The Rancher's Christmas Promise by Allison Leigh

Author:Allison Leigh
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2018-07-11T15:47:55+00:00

Chapter Nine

“Templeton! Get your rear end in here.”

Greer’s shoulders slumped at the command.

She dumped her overstuffed briefcase on her desk and backtracked to Michael Towers’s office. You bellowed? “Yes?”

“Shut the door.”

After her encounters with Ryder and Ali, she’d had a crappy afternoon in court. She’d been late getting to two different arraignments. One of her clients already facing a misdemeanor drug charge got popped with a second offense, meaning she’d lost all the ground she’d made on negotiating a fair plea deal. And she’d gotten into an entirely uncharacteristic argument with Steve Manetti about Anthony Pyle’s DUI charge, nearly earning herself a contempt charge.

She closed the door uneasily.

“Sit.”

Michael’s office was twice the size of hers. Which still meant that there was only room for two chairs. She nudged the one on the right slightly and sat. “If this is about Manetti, I can expl—”

“I warned you to plead out Dilley.”

Her lips parted. She swallowed what she’d been going to say about Judge Manetti.

“I tried,” she said. “Mr. Dilley refused. He’s insistent on having his day in court.”

“You have more clients going to trial than any other attorney in my jurisdictions.” He was drumming the end of his pencil against his ink blotter. “I think you’d be more effective in Hale’s office.”

“Hale!” She popped to her feet and the chair wobbled behind her. “He’s eighty-five miles away!”

“He’s getting ready to retire. You’d be the senior attorney on staff. You could take as many cases as you want to trial.”

“Sure. In municipal court.” It was the only one located in Lillyette, Wyoming. “Which is in session maybe three times a week. On a busy week. You’re punishing me for something. What?”

“I’m not punishing you. I’m trying to promote you.”

“By sending me to Lillyette.” Braden was a booming metropolis in comparison to the tiny town. “What if I turn down this...kind...promotion?”

Michael stared back at her, unmoving.

Her jaw was so tight it ached. “I see.” She aligned the chair neatly where it belonged. She felt blindsided. She’d never lost a job in her life. But she knew that if she didn’t accept the reassignment, that was what would happen. “When do you need my decision?”

“End of the week.”

She supposed it was better than at the end of this little tête-à-tête. Unable to get out a polite response, she nodded and left his office.

She returned to her own. It was a closet of a space. But whether she’d been feeling frustrated there or not, it had been hers.

Her eyes suddenly burned. Blinking hard, she emptied her briefcase of files and loaded it up for the following day. She scrolled through her email and sent a few brief replies.

Then she shut down the computer, shouldered her briefcase once more and looked up at the clock above the door. As usual, it was a few minutes behind.

She set down her briefcase and moved the chair so she could stand on it to reach the clock. She pulled it off the wall and adjusted the time.

She started to hang it back in place but hesitated.

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