He learned that she worked as the office manager for dentists, and the rest of her life was devoted to Simone. Until recently, his had been devoted to work. That had led to their current conversation about balance and how to find it.

“So what made you decide to make the move now?” she asked.

He’d discovered she was an excellent listener, which made him want to tell her things he normally kept private. Most of the people in this world were accomplished talkers. Few were as good at listening. Emma was a true exception.

“I had this case assigned to me… We have these A-list clients, you know? The ones we pander to, no matter what disgusting thing they might’ve done. The senior partner calls them the ‘gravy’ clients. So this guy, a bigwig in the local business community, beat the shit out of his wife, and it was my job to get him off even though we all knew he did it. He put her in the hospital with broken ribs and a broken jaw—and it wasn’t the first time.”

Emma gasped, and her hand covered her heart. “Dear God.”

“I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t make myself defend him when I knew he was guilty. All the money in the world just isn’t worth it. I submitted my resignation, my partners bought me out, and here I am.”

“You did the right thing.”

“This time. There’ve been other times when I successfully defended the scumbags, and I’m not proud of that. But after a while, it gets harder to wash off the scum. It stays with you. I made a lot of money in that job. The kind of money I used to dream about having back when we were scrambling to make ends meet after my dad left. But when I saw the police photos of the injured wife, something in me just said, Enough of this crazy shit. I can’t do it anymore.”

Her hand on his arm was intended to comfort, but it stirred something else he hadn’t experienced in ages—pure desire.

“I’m sure you’ll make a very nice living here, without having to sell your soul to the devil to do it.”

“I hope so. It won’t be the living I was making in Boston, but I worked so much, I didn’t have time to spend half of what I made there. It’ll be okay. Anything is better than what I was doing there.”

“What did your partners say when you told them you were leaving?”

“They tried to talk me out of it. A few said I was making a huge mistake, committing career suicide by moving home to the boonies.” He shrugged. “Nothing they said convinced me to change my mind.”

“Your gut was telling you it was the right move at the right time. I’m a big believer in following my gut.”