Letters Home (6 page)

With my pulse beating rapidly through my body I flipped opened the folder, trying to hide the shaking of my hands. This was everything I’d wanted when I decided to become a lawyer—although, I’d never expected to be put on trial cases so soon, even as a co-counsel/assistant.

The case was a contentious divorce, in which the husband and wife were arguing over every single piece of their lives together, including custody of the children. Neither was willing to compromise, which had only succeeded in drawing out the process for an obscene length of time. Divorces weren’t exactly my favorite thing to handle—I hated to think of people falling out of love, especially since Nate and I had made it as far as we had—but this case was going to trial, and I needed that kind of experience if I was going to be able to focus on the cases that I wanted to. Now, the custody case was more in my comfort zone, a place where I didn’t have to worry about two people’s love for each other, just their love for their children. The details of the case were quickly taking over my focus, to the point I had to give myself a mental shake to concentrate on the conversation at hand.

“I’ll familiarize myself with the details of the case and see Tina as soon as possible.”

“Take your time. Tina’s not expecting you to go over the details of the case until Monday. That should give you time to finish the last two cases on your current load. Once those are completed, you’ll be full time with Tina until this case has been settled. The plan is to rotate you through the partners until you’ve had at least one trial experience with all of us.”

Standing, I offered my hand to Alec because even though I’d already said it, it was imperative that Alec understand how appreciative I was of this opportunity so early in my career. “Thank you so much for the chance to prove myself. I’m going back to my office to get things organized.”

Alec nodded. “Nice work, Danielle.”

The air around me felt lighter and there was a definite bounce to my step as I made my way back to my office. Over the next few hours, I made arrangements to handle my cases at times when it would have the least impact on the trial. Since both cases were being settled out of court, I hoped they would be over soon. Then I got to work on the divorce case. Before it was time to head home I read as much as I could, my goal being to be completely prepared when I met with Tina on Monday.

It wasn’t until my phone beeped that I realized how late it was. Way too late to be in the office—especially for a Friday. Nate had sent me a message asking if I would be home for dinner. I sent a quick text back letting him know I was leaving in a few minutes. Before leaving, I made sure to collect all of the files for the new case. Even with all of the wedding planning we had to do this weekend there would still be time to go over the files.

It hadn’t taken us long to figure out that we didn’t want a long engagement. Our parents were a little nervous about our plans to get everything done in six months, my mother being the worst—insisting that all the good establishments would be booked at least a year in advance—but I was determined not to wait that long to make Nate my husband. In my mind, I’d already waited long enough for him to propose. Thankfully, we’d found a beautiful place to have the reception and that finally got my mom on board with the “Get Married in Six Months” plan. She decided to stay home to help plan with the wedding and I was grateful because with me now working full time, I needed all of the help I could get.

The humidity of the day smacked me in the face as soon as I stepped out of the car. Summer should have been over by now, but this was Georgia and all I wanted was the refuge of my air-conditioned apartment. One would think, growing up with them, that I’d be used to the late summers, but when you had to dress up regardless of how good you were at dealing with the heat, you were going to be uncomfortable. With sweat already starting to form on my brow and my bag heavier than normal, I trudged up the stairs and there was Nate, holding the door open. He smiled and even after all this time, it still made me feel a little weak in the knees. He reached out and took the bag from me.

“How was your day?” he asked, planting a soft, sweet kiss on my lips.

The cool air in the apartment helped to rejuvenate me from the heat. “It was excellent,” I called out on my way back to the bedroom—my clothes needing to go sooner rather than later. Stripping down to my underwear, I pulled on a short-sleeved shirt and pair of shorts. It was the most relaxed I felt all day. When I returned to the living room I noticed that the table was already set, with candles burning around the room.

“What’s the occasion?” I called toward the kitchen.

Strong arms wrapped around me from behind, while warm lips pressed to the back of my neck. “The occasion, my love, is that we are exactly four months from our wedding.”

It felt so good to lean back and melt into his embrace. The thought of marrying such a romantic man made me excited to spend the rest of our lives together. Knowing Nate, he probably already had our first anniversary planned.

“Now, do you want to sit down and tell me why today was such a good day, or should we come back to dinner and start with dessert?” he asked, his teeth nibbling along the sensitive spot where my neck and shoulder met. As wonderful as it felt, my stomach protested, making the decision for me. Nate pulled away and looked over my shoulder at my stomach. “Dinner it is then. We can have dessert later.”

I laughed as he led me to the table and pulled out my chair. “This all smells delicious. I can’t believe in four months we will be husband and wife.”

“It can’t come soon enough,” he said, taking the seat across from me. He picked up the basket of bread and passed it to me first. “So what made today so ‘excellent’?”

“Well, I was asked to be co-counsel for a trial case.”

“Dani, that’s awesome! It didn’t take them long to figure out how lucky they are to have you. When do you start?”

We continued passing the dishes around, filling our plates. It was always such an experience when Nate cooked. It didn’t happen often but was always worth the wait. “I have to see Tina on Monday. She’s the head counsel.” The eggplant parmesan looked delicious and I couldn’t wait to take that first bite. It seemed to melt in my mouth. “Oh my God, this is to die for.”

“I’m glad you like it. So, you’ll be working with Tina. That’s good—to be with someone you’ve gotten to know.”

