for you, despite how much that scares me, because Iamtrying to take things slow.”
“Oh,” Lauren whispered as tears spilled over her cheeks, because she could hear the sincerity in Mia’s voice, and she was falling for her too. The truth was, Lauren had already fallen, although she didn’t want to say the words for the first time after a fight about Mia’s ex-wife.
“I’ve been divorced less than a year. I’m still figuring out who I am in this new chapter of my life, but I’m going to get there, so just be patient with me, okay?”
Lauren nodded with tear-filled eyes. “I can be patient.”
“Are you okay? Areweokay?” Mia pulled back so she could meet Lauren’s eyes.
“Yeah, we’re okay. I got worried when you ran off after Kristin’s visit. I guess I got a little insecure and…and jealous, which isn’t like me at all. I’ve never been in a relationship like this before, and today, I got scared.”
“Like what?” Mia asked, still holding her close. “You’ve never been in a relationship like what?”
“The kind where I have someone worth feeling jealous about. Serious. Committed. Hopefully long-term. Any of those things.”
Mia slid a hand up to cup Lauren’s cheek, her expression tender. “We’re quite a pair. You’ve never had a serious relationship before, and I just came out of a decades-long one.”
“And yet, we’re making it work.”
“We’re doing better than that,” Mia said. “Because nothing about being with you feels like work.”
“Yes,” Lauren agreed breathlessly, and then they were kissing. She clutched Mia against her, hands fisted in the back of her blouse as she let her insecurities melt away beneath the heat of her kiss.
After a minute, Mia pulled back. “Come on. Let’s warm up our supper.”
* * *
November arrivedwith a cold snap that forced Lauren to spend some of her hard-earned money on warmer clothes and a new coat. Mia went shopping with her, and they had a fun afternoon together. On the one hand, Lauren felt like they’d settled seamlessly into their new relationship, but at the same time, she sometimes sensed a restlessness in Mia that she wasn’t sure how to interpret.
Whatever it was, it seemed to have started around the time Kristin visited the café. On her more confident days, Lauren wondered if Mia still missed practicing law, if she was unfulfilled at the café. And when her late-night insecurities crept in, Lauren wondered if Mia was unfulfilled by Lauren herself.
And then there was the date looming on the calendar: November 18th. The court date that had already been rescheduled twice. Maybe that was why she spent less time worrying about it now than she had the first two times. Surely, the courts would be busy the week before Thanksgiving. She’d probably get bumped until after the new year. Would she ever get out of this legal limbo?
In the meantime, she and Mia settled into a routine where they had dinner together most nights, but Lauren always returned to her apartment to sleep at night. Their relationship seemed to be in limbo too, neither of them sure how or when to take that next step.
Lauren’s new space was working out well, though. She got along with her roommates, and she’d spent a lot of time making her little roomhers. Lola the succulent was thriving, and Lauren smiled every time she looked at the cheerful little plant. She spent most of her free time working on edits for her book, although she was still reluctant to set a release date until she learned her fate with the felony charge.
She’d been so caught up in this feeling of limbo, so sure her court date would be postponed, that she was completely unprepared when it wasn’t. On the morning of the eighteenth, she dressed in a blazer she’d borrowed from Mia and her best black slacks, hands shaking so badly, she had trouble buttoning her shirt. This was it, her day of reckoning.
