Free Emerald Fire (Christian Romance) (The Jewel Series) by Hallee Bridgeman Page A

phone interrupted them. As he walked through the outer area and past secretaries’ cubicles and desks, a wake of first silence then murmuring and whispering followed. When he finally made it to his office area, his own secretary quickly hung up the phone and stood. “Mr. Anderson,” she said, grabbing at a stack of messages. “I wasn’t sure if you were going to be in or not today.”
    A war widow with two teenage sons, his secretary, Elizabeth, had worked for him since he opened his own practice. Her knowledge of the law often rivaled his junior associates, and he occasionally wondered why she didn’t bite the bullet and take her husband’s pension to attend law school herself. She typically dressed in conservative pantsuits and wore cross necklaces in all different styles and colors – whatever matched her suit of the day. She wore her hair in a long braid every day, and had never removed her wedding ring.
    He paused beside her desk and set his briefcase on the floor by his feet and his travel mug of herbal tea on the corner of her desk so that he could thumb through the messages. “There’s no reason for me not to work today,” he said.
    As he thumbed through the dozens of messages, she let out a breath. “I’m not quite sure what to say about that.”
    The wall of callous defense he’d shorn up before entering the building fell at the look on her face. He immediately felt like an inhuman heel. “I apologize. I think I was prepared for this to all be a bad experience. I was defensive before there was cause, and that made me rude.”
    “May I say something?”
    “Of course.” He gripped the messages and mug in one hand and bent to pick up his briefcase.
    “I realize that your marriage to Mrs. Anderson has – had – been strained for sometime. But despite that, she was a human being whom you shared a house with, if not a portion of your life. If you don’t allow some grieving, despite everything, you’re going to regret it at some point.”
    “I appreciate that, Elizabeth. Thank you.” He gave her a slight nod. “Now I have work piled up from the last week, I’m sure, and I need to get to it.”
    He left her standing there, gripping her necklace. He imagined her thinking about her late husband and wished that anything to do with his late wife wouldn’t cause her any pain. Elizabeth didn’t deserve any pain for anything.
    Shutting the door behind him, a signal to everyone in his firm not to bother him, he entered his office. A decorator had taken the former football player persona to the extreme, but he’d never had it redone. People who came to see him because of his past life expected the decor to be what it was, so it did no harm. The dark green walls with stark white trim held shadow boxes of signed footballs, autographed photos, and Super Bowl posters. The hardwood floor had scattered rugs that mingled the colors of his former team with the colors of the wall, and flowers and knickknacks around the room drew it all together.
    In one corner of the large expanse, a leather sofa and two leather wing-backed chairs formed a sitting area around a heavy wood coffee table. He often met with clients there. Removing the barrier of the desk lowered defenses and in many cases, fear. In the opposite corner and closest to the door, a conference table that comfortably seated eight crouched beneath a crystal chandelier. His huge desk, especially designed and customized to accommodate his large size, filled the other half of the room. It sat in front of a picture window that overlooked the water and the financial skyline. He purposefully picked the location of his offices for an easy walk to the courthouse. Credenzas on either side of his desk held the customary law journals and business books. He rarely opened them. He much preferred the ease of research using the slim laptop that he pulled out of his briefcase when he reached his desk.
    Along with the half dozen messages she’d left on his cell phone and