April Free Chapter - Starting Now by Debbie Macomber

7/28/2019 April Free Chapter - Starting Now by Debbie Macomber

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2/21

DEBBIEMACOMBER

Starting Now

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Published by Arrow Books 2013

2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1

Copyright Debbie Macomber, 2013

Debbie Macomber has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs

and Patents Act 1988 to be identied as the author o this work.

Tis book is a work o ction. Names and characters are the product o the authors

imagination and any resemblance to actual persons,

living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Tis book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not,by way o trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out,

or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior

consent in any orm o binding or cover other than that

in which it is published and without a similar condition,

including this condition, being imposed

on the subsequent purchaser.

First published in Great Britain in 2013 by

Arrow Books

Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road,

London SW1V 2SA

www.randomhouse.co.uk

Addresses or companies within Te Random House Group Limited can

be ound at: www.randomhouse.co.uk/oces.htm

Te Random House Group Limited Reg. No. 954009

A CIP catalogue record or this book

is available rom the British Library

ISBN 9780099563983

Te Random House Group Limited supports the Forest Stewardship Council

(FSC), the leading international orest-certication organisation. Our books

carrying the FSC label are printed on FSC-certied paper. FSC is the only

orest-certication scheme supported by the leading environmental organisations,

including Greenpeace. Our paper procurement policy can be ound at:

www.randomhouse.co.uk/environment

ypeset by SX Composing DP, Rayleigh, Essex, SS6 7XF

Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY


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4/21

o Teresa Park

For opening doorsand broadening my perspective


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5/21

Dear Friends,

Long ago I learned a valuable lesson as a writer, and that was

the importance o listening to my readers. One thing I

consistently hear rom you is: Please write more Blossom

Street books. And so, my riends, here is the latest update

rom my heart to yours. Youll meet some new characters and

visit amiliar ones. Naturally, Lydia, rom A Good Yarn, with

her daughter, Casey, is ront and center, as well as a handul o

others.

Youll also meet Libby Morgan, who is becoming

reacquainted with knitting ater being laid o rom a

high-pressure job at a law rm. Wayne and I are amiliar with

what it is like to go through a long stretch o unemployment.

Te year our daughter Jenny Adele was born, Wayne, who

worked as a construction electrician, was out o work nearly

nine months. He made good use o the time and took classes at

the community college while I cared or our older daughter

and ound a hundred dierent ways to stretch our

unemployment check. In act, Wayne was in Alaska looking or

work on the pipeline in the early 1980s when I sold my rst

book. So you can see this story comes rom a wealth o personal

experience. Most o us have gone through similar situations at

one time or another, and while its never un, there are lessons

to be learned and truths to be discovered. I hope you enjoy

meeting Libby and watching the world unold as her eyes are

opened and she discovers the meaning o riendship . . . and

love.

As always, I welcome your comments and letters. You can


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reach me in a variety o ways. Old-ashioned snail mail still

works. Contact me at P.O. Box 1458, Port Orchard, WA 98366or through the guest page on my website at DebbieMacomber.

com. Im also on Facebook and have my own phone app. Im

connected just about everyplace there is to be plugged in.

Now sit back, turn the pages, and enjoy.


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7/21

Starting Now


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8/21

Chapter 1

Tis was it. Surely it must be.

Te instant Libby Morgan heard her paralegal tell her

Hershel would like to see you in his oce, she knew. Oh,

thered been rumblings around the oce about layos and

early retirements. Such gossip simply veried what she elt in

her heart Hershel was sure to tell her. Shed waited or this

moment or six very long years.

Libby had always wondered how shed eel when she nally

got the news. She longed to hold on to this sense o happy

expectation or as long as possible. In retrospect, she must have

intuitively known something was up because shed worn her

best pin-striped suit today, choosing the pencil skirt over her

normal tailored slacks. And thankully shed had a salon

appointment just the day beore. Getting her hair cut was long

overdue, but seeing how good it looked now, she elt it was

worth every penny o the hundred dollars Jacques had charged

her. A good cut did wonders or her appearance. She wore her

dark brown hair parted in the middle in an inverted bob so that


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9/21

2 DEBBIE MACOMBER

it ramed her ace, curling around her jawline. Jacques had

mentioned more than once how ortunate she was to have suchthick hair. She hadnt elt that way when hed insisted she have

her eyebrows plucked. But hed been right; she looked good.

