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“Buddies in the department,” I said. “That’s something that might come in handy when you’re running for DA in a decade or so.”
She laughed. “Dad, I don’t want to get ahead of myself. But the DAdidgo out of his way to tell me how well I handled the situation. So…”
I reached over the table and grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze.
“Nice work, kid!” I said, my voice braced with enthusiasm. “I don’t know what to say. You’re really killing it over there.”
Camilla allowed herself a small smile. “I mean, something like that. I still don’t know how I managed to go from law school straight to the DA’s office, but I’m trying to make the best of it.”
“You don’t know?” I asked. “In that case, let me give you an outsider’s perspective – you kicked arse in high school, you kicked arse in pre-law, you kicked arse in law school. Naturally, someone in the DA’s office noticed all the arse-kicking that you were responsible for, and figured they’d bring you onboard to do a little over there. And, sure enough, that’s what’s happening.”
She smiled again, pursing her lips for a moment as if she didn’t know what to say. I squeezed her hand one more time, then let it go.
“Thanks, Da.” She always tried to call me “Dad,” like a real yank. But in moments like these, when emotion was a little high, the occasional “Da” slipped out, just like when she was a wee one. I loved it.
She cleared her throat and went on.
“Anyway, it’s going to be a lot of work to make sure I’m impressing them on a regular basis and all that. If there’s one thing about the DA’s office I’ve learned, it’s that they’ve got this what’ve you done for me lately attitude.”
“There’s not a single doubt in my mind you’re going to do just that. I couldn’t be prouder of you, kiddo.”
“Aw, Da…” She quickly wiped tears out of her eyes. “Don’t make me cry in the middle of brunch.”
I laughed. “Hey, you don’t want compliments, then stop being so damn impressive. But I’m going to have to stop myself before I start gushing about you to the tables around us. What else is new in your life?”
She dabbed her eyes again, cleared her throat, and was composed once more.
“New in my life…God, nothing other than work. Wait.” Her eyes flashed.
I knew what that meant. In addition to her dropping the occasional “Da” or “bloody” or “shite,” there was one more Irish part of her that she’d never be able to shake off – her love of gossip. And damned if I didn’t love it, too.
“What is it?” I asked, leaning in. “Got some good goss?”
“I’ve got someamazinggoss.” She put her hands on the table and leaned forward. “You remember Sadie Clarence, right?”
Now that was a name I hadn’t heard in a long while. Little Sadie Clarence had been my girl’s best friend since they were wee lasses, having stayed close all through high school.
After graduation, they’d gone their separate ways, Camilla going off to Yale for law and Sadie sticking around to attend Colorado State. They’d both come back to Denver at around the same time a couple of years ago and had rekindled their friendship.
I loved that they had. Knowing Camilla still had a good friend who she’d known for years made me quite happy.
“Sadie? Of course, I do. You both are still tight, yeah?”
“Well, we haven’t been hanging out as much as we’d like, what with the two of us being so busy with work. But we talk a lot and make time for one another when we can.”
“That’s good.”
She leaned in again, raising her eyebrows.
“But Dad, you’re not letting me get to the best part.”
“And that is?”
“She’spregnant.”
That certainly was some big news.
I sipped my coffee, processing the information. The last time I’d seen Sadie had been their senior year, the two of them going off to some graduation party together. I specifically remember what I was thinking at the time, about how she and Camilla were both eighteen, now adults, but still looked like kids in my eyes. It was mad to imagine her pregnant.
