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“Hold on, sweetheart!” I shouted. I could see the light from the door and ran as fast as I could, praying we got out before the whole damn floor collapsed.
Chapter 49
Rory
Moving forward
My heart raced as I listened to the live dispatch from the Boston Fire Department.
“Engine 33, all members are safely out of the building.”
“Fire alarm answering Engine 33, all members are out of the building.”
I let out the breath I was holding and fell back against the sofa. My heart raced as I dragged in one breath after another to calm myself down.
“Holy shit. No wonder this was a concern of yours. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. Rory, you can’t do this to yourself. You’ll go insane.”
With a nod, I replied, “I know, Autumn.” Sitting up, I dropped my head into my hands and groaned. “But I have to know he’s okay.”
My cellphone vibrated on the coffee table before ringing. It was an unknown number.
“Hello?”
“Rory Adams?”
I was instantly on guard. “Yes, this is Rory Adams.”
“Rory, this Professor Williams at Harvard University.”
With a grin, I replied, “Hello, Professor Williams. How are you doing?”
He chuckled. “I’m doing well. And how are you enjoying practicing law? Have you gotten that real-world experience I talked about?”
I chuckled. “Well, if you mean working day and night and taking every case I possibly could…then yes, I’ve gotten real-world experience. But…I’ve left my mother’s practice. I’ve decided I no longer want to practice law.”
“Really? How interesting. What are your plans?” he asked.
Standing, I moved to the window and looked out at the snow flurries. “Honestly, I’d love to teach.”
“Rory, you just made me one happy man.”
I chuckled. “Why is that, Professor?”
“Because I’m thinking of offering you a job.”
A smile spread across my face. Autumn mouthed, “What?”
Holding up my finger, I asked, “What kind of job?”
“A teaching position. A course in union law. I saw the news conference a few weeks ago, and when your name was mentioned I took that as a sign. I’ve had a note to call you.”
I jumped up and down like a schoolgirl. Autumn giggled. “Yes! I’d very much like to speak with you regarding a teaching position. I mean, I’m somewhat up in the air right now about things, but I’d love to speak with you regardless.”
“Great. Shall we meet for coffee tomorrow at Crema Cafe, let’s say around eleven?”
“I’ll be there.”
“I’m looking forward to talking to you, Rory.”
I had to bite on my cheek to contain my excitement. “As am I, Professor Williams. See you tomorrow.”
“Goodbye, dear. Have a good afternoon.”
The call ended, and I let out a scream.
“What was that all about?” Autumn asked as someone knocked on my front door.
“The first step to my new life,” I replied as I rushed to the door and opened it. Pulling Clare into the room, I grabbed her hands and started jumping around again. Clare laughed and joined right in.
“Did you and Finn get back together?”
Instantly, it felt as if the air had been sucked from the room. The pain that had settled into my chest for the last two weeks returned with a vengeance.
With a frown, I shook my head. “No. He hasn’t returned any of my calls or answered any of my texts. I’ve even tried to go and see if I can catch him leaving his place, but I never see him.”
Clare squeezed my hands. “Don’t give up. Keep texting. Keep calling. Just give it time.”
Autumn walked over with a wide grin. “Rory’s been offered a teaching position!”
Clare sucked in a breath. “What? That’s amazing.”
Laughing, I held up my hands. “Well, hold on. He only wants to talk to me about a teaching position. I haven’t been offered anything, and I’m not sure teaching a law class is what I had in mind when I said teaching.”
“Rory, that’s amazing, though. How crazy is that? What do they want you to teach?”
“Union law,” I replied.
“Right up your alley,” Autumn said with a thumbs-up.
“Professor Williams was my advisor, and he told me right before I graduated from law school that he wanted me to go and get some real-world experience, then come back and teach at Harvard. I laughed it off at the time, because I didn’t think it would ever happen. Well, I guess he heard my name on the news conference a few weeks back and decided to reach out. I’m not sure it’s what I want, but I’m definitely going to hear him out.”
“Good!” Clare said. “It gets your foot in the door at Harvard, if that’s the road you choose.”
I nodded. “Yeah. I really need to think about what I’m going to do, and soon. My rent is pretty expensive. I’ve got about eight months of rent saved, so that buys me some time.”
Clare and Autumn both stared at me with dumbfounded expressions.
