Page 7

He should’ve been working, but instead, he found himself scribbling a few lines of song lyrics on the corner of a legal pad and humming a tune. It had been a long time since he’d written music, something he’d dabbled in since high school. But ever since his conversation with Skylar on Dump Fiona’s Stuff Day, he couldn’t get her words out of his head, and he’d felt the creativity stirring within him again.
I think you should do the thing that makes you happiest in life, Franky, and if that’s not being a lawyer, that’s okay.
That night, he had sat down at his keyboard and picked out a tune. He’d spent hours playing and filling several notebook pages with lyrics. No great masterpiece, in his opinion, but it was enough to remind him how much he missed writing music.
In the year he’d been with Fiona, he hadn’t written a single melody or lyric. He hadn’t written anything since making partner at the firm, actually, and that realization saddened him.
It had been so long since he’d felt like himself. He’d been moving through life, doing what was expected of him for years. The trip to Europe was supposed to help, but truthfully, it was Fiona’s idea. And once he was there, he’d seen the cracks in their relationship right away, leading up to their time in Florence, where she’d met the man who had romanced her away from him.
He thought he’d be more broken up about losing her, but he wasn’t, which was very telling. And now that he was home, all he wanted was to move on, to reconnect with who he was, and stop feeling so lost in the world.
A soft knock sounded on his office door.
“Yeah,” he called out.
The door opened, and Skylar’s pretty face peeked inside. “Hey, am I catching you at a bad time?”
“Not at all.” He stood and walked toward her, holding the door open. “Come in.”
“I don’t want to take up too much of your time. I know you’re a busy guy.”
“Don’t forget important.” He grinned. “Busy and important.”
“Of course. That goes without saying.” She smiled, and his day was made. Being around her was always so easy, and she was a welcome distraction from the misery that was his job. “I stopped by to bring you this.” She handed him a small paper bag, and he grinned when he opened it.
“Fish tacos. You read my mind.”
“I also came to ask if you’d like to go to the Schultz Chocolate Fourth of July party with me tonight. It’s on the roof of the building with the best view of the fireworks in the whole city and—”
“Sold!”
She startled at his interruption.
“You had me at ‘party with me.’”
Skylar laughed. “Good. It’ll be fun. It starts at eight.”
“I’ll have to meet you there after I finish up here, though.”
“Then I better leave you to it, so it doesn’t take you all night.” She turned to leave and looked back over her shoulder. “See you before the sun goes down.”
He smiled as he watched her leave. Now that he had extra motivation to get his work done, he was on a mission.
The afternoon passed by quickly and became evening as he worked. He hummed the tune he’d been working on earlier as he rushed through writing the final emails of the day then packed up and headed for the exit, anxious to get to the party.
“Francis, can I see you in my office, please?” His father’s voice echoed down the hallway after him.
“Of course.” He groaned inwardly as he turned on his heel and walked into Dad’s office, hating that he was making Skylar wait.
“Have a seat, my boy.”
Franky did as his dad asked, plopping down with a sigh and staring at the nameplate on his desk, which read “Wayne Middlebury, Attorney at Law.”
“How are you settling back into things?”
“Fine. I wasn’t gone that long, Dad.”
“Did you make any progress on the Walters case?”