Polished. Proessional. She promised hersel not to go so long

between appointments again.

Libby didnt see hersel as any great beauty. She was ar too

realistic and sensible, was well aware o her physical short-

comings. At best she was pretty, or at least Joe, her ex-husband,

had told her she was. She knew she was probably no better than

average. Average height, average weight; brown hair, brown

eyes, with no outstanding eatures, but on the inside she was

a dynamo. Dedicated, hardworking, goal-oriented. Perect

partner material.

Reaching or her yellow legal pad, Libby headed toward the

managing partners opulent oce. Outwardly she remained

calm and composed, but inwardly her heart raced and her head

spun.

Finally. Finally, she was about to be rewarded or the hard

choices and sacrices shed made.

Libby was in her sixth year o an eight-year partnership

track. Hopeully she was about to achieve the goal that she had

set her heart on the minute shed been accepted as an associate

in the rusts and Estates Department at Burkhart, Smith &

Crandall, a high-end Seattle-based law rm. She was about to

be made partner even earlier than anticipated.

While she didnt want to appear overly condent, it went

without saying that no one deserved it more than she did.

Libby had worked harder, longer, and more eectively than any


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10/21

Starting Now 3

other attorney employed by the rm. Her legal expertise on the

complex estate-planning project or Martha Reed hadnt goneunnoticed either. Libby had provided a large number o billable

hours and the older woman had taken a liking to her. Over the

past month two partners had stopped by her oce to

compliment her work.

Libby could almost eel her mother looking down on her

rom heaven, smiling and proud. Molly Jo Morgan had died o

breast cancer when Libby was thirteen. Beore dying, Libbys

mother had taken her daughters hand and told her to work

hard, and to never be araid to go ater her goals. Shed advised

Libby to dream big and warned her there would be hard choices

and sacrices along the way.

Tat last summer her mother was alive had set Libbys lie

course or her. Although her mother wouldnt be around to see

her achievements, Libby longed to make her mother proud.

oday was sure to be one o those Hey, Mom, look at me

moments.

Early on in high school Libby had set her sights on becoming

an attorney. She was the president o the Debate Club and was

well known or her way o taking either side o an issue and

making a good argument. Reaching her goal hadnt been easy.

Academic scholarships helped, but there were still plenty o

expenses along the way. Funds were always tight. In order to

support hersel through college shed worked as a waitress and

made some good riends. Later on in law school shed ound

employment as a paralegal in the Seattle area.

Her career path had taken a short detour when she married

Joe Wilson. Joe worked as a short-order cook. Teyd met at the


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11/21

4 DEBBIE MACOMBER

diner where she waited tables while in college. When she

moved rom Spokane he willingly ollowed her to the Seattlearea and quickly ound another job, cooking in a diner. He was

the nicest guy in the world, but their marriage was doomed

rom the beginning. Joe was content to stay exactly where he

was or the rest o his lie while Libby was lled with ambition

to be so much more. Te crux came when he wanted her to

take time out o her career so they could start a amily. Joe

wanted children and so did Libby, but she couldnt risk being

shunted o to the Mommy rack at the rm. Shed asked

him to be patient or a couple more years. Really, that wasnt so

long. Once she was established at the rm it wouldnt matter so

much. But Joe was impatient. He eared that once those two

years were up shed want another year and then another.

Nothing she said would convince him otherwise.

Hershel glanced up when she entered his oce. He wasnt

smiling, but that wasnt unusual.

Sit down, Libby, he said, gesturing toward the chair on

the other side o his desk.

One day her oce would look like this, Libby mused, with

old-world charm, comortable leather chairs, polished wood

bookcases, and a reestanding globe. Pictures o Hershels wie

and children stared back at her rom the credenza behind his

desk. Te one o him sailing never ailed to stir her. Hershel

had his ace to the camera, his hair wind-tossed as the sailboat

sliced through the Pacic Ocean on a crystal-clear day, with a

sky as blue as Caribbean waters. Te sailboat keeled over so


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12/21

Starting Now 5

close to the waters edge she wanted to hold her breath or ear

the vessel would completely overturn.Te photograph inspired Libby because it proved to her

that one day, as partner, she, too, would have time to vacation

and enjoy lie away rom the oce. But in order to do that her

work, her commitment to the law rm and her clients, had to

be her sole ocus.

