Tweaking Mr. Right

TMR: Chapter 9

Nine

Right about the time Leland locked lips with Cassie, Cora was sitting in her father's office. Her father was a big man. Tall, bulky, and daunting. He had great carriage to his voice and was one of the top attorneys in the city. Even into his late sixties, he was a handsome man. And he had been a great father to Cora and Cassie, at least Cora thought so. And a loving husband, despite what Cassie said about him. The death of her mother hurt him beyond human emotions. But he was also strong-willed, and was coping with life without his beloved as only he knew how.

Even if he had packed up all of Mother's things, Cora needed the faith in her father. He was the only surviving parent she had left. He suffered from her death. His work was his happy place. It had always been that way. Why couldn't Cassie understand that? Daddy needed his work, his hours spent in his office, in the courtroom arguing with judges and other attorneys. That was his life. A pleasure he wanted Cora to have.

And Cora hated herself for the reason she was in his office that day. After her lunch with Jonathan yesterday, she had done some serious thinking about her future. She wasn't happy. Jonathan made her happy, but her career didn't. She came to tell her father that she was passing on her clients to take that job offer at the publishing house. Their legal advisor will be retiring at the end of the month, and Cora wanted out of the courtroom.

Jonathan understood when she told him about it, "Why would you do anything that made you unhappy?"

"Because it's important to my father. Law is his life. Especially now that Mom is gone. He lost Cassie to an art career."

"Do you like what you do?" He asked her softly.

"Yes, parts of it. I love the law, too. But my passion is not here. I want to do something creative and worthwhile with my life. I guess I got that from Cassie and Mother. This job I'm doing, it's not me."

"Then tell him that. He's your father. He's going to love you no matter what you choose." He took her hand and kissed the back of it. Cassie had been gone from the restaurant for a while, and their time together was fading. She had to get back to the office by three for a meeting.

"You think so," she asked, watching his lips press against the back of her hand.

"I've met your father. He's an honest man. A great lawyer, too. If you approach it like you would any case, he's bound to see your side. He'll understand."

"I hope so. But I just don't know if I can do it," she sighed.

"Why is that?"

"Well, Cassie's moving back to Chicago soon, and if I drop my clients, I don't know if I can afford to keep my house. I'll be taking a pay cut if I accept this other offer. And I can't move back in with Daddy," she cringed at that last part. He looked at her with sympathy and earnest.

"Do it anyway," he told her, his voice ardently precise. "If you loose your house, you can move in with me."

Cora lifted her eyes to his. He meant it. She flushed from the passion that flowed from him. He kissed her then. Right there on the patio, surrounded by strangers. And she returned the kiss with all her heart.

Coraline Price was in love.

Not exactly for the first time, but she was sure that this time, the feeling was mutual.

However, would James Price understand like Jonathan had? Cora was sitting in his wood-paneled office that morning just to find out.

"So, Coraline. What can I do for you?" Her father scribbled notes on a sheet of paper, flipped it over into a folder, and looked up at her over his black-rimmed glasses, folding his hands on top of his desk.