“I know. Alec couldn’t have picked a better person for me to start with.” Nate had poured me a glass of Pino Noir but not a fan of wine himself, he stuck with one of the darker beers he always enjoyed with Italian food. Picking up the glass I took a sip, savoring the sweet, yet bitter taste. “How was your day?”

“Good, especially since I got the weekend off. But we were told that we’ll have to stay late on Monday.”

“Well, it doesn’t happen that often, and at least we have the whole weekend together.”

We lapsed into a comfortable silence as we ate, enjoying each other’s company. When dinner was done I offered to clean up, since Nate cooked, but he was having none of it so I sat and enjoyed my second glass of wine. “Remember we have to head over to the reception hall for the cake tasting tomorrow. We need to decide on that, and the menu.

Nate came out of the kitchen, drying his hands on a dishtowel. “I know. I also thought that we could head on over to the park for a picnic afterwards.”

“Oh, I like that idea.”

“Good, because I already have everything ready.”

Standing up, I placed my glass on the table and walked over to wrap my arms around Nate’s waist. “You spoil me.”

He tossed the towel, lowering his head to nibble on my collarbone again, the feel of his breath on my skin sending shivers down my spine. “Would you like me to
not
spoil you?” he whispered into the crook of my neck.

“No,” I replied, my voice breathy. But that was where coherent thought ended as Nate’s hand lifted to roam underneath my shirt.

“I think it’s time for dessert,” he said, backing me toward the bedroom.

“Mmm dessert sounds like a wonderful idea.”

Before we reached the bedroom he pushed me against the wall, capturing my mouth in a bone-melting kiss that sent sparks of heat throughout my body. The feel of his hands as they touch the skin peaking out from beneath the hem of my tank top made my need for him grow exponentially. His hands slid down my hips and around to the back of my thighs, where he pulled them up to wrap around his waist. Without lifting his lips he moved us to the bedroom, where we spent the next few hours enjoying our “dessert” before falling asleep.

The next morning came way too quickly for my taste, but our appointment with the caterer was at nine—why I’d made it so early was beyond me. I rolled over and snuggled back into Nate. He was always so warm. Tucked close against his body was a place I always felt safe and protected. He bent down and kissed the top of my head. “Come on, Dani, we need to get up and get ready, or we’ll be late. Your hair takes longer to dry than mine does.”

When his gentle coaxing didn’t work he turned to the more drastic method of pinching my ass. That had me leaping from the bed and running for the shower in seconds. Nate came strolling in a few minutes later, at the same time as I was brushing my teeth and rubbing my abused backside. “You could’ve given me another minute.” I pouted.

“No,” he chuckled. “Your extra minute is closer to ten. Plus, I did try nicely first.”

After all that, he jumped in the shower ahead of me, finishing in less than ten minutes. I could have gotten in with him but then we really would have been late. So I waited my turn and took a pretty quick shower, but even so, I still didn’t have enough time to dry my hair. Instead of making us late, I decided to let it air dry, which meant it had a slight curl to it.

Thankfully we made it on time. There were so many wonderful selections, I was having a hard time choosing, so I narrowed it down to three and let Nate make the final decision. He decided to go with the red velvet with the chocolate Bavarian crème, and a whipped buttercream icing. The colors for the dresses had already been picked and I’d brought along a fabric sample so that they could match up the icing colors. Finally, after more than two hours, including selecting the menu, we were free.

I knew that Nate had planned a picnic, but that’s all he would tell me. We got into the car and, with Nate driving, made our way around the city. He didn’t appear to be heading in a particular direction—probably trying to keep me from guessing where we were going—and after another half an hour of random driving that sent me into fits of laughter when he pretended to be lost, he pulled onto the turn off for Russ Park. It was beautiful picnic area with a quaint little gazebo on the edge of the pond, and was one of my favorite places to picnic.

“Is this an okay spot?” he asked.

“I think it’ll do,” I said with a smirk. He reached out to swat my behind but this time I was quicker and managed to dodge him. Grabbing the blanket from his hand I ran toward the water, laying it out away from the other picnickers while he got the picnic basket out of the back of the car. With the heat of summer I was glad that he’d decided to pack the basket inside a cooler, especially given how long we’d taken—between the caterer and Nate’s tour of the city. I kicked my sandals off and stretched out in the sun, glad that I chosen to wear a simple pink sundress. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, appreciating the relaxing atmosphere that had been missing from life lately. All we’d done for the last month or so, was run around. Whether we were working, or planning the wedding, there hadn’t been a whole lot of time to step back and just take pleasure in the simple things in life.

A shadow crossed over and settled down next to me and I felt the cold, wet ice cube as it ran over my lips, down my chin and neck, until it reached the valley of my breasts. Cracking one eye open, I looked at Nate smiling down at me. “Well, hello there, gorgeous. What brings you to the park on this fine day?”

“The most wonderful man in the world knowing exactly what I need and when I need it.”

“I try. Do you want to eat before you get to comfortable and fall asleep?”

“I would say that I wasn’t falling asleep, but you know me too well for my own good.” I reached out a hand to him. “Help me up?”

Taking my hand he helped me into a sitting position. I was pretty hungry and I couldn’t wait to see what he’d packed for lunch. Reaching into the basket he pulled out bottled water, some sliced up fruit, and a couple of sandwiches. Opening the wrapper, the smell of Nate’s chicken salad hit my nose and my stomach growled, begging me to eat it. Sinking my teeth in, it was better than I remembered the last time he made it.