Read Online Tides of Truth [03] Greater Love by Robert Whitlow - Free Book Online

yet,” I blurted out.
    “Neither have you,” Julie shot back. “I’ve had fun decorating the office so it will be ready when I do. What do you think I should have done? Put in a table like the one we shared in the library last summer?”
    “No, no, you have the right to do what you want.”
    I glanced at Maggie.
    “Julie will probably meet with clients in her office instead of the conference room,” she said evenly. “I think it’s very tastefully done.”
    I wondered what Maggie really thought. After all, she was the senior partner in the firm, the person who would initially generate most of the business for both of them. Something didn’t seem right about Maggie’s spartan work environment compared to Julie’s lavish one.
    “This is for an associate attorney,” Maggie said, opening a door on the same side of the hall as the conference room.
    “Which means you,” Julie added, tapping me on the shoulder.
    It was a windowless interior space, smaller than the secretarial area. A copy machine rested against one wall.
    “The copy machine is temporary,” Maggie said. “Once the shelves are installed in the workroom at the end of the hall, it will go in there.”
    “I told Maggie you wouldn’t want the distraction of a window,” Julie said. “You can focus on one thing at a time, just like a man. Not me. I may be working on a research memo with most of my brain, but in the rear corner of my mind I’m deciding whether I want to go out for drinks tonight at a place on the river or settle for a few glasses of wine at my apartment.”
    “This is the best we have to offer,” Maggie said, resting her hand against the wall. “I shared my first office with an investigator who dipped snuff and spit into a cup he kept in the bottom drawer of his desk.”
    “They allowed that?” I asked.
    Maggie shrugged. “Smoking was prohibited, but Al Houghton was quick to point out that even when he used spicy dip he didn’t set his mouth on fire. He was the best investigator we had. Fortunately, he spent most of his time out of the office working cases. I just stayed away from that drawer.”
    “Don’t act so shocked,” Julie said. “I’m sure you’ve been around people like that all your life.”
    “Not in my family.”
    “There’s no need to worry. Maggie and I are going to make this a nonsmoking, nondipping, non-tobacco-chewing office.”
    “That’s one thing we’ll have in common with Braddock, Appleby, and Carpenter,” Maggie said with a tight smile. “Let’s sit in the conference room for a minute.”
    The room was bare except for the table, chairs, and a painting on one wall. Maggie flipped on the light. There was a speakerphone in the middle of the table. Maggie sat at one end of the table with Julie and me on opposite sides.
    “This is exciting,” Julie said. “Our first firm meeting.”
    “I haven’t turned down the offer from Mr. Carpenter,” I said.
    “But I hope you will,” Julie said. “You’re going to be an awesome lawyer, and I want to work with you.”
    I waited for a wisecrack to undo the compliment, but none came.
    “Are you in Savannah to talk to Mr. Carpenter?” Maggie asked.
    “Not specifically; I came here to pray about the decision. That’s what I was doing in the parking lot before I came to the door.”
    “I knew it—,” Julie began, but Maggie cut her off with a look.
    “That’s personal, and I respect your privacy,” Maggie said. “But since you’re here, did you have any questions? I tried to cover all the practical stuff in the e-mail I sent.”
    A week after I returned to school, I received a formal job offer from Maggie and Julie. Like the proposal from Braddock, Appleby, and Carpenter, it was contingent on my passage of the bar exam. Beyond that, there was little similarity: the amount of money involved was significantly less, there was no profit sharing plan, and the health insurance coverage wasn’t as comprehensive.
    “It was clear.”
    Maggie