Libby sat in the chair Hershel indicated and relaxed,

crossing her legs. She knew the managing partners agenda.

What she hadnt expected was the deeply etched look o

concern on his ace. Oh, it would be just like Hershel to lead

into this announcement circuitously.

Ive taken a personal interest in you rom the day the rm

decided to hire you, he said, setting his pen down on his desk.

He took a moment to be certain it was perectly straight.

I know and Im grateul. Libby rested her back against the

comortable padding. Its been a wonderul six years. Ive

worked hard and eel that Im an asset to the rm.

You have done an excellent job.

Libby resisted the impulse to remind him o all the billable

hours shed piled up on a number o accounts.

Youre a hard worker and an excellent attorney.

Libby took a moment to savor his words. Hershel wasnt

known to hand out praise reely. Tank you. She sat up

straighter now, anticipating what would come next. First he

would smile, and then he would announce that ater discussing

the matter with the other partners they would like to . . .

Her projection was interrupted when Hershel went on to

say, Im sure youre aware that the last six months have been a


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13/21

6 DEBBIE MACOMBER

challenge or the rm. He met her gaze head-on, and in his

eyes she read regret and concern as his thick brows cametogether. Weve experienced a signicant decline in protability

due to the recession.

A tingling sensation started at the base o Libbys neck. Tis

conversation wasnt taking the route shed anticipated.

Ive certainly carried my load, she elt obliged to remind

him. More than any other attorney on sta, especially Ben

Holmes, she thought but didnt say. At six oclock, like a

precision timepiece, Ben was out the door.

Hershel picked up the same pen hed so careully positioned

only a ew moments beore and held it between his palms.

Youve carried a substantial load, which is one reason why this

decision has been especially dicult.

Decision? she repeated as a sense o dread quickly

overtook any elation shed experienced earlier.

Te problem is your lack o making rain, he said. You

havent brought any major clients into the rm.

Meeting potential clients was next to impossible with the

hours she worked. Libby had tried attending social unctions

but she wasnt good at power schmoozing the way others

were. She elt awkward inserting hersel into conversations or

initiating them hersel. With little to talk about besides work,

she oten elt inept and awkward. She hadnt always been this

shy, this hesitant.

Hershel, she said, voicing her suspicion, her greatest ear,

what are you trying to say? You arent laying me o, are you?

She nished with a short disbelieving laugh.

Te senior partner exhaled slowly and then nodded. I cant


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14/21

Starting Now 7

tell you how much I regret having to do this. You arent the

only one. Were letting ve go in all. As you can imagine thishasnt been an easy decision.

Libbys rst concern was or her paralegal. Sarah?

Shes ne. Shell be reassigned.

Libbys heart slowed to a dull thud.

Were oering you a generous severance package. Hershel

outlined the details but Libby sat rozen, stunned, unable to

believe this was actually happening. People she worked with,

people she knew, were losing their jobs. She was losingherjob.

Why hadnt she sensed that? She didnt like to think she was so

out o touch with reality that she hadnt picked up on it.

Id also like to oer you a bit o advice, Libby, i I may?

Te shock had yet to dissipate, and because her throat had

gone dry she didnt respond. All she could manage was to stare

at him aghast, disbelieving, shaken to the very core o her

being.

I dont want you to think o this as the end. Tis is a new

beginning or you. One o the reasons Ive taken a personal

interest in you is because youre very much the way I was years

ago. I elt the need to prove mysel, too. I set my sights on

making partner to the exclusion o everything else, the same

way Ive seen you do. I completely missed my childrens

childhoods. By the time they were in high school they were

strangers to me. Tankully, Ive been able to make up or lost

time. Te point is, I sacriced ar too much, and I see you

making the same mistakes I did.

