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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
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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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o Teresa Park
For opening doorsand broadening my perspective
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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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Starting Now
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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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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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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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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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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