Page 84 of Ruled Out

“Ugh, what an absolute B.” Luna shakes her head in disgust.

Kate raises her wineglass in agreement.

“I assume you had it out with her?” Felicity questions.

Kate huffs out a dry laugh. “Of course. Ideally, I’d have marched right up to her desk, but she moved back to the New York office. So, I had to settle for a phone call. And you know what her reasoning was?”

“That she’s a B?” Luna replies.

“Girl, that goes without saying.” Kate flicks her hair over her shoulder. “She was concerned I couldn’t handle a full-time workload on part-time hours.”

“B!” Aster shouts.

“Precisely, Aster.” Felicity nods at him. She looks back at Kate and places a hand over hers. “Please tell me you told Mark.”

“Who’s Mark?” I ask.

“Joint owner of the firm we work at,” Kate replies.

When I turn back to Felicity, a wry smile traces her lips. “Actually, no, I haven’t said anything to him.”

“Um, why not?”

“Because, Mrs. Morgan”—Kate clears her throat and leans in closer to us—“I intend to keep that little scandal safely under my hat. The delightful Nina now knows I have information on her that could land her in serious hot water with asses she spends half her life kissing. I like to think of it as my own little power play. At least, that’s what I said when I informed her I’d just been offered senior counsel. The same position she was being considered for.”

Felicity gasps and throws a hand to her mouth. “What?! You got it?!”

“You know it!” Kate squeaks.

Pulling Kate into a hug, Luna kisses her on the cheek. “Queen. That is all.” She points to her stomach. “When I have this baby and get back from maternity leave, I’m going to need you to teach me your ways. I have half an eye on the head of the department.”

Kate quirks a brow at her in response. “You just took your entire class from average and failing to achieving some of the best grades in the state. There isn’t a better teacher in Washington. The job is yours. No question.”

“Congratulations, Kate.” Leaning forward, I clink my glass against hers. I look around at the women sitting in front of me. “You’re all such an inspiration. Your stories are exactly what I need to get me through these next few years in college so I can hopefully open my own practice one day.”

Setting her glass down, Kate stands and walks around to my side of the blanket, taking a seat next to me and pulling me into a hug. “Successful women support successful women. Stick with the right people, and you can have or be anything you want.”

Although she never met my mom, Kate’s words are exactly the kind of thing she used to say to me. And they’re everything I needed to hear.

Kate takes my hand in hers, and I squeeze it back. “Thank you.”

“You look thoughtful.” Felicity tips her head to the side.

This whole thing feels surreal—me, Jessie Callaghan’s girlfriend, drinking and laughing with women I’ve mostly seen on screens. Two months ago, I was hiding my embarrassed face beneath my coat and racing out of the café in Whistler as they looked on with sympathy. Now, I feel like a part of their family.

I take a sip of wine and set the glass down on the coffee table behind me. The stone fireplace burns a few feet in front of us. “Ever wonder how your life can change so dramatically? One second, you’re leaving behind all you’ve ever known and the next, you’re in some strange city, trying to follow your dreams while simultaneously keeping away from the one guy who occupies them. Now, he’s just through that door, and I’m sitting here with you guys, trying to process all this.”

My eyes sting as everything that’s happened slams into me, overwhelming my emotions.

Kate squeezes my hand in hers again. “You know, I never used to believe in fate. My whole life, I’d been brought up to believe you can—and should—control every aspect of your destiny. Leaving anything to chance was a lazy way of fumbling through life.” She laughs and plays with one of the tassels on Aster’s blanket. “Then I got pregnant and fell in love with the man I had been determined to hate. I hadn’t planned on either, but they’re the greatest blessings I’ve ever had. You can’t fight fate, girl. And you shouldn’t either.”

I nod and drop my head, tears pooling in the corners of my eyes. “You’re right. But my dad will never see it that way. At some point, I’ll have to tell him about Jessie. I lost my mom seven years ago; I can’t lose my dad too.”

“Why does he hate him so much? I mean, I know the background story. But what’s so bad about a guy who’s clearly crazy about his daughter?” Luna asks.

I know the women sitting around me are as loyal as it gets. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past couple of months, it’s when it comes to the best people, you don’t have to be friends with them for years to know you can trust them. But Jessie’s life isn’t mine to tell.

“I’m gonna need you in here, Princess.” Jensen pokes his head around the living room door. “Jon is trying to take over the joint birthday party with Aster. He thinks we need another tier on the cake and there won’t be enough giraffe balloons.”