Libby tried to ocus but couldnt get past the act that she

was suddenly unemployed. She blinked a couple o times in an




15/21

8 DEBBIE MACOMBER

eort to absorb what was happening. It didnt help. Te

sickening eeling in the pit o her stomach intensied.I hope, Hershel continued, that you will take this time to

nd some balance in lie. Starting now.

Pardon? she asked, looking up and blinking. Some o the

numbness had begun to wear o. All Libby could think about

was the act that she had given her lie, her marriage, her

everything to this rm, and they were about to shove her out

the door.

I want you to enjoy lie, Hershel repeated. A real lie,

with riends and interests outside o the oce. Teres a whole

world out there ready or you to explore.

Libby continued to stare at him. Didnt Hershel understand?

She had a lie, and that lie was right here in this oce. She was

passionate about her work and now it was being ripped away

rom her.

Who will take over working with Martha Reed? she

asked. Surely this was all a big mistake. Martha Reed was one

o their most important clients and she enjoyed working with

Libby.

Libby, youre not listening. Te decision has already been

made. Te rm is being more than generous.

Generous, she repeated, and gave a humorless laugh.

Anger took hold then and she surged to her eet. Te legal pad

ell unnoticed to the foor as she knotted her sts at her sides.

Tis is a decision unworthy o you, Hershel. Youre making a

mistake. I thought you had my back . . . She could eel the

heat crawling up her neck, creeping into her ace, and snapped

her mouth closed. Arguing was pointless; as he said, the




16/21

Starting Now 9

decision had been made, but by heaven she wanted him to

know she wasnt taking this sitting down. Stabbing an indexnger at his desk, she looked him hard in the eyes and said, I

hope you know Ill have another job beore the end o the day.

For your sake I hope you dont, but i thats the case then

so be it.

Youre going to regret this, Hershel. Ive given you and this

rm everything. Without bothering to argue more, she whirled

around and stormed out o his oce.

With her heart pounding wildly, Libby approached her

own small oce. When Sarah saw Libby, the paralegal stood,

her brown eyes wide and expectant.

Well? Sarah asked.

I . . . Ive been laid o.

Sarahs ace went slack. Youre joking?

A security guard came to stand just outside her door,

watching as she packed up her things. Libby jerked open her

desk drawer and started emptying the contents onto her

desktop. Does it look like Im joking?

Sarah wore the same stunned expression as Libby had only

moments earlier. But why?

Ask Hershel. Libby pinched her lips closed as she struggled

to rein in her outrage.

What . . . what about me? Sarah sank into a chair as

though her knees had given out on her.

Not to worry, I already asked. Youll be reassigned.

I cant believe this.

You? Libby choked out, now dumping the contents o

her drawers into a tote bag she kept on hand.




17/21

10 DEBBIE MACOMBER

What are you going to do?

Do? Libby repeated, as though the answer should besel-explanatory. What else is there to do? Ill nd another job.

Ill be working or another rm beore Im out o the building.

I told Hershel and I meant it. Je Goldstein has been ater me

or years. Tis was no exaggeration. Je had contacted her two

or three times since shed been with Burkhart, Smith &

Crandall to see i she was happy in her current position. He was

the rst person shed call. Already a list o potential rms was

scrolling through her mind. Any number o law oces would

consider themselves ortunate to get her.

Slamming the nal drawer closed, she reached or her

briecase and dumped onto her desk the les shed spent several

hours working on at home the previous night. Next she heted

the bag containing the personal items rom her desk drawer

over her shoulder.

Libby, Sarah said, eyeing the security guard.

Frankly she couldnt get away ast enough. I dont think I

could stand it here another minute.

Hershel had oered her atherly advice, sounding so

righteous and superior . . . so patronizing. Well, shed show

him. He would rue this day; hed made a huge mistake and was

about to see just how wrong he was. Troughout her lie, Libby

had aced challenge ater challenge and proved hersel again

and again. Tis would be no dierent.

I her mothers death had taught her anything, it was that

Libby should do whatever was needed to rise above setbacks.

Shed survive. She had beore and she would again. Shed lost

her mother when she was ar too young, and shed gotten


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18/21

Starting Now 11

through her divorce. Shed weather this, too, just the way she

had everything else.Forcing hersel to smile, she swallowed hard and looked at

Sarah. Keep in touch.

