Page 67 of Acadia Falls

“Sorry if I got you in any trouble with her,” Maran said to the other lawyer.

The attorney smiled. “I work for the richest woman in the world. I took this job because I live for trouble.” She reached across the table and shook Maran’s hand. “You did a nice job with this contract. Congratulations. You have a bright future ahead of you.”

With a nod to the rest of us, the lawyer-lady also left the room.

“Who wants to celebrate?” Ryan asked.

“I want to celebrate by getting on a plane and getting out of this hellhole,” my mother said. “Did you know I saw a dead rat on the sidewalk this morning when I went for coffee? Get me back to Maine, please!”

I patted Maran’s hand as the little plane took off from JFK, bound for Bar Harbor airport. Maran was still living on the island, even though the other summer residents were long gone. She hadn’t moved out of the Vejas’s house; she hadn’t moved into her new apartment in the city, and she hadn’t gotten her stuff out of storage. Instead, she’d been working around the clock nonstop in order to bring our licensing deal to fruition.

All that, and she’d also taken and passed the New York Bar exam!

Because of her work on our agreement, her law firm, Krieger and Krieger, LLP, had given her a later start date. All the other first-year associates had started weeks ago. But Maran’s involvement with our negotiations had made it impossible for her to do anything else. Now that the deal had closed, she was free to return to the life awaiting her in Manhattan.

“You are amazing, you know that?” I raised her hand to my lips and kissed it.

She flushed with pleasure. “Thank you! I can’t believe my first experience as a licensed attorney was negotiating a deal with Everly Reyes!”

“And you got her to pay your legal fees. That’s so cool. My girlfriend’s so cool.” My heart swelled with pride.

Ever since we’d decided to give things a real chance between us, I’d started calling Maran my girlfriend. As in, my girlfriend’s coming to dinner. My girlfriend’s a lawyer. My girlfriend still won’t drink kombucha!

My family was pretty sick of it at this point. But I couldn’t care less.

I kissed her hand again. “I know you weren’t necessarily planning on coming back with us, but it’s a long weekend. You don’t start work until after the holiday, right?”

“No, I don’t. But I have so much to do. I haven’t even gotten the keys to my apartment yet! I never expected the negotiations to last this long. At least the bar exam’s over with.” Maran rubbed her temples. “It’s been a crazy summer, huh?”

“Sure has been.” I patted her thigh. “But a good one, I think. Maybe the best ever.”

“I don’t know about that.” She laughed. “The New York Bar was a beast. But I guess I don’t ever have to do that again.”

“Um, but would it be the worst thing?” I asked.

“What?” Maran blinked at me.

“If you had to take another bar exam?”

She scrunched up her nose. “The bar exam sucks!”

I swallowed hard. “What about the Maine bar exam?”

“Well, yes, it would suck—but I was actually thinking about it.” Two hectic spots of color appeared on Maran’s cheeks. “Just in case I have to do more work for you on the contract.”

I squeezed her thigh again. “You do need to do more work.”

She blinked. “I do?”

I nodded. “I’ve been thinking about things. Now that we closed this deal and made so much money from it, other fishermen will want to get in on the action. There are going to be a lot more licensing deals. We need to work with the state and the EPA to make sure that the environment’s protected in all this. We’re going to need your help.”

She bit her lip. “You know I’ll do whatever I can, but things are going to be crazy for me at the firm. I’ve talked to some of the other first-year associates—they’re working until midnight most nights, seven days a week.”

“That sucks.” I nodded. “So… What if you don’t work there?”

She whipped her head at me, ponytail flying. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, what if you don’t work at Krieger and Krieger? What if you just… don’t?”