A chill went through her. “Wow. I thought the hours were worse now.”

“I don’t know. Back then, dads were expected to work. My mom would come, but I would’ve liked my dad there.” He frowned. “And now it’s still the same. He missed Thanksgiving last year for a merger deal. He’s got grandkids. And Ned, their dad, is away serving as a combat medic. My dad needs to put his family above his work. Especially now. He’s got enough money.”

“It’s probably too much a part of his identity.”

He nodded slowly. “Yes. And he loves it. He loves the intellectual thrill and editing documents, all of it. The briefcase, the suit. He’s disappointed I’m not a lawyer.” Jake stopped as if he’d admitted too much. “For me, it was absolutely clear that the personal cost is too high. You don’t think so?” His gaze challenged her.

Sometimes. She flushed, taken aback, and gazed at him, her brow furrowed. Remembering Kevin asking her to leave and come down to Washington, D.C. to work for the government, saying the partnership would just use her labor for seven years and then spit her out. She shook her head. “I work very hard and for long hours, but I also enjoy the work, and I have good friends at the law firm.” She didn’t admit that she liked the suit too. As soon as she put on her crisp black suit with her white blouse, she felt stronger, like she’d donned a suit of armor.

“But you can have both,” he said. “You can have a good career where you make enough money and have a life. It’s not easy. You have to make it a priority and make certain choices.”

She frowned. “Do you really think it’s your choice? My mom works hard all the time.”

“Certain choices that may mean you don’t get promoted. Veronika got mad at me when I decided not to put my name in the hat for an executive VP promotion this year. Her attitude was get to the top and then you can coast. But I don’t see much coasting at the top. And if I look at my dad, it seems he can’t give it up.”

“I see that with my mom.” She nodded.

“Did your mom want you to be a professor?”

“No, definitely not. And I didn’t want to be a professor. Getting tenure just seems to involve so much being nice and collegial to everyone, at least as a woman. My mom wanted me to be a lawyer, a career with a really good income. She also thought there’d be less politics and less subjectivity in law.”

“Is there?”

She snorted. “Probably less hand-shaking than getting tenure as a professor, but it seems political now that I’m trying to make partner.”