“It went okay.” Two of my fingers slide to my temple, where I feel the start of a headache building. “To be fully transparent with you, I tried leading them toward someone more experienced with healthcare litigation, like Randall or Assem, but they’d read about the Miller case and really wanted to stick with me.”

“Oh, Wren, that’s wonderful!” she says, having a reaction opposite from mine. “You’re making a name for yourself out there.”

“Yeah.” I can’t even muster fake enthusiasm. If that success were in Boston, where I’d be able to go on my run at 6:15 with Molly and eat breakfast in a kitchen where I know the location of every item and be close to my mom, then yeah, I’d be ecstatic. But that’s not the case.

I wish I didn’t need the kind of reassurance that steadiness brings me, yet there’s no way I can change it. I am the way I am.

“I’m proud of you,” she says, making me feel bad for my lack of excitement. This is big. I’m twenty-six. I’ve been working for barely two years as a lawyer. Getting recognized for my work at this point in time is a huge honor. Still, being honored doesn’t ease the sick feeling in my chest.

“Thank you.” Clearing my throat, I redirect the conversation by saying, “But it’s going to be a big project. Weeks, months, possibly. Are you sure you can spare me that long?” I don’t usually take cases by myself. The only one I did was Ms. Miller’s, and that was because I had no choice. It was me or no one.

“Of course I’m sure! Don’t take this the wrong way, but we’ll be fine without you.” She chuckles, then hisses. “But I don’t think we’ll be able to spare any paralegals to work with you. You’ll have to do it mostly on your own. Are you all right with that?”

I want to say no. This would be the perfect excuse. Blame my lack of experience and give the case to someone else.

But I told Aaron I’d do it. And while it isn’t ideal, I never break my word.

“Yeah, it shouldn’t be a problem. If you give me permission to work mostly on that for a while, then I should be fine.”

“Permission granted,” she says like she’s my fairy godmother.

“Good, thank you.” Something pushes my leg, and I look down to find Molly nudging me with her muzzle. I’ll probably need to squeeze in a run with her before starting to work again. “Was there anything else?