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That, of course, was the understatement of the year And she didn't have a clue how to tell Easton that she had to scrape up another source of funds How horrible to disappoint him that way, especially since she was the one who'd had the original idea for the two of them to form a partnership

Not only that, but she knew him well, and it was obvious that he'd fallen in love with this space Hell, she had, too Just this quick look around and she was convinced that this suite was as perfect for their venture as they'd ever find

A truly breathtaking space, the suite formed a U that took up half of the east wall, all of the north wall, and the entire all The tiny bit of ree for the bank that owned the building--which meant that only the employees and clients of Wallace & Donovan, Attorneys At Law, needed to get off at this floor

A set of double glass doors opened onto the luxurious reception area that faced east and looked out over Sixth Street But right beside reception was a large conference roolass walls--that faced north and looked down on the historic Driskill Hotel and a tiny hint of the Texas Capitol building Because of the glass, the rooht But the conference rooned with automatic blinds, so clients and counsel could work in privacy if necessary

Offices for associate attorneys--when they hired some--lined the north and alls, and would also be used for the legal assistants The northwest corner office boasted a stunning view straight down Congress Avenue, and the southwest corner had a view of the river in the distance All in all, the space was incredible

"Nothing wrong with fast when it's right," Easton said to her, though he added a wink to Selma, obviously in honor of their ind roht This whole idea is right This space Our firave her a one-ar, th

e saratulate her in law school whenever she got an A or nailed a particularly tricky concept during one of their study sessions "I've had a good feeling since we took the leap and agreed to do this Evenall sorts of calls about folks wanting to talk about representation"

Easton and Selht with their pants down--or, ht with her skirt up--not too long ago The scandal had cost Easton his chance at a judgeship, but as it turned out, he was okay with that What he really wanted was to practice law--and he'd pulled his naestion that they both quit and open a firestion that had been absolutely seaworthy at the ti a few leaks

"I have a good feeling, too," she assured hi" She wouldn't do that to him This was too important to them both This firm was their future And it represented the kind of law career she wanted A vibrant practice doing interesting ith a partner she trusted She'd loved the people at her old job, and she was going toher friends everyday But she'd been about to rot in that environment and had been bored to tears with the actual work

The in-house job at Brandywine Finance and Consulting had been her second law job The first had been at a giant law fire that she was often only aware of one legal issue--the big picture of the overall litigation wasn't even shared with her

So, but she'd had little client contact, and even less contact with the overall battle plan She knew she was paying her dues, but after a while she couldn't take it anymore, and she'd accepted the in-house position at Brandywine