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ANDY

“Andy.”

“One sec.” I hold up a finger and continue reading over discovery that came in for a case a few months out.

“Andy!”

“I said—” I lift my head.

Kevin’s hands are on his hips, and he just shakes his head.

His dark hair is slicked back like every day for the past fifteen years.

You’d think after all this time he’d find a new style.

His style instead of what he copied from his father.

I love the man as if he were a brother, but he can be so dramatic sometimes.

“What?” I mumble as I shift the papers into a better order.

“We need to talk.”

“About what? The new paralegal is amazing. The new receptionist?—”

“No, not about everyone else. We need to talk about you.” Kevin takes the seat across from me and sighs.

“Me? I’m fine.”

He shakes his head and leans forward. “You’re my best friend and I’m worried about you.”

I scoff. “Worried about me? Why?”

“When did you go home last night?”

I swallow and take a drink of my coffee to hide my scowl. “Just before midnight.”

Kevin sighs and threads his fingers through his hair. “Remember that thing we added to our articles of incorporation? The thing just for us.” He waves his hand between us.

I push to my feet and pace. “It was silly. We didn’t want to make things too serious.”

“It wasn’t silly, and it was to keep things from getting too serious. Andy, you’re killing yourself. If you don’t take a vacation. A real one, I’ll start the proceedings to remove you from the firm.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Deadly serious, Andy. Choose. You have until Monday to decide, or I’ll remove you.”

“It’s a lot of money to buy me out.”

“I’ll make it work. I’d rather have my friend alive than a dead partner. You’re thirty-three. Entirely way too young to be working yourself to the bone.”

“I can’t just abandon my cases.”

“You’re not. The Green case should wrap up soon, then you’ll go on vacation and we’ll reassign anything that needs to be.”

“I don’t like this, Kevin.”

“I know. But it’s for your own good. Think about it. Find someone to spoil. You haven’t even been to the club for, hell, I don’t know how long.”

“Seven months, two weeks, and a day.”

“You need this and you know it. You need a beach vacation and a sweet Little to spoil. Or a bratty one. That’s probably what you need. A sweet yet bratty Little to dote on. Please, take time off.”

I scrape at my five o’clock shadow. “I’ll take a week.”

“A month, and that’s not negotiable. One month. I don’t care what you do or where you go, but an entire month.”

“That’s too long.”

“It’s too short. Damn it, Andy. Just take the time off. You’ll feel better, I promise. And don’t worry about us. We’ll be here when you get back. Well, Missy won’t be because of the baby, but everyone else? The firm will still be standing, promise.”

“When is the baby shower?” I scratch my chest and look away.

“Two months ago. Don’t worry, we forged your name on the card.” Kevin grins at me for a moment before it fades. “You used to know everything about everyone. Before you would have planned the baby shower, now you’re so distant we’re all wondering what happened. Did something happen?”

“No,” I lie.

“Would you tell me if something had happened? We used to tell each other everything, but you’ve changed. I want my carefree friend back. The one that would laugh and play jokes. Not—” He waves his hand at me. “This serious, boring stiff.”

“People change. And people’s lives are in our hands, Kev. We need to take that seriously.”

Kevin’s face drops and I’m sure he realizes what I’m keeping quiet. Six months ago I lost a huge case, then my client took his own life.

“That wasn’t your fault.” Kevin walks around my desk to take my shoulders in his hands. “That wasn’t your fault.”

“It was.” Even though my therapist says it’s not, I can’t get it out of my head. Had we won the case, the man would still be alive.

Kevin shakes me. “No, it wasn’t.” He cups the back of my head and forces me to look at him. “No one could have predicted what he was going to do.”

“That’s what Dr. Carrie says, but?—”

“No buts. Actually, you don’t get the weekend to decide. You’re booking a trip before lunchtime or I’m buying you out.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“No. You need to find yourself again. I’m not going to watch you disintegrate before my eyes.”

“Disintegrate?” I laugh.

“Yes, disintegrate. You’re falling apart and I don’t want to continue to watch it. I’ll be back a few minutes after noon. You better have a trip booked.”

“What if I want to stay home and read?”

“Not acceptable. You need to get out of your house.”

I huff out a breath. “Fine. Beach vacation it is. Or maybe the mountains. I’ll figure it out.”

He pats me on the back. “Thank you.”

“You owe me a margarita.”

“I’ll do you one better. I’ll take you out to lunch to celebrate your vacation.” He squeezes my shoulder. “I’ll be back in a few hours.” He turns on his heel and leaves as if he didn’t just threaten to upend my entire life.