I will, her paralegal promised. Youll let me know where

you land, wont you?

O course. When she did, Libby would ask Sarah to join

her. Tey were a good team. Teyd worked together or so long

that theyd become like running partnerskeeping pace with

each other, intuiting each others needs and expectations. When

shed last spoken to Je Goldstein, Libby had insisted that i

she ever were to join his rm hed need to hire Sarah, too. Je

had assured her it wouldnt be a problem.

Without a backward glance, Libby walked out o the oce.

She elt other sta members staring at her, but she chose to

ignore them. Standing in the doorway to his oce, Ben Holmes

started to say something, but ater one glaring look rom Libby

he apparently changed his mind. Good thing. Ben wouldnt

want to hear what she had to say to him.

Her cell phone was in her hand even beore she reached the

elevator. Ater a quick call to directory assistance, she connected

with Goldstein & Goldstein.

Je Goldstein, please, she told the receptionist. ell him

Libby Morgan is calling.

She was connected immediately.

Libby, how are you?

Fabulous. She got directly to the point. You called a ew

months back and asked i I was happy in my current position,

remember?


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19/21

12 DEBBIE MACOMBER

O course. But that was over a year and a hal ago.

Tat long? ime had gotten away rom her. As it happensIm ree to come on board with Goldstein & Goldstein. No

need to hint at what she wanted. Libby preerred the direct

approach.

Really? his voice dipped slightly. As I said, that was well

over a year ago. Weve had a sharp decline in business since

then. Almost everyone has. We arent currently taking on any

associates.

Te news defated her, but Libby wasnt discouraged. Not

a problem, Je, she said, continuing to walk at a clipped pace.

She was outside the building now, joining the trac on the

Seattle sidewalk, her steps brusque and purposeul. Te dark,

overcast March sky was an accurate refection o her mood. It

was sure to start raining at any moment.

Im sure with your track record you wont have a problem

nding another position, Je continued.

I dont think I will, either, she said, making sure her voice

refected an air o condence. I wanted to give you the rst

opportunity since youve pursued me in the past.

I appreciate that. I something comes up youll be the rst

person I contact.

Wonderul. Tank you or your time, Libby said.

No problem. Keep in touch.

Will do, she said, cutting o the words in her rush to end

the call.

She regretted calling Je in an angry fush. She should have

given the conversation more thought instead o acting out o

emotion and outrage. Even now she was uming, caught




20/21

Starting Now 13

between disbelie and indignation.

Te walk to her condo took teen minutes. Te distancewas what she considered her daily workout. Her building was

on a busy street and sae enough or her to hoo it both early in

the morning and late at night. She hoped shed be able to

continue to walk to and rom work at her new rm.

Shiting the load rom one shoulder to the other, Libby

struggled to maintain her composure as she walked through

her ront door. Shed been so certain that this was it, so

condent that her hard work and sacrices were nally being

recognized. o get laid o instead was unbelievable.

Only now was the truth o it beginning to sink in.

Libby had always been driven to succeed. Shed been the

valedictorian o her high school class and had been in the top

ten percent o her class in both college and law school. She had

worked hard or those grades; she worked hard or everything.

With her arms wrapped around her middle, Libby walked

around the living room three times, her mind racing at a speed

to rival any NASCAR engine. Te sky had gone even darker

and a drizzle splashed against the windows, weaving wet and

crooked trails on the glass. Tis was March in the Pacic

Northwest.

Libby needed to think. First things rst: update her rsum.

She turned on her one-cup coeemaker, brewed a mug, and

carried it into her home oce. Setting it down on a coaster, she

looked at the picture o her mother that rested on the corner o

her desk. Her mothers eyes seemed to ocus directly on hers.

I know, Mom. Dont worry. Tis is only temporary. All is

not lost.


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21/21

14 DEBBIE MACOMBER

It was then that Libby noticed the plant next to her mothers

ramed photograph. She didnt even know what kind it was,but regardless: it was brown and shriveled now. It had withered

with neglect.


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April Free Chapter - Starting Now by Debbie Macomber