A Good Kind of Trouble (A Trouble in Twin Rivers Novel Book 1) by Ellie Ashe Page B

obviously been wired incorrectly. The landlord's solution was to tape a sign above it that said: "Warning. This switch is broken." In a house full of children, half of whom couldn't yet read, the kids had quickly developed a fear of all electrical appliances. Ben's solution was a lawsuit that brought the landlord to court to answer for his neglect and a resulting judgment that the house be repaired and brought up to the building standards. His fee for that was one credit on his law school transcripts and a home-cooked meal by the single mom who lived with that faulty switch for eighteen months before Ben sued the landlord.  
    It was the last case he’d been proud of.  
    He couldn't do it. He couldn't tell her. Maybe tomorrow he'd find a way to let her know that she was about to lose her career, her calling, the job she loved.
    “You really love what you do,” he said.  
    “Yes. I can’t imagine doing anything else. It’s a way to make a difference. People are busy and they can’t attend public meetings or state legislative votes. So we go, tell them what’s going on and what effect events will have on them, why they should care,” she said, then smiled and looked away. “I know that sounds really naive.”  
    “No, it doesn’t,” he said. “It’s nice to hear someone likes their job.”  
    Lindsey rested her chin on her hand, her head tilted slightly.  
    "Why did you go to law school?" she asked.  
    It was a question Ben had avoided for the last seven years.  
    “I read To Kill a Mockingbird at an impressionable age,” he said.
    She laughed. “When was that?”
    “Around the time I realized that I didn’t like working in finance.”
    “You worked in finance?”  
    “For a couple years after college,” he said.  
    “Did the book inspire you to go to law school?”  
    “No, not really. I just knew I didn’t want to keep working in banking.”  
    In truth, law school was the only acceptable excuse he could come up with to leave a well-paying job in corporate banking. He wasn’t happy working as a banker, but wasn’t sure what other job would satisfy him. Then he remembered Atticus Finch. On an impulse, he applied for law school and to his surprise, got accepted.  
    “Is law not what you thought it would be? Why do you hate it so much?”  
    “I don’t hate law, not really. I just hate my job. More specifically, I hate my clients. They’re just corporations, insurance companies, trying to save a few bucks by not paying people who were hurt in accidents,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “I work at least sixty hours a week or more with people I largely despise. I read contracts and look for loopholes, or I look for ways to insert loopholes. I volunteer to take cases that let me go to court, even though that means I'm defending insurance companies in personal injury cases."  
    Lindsey appeared to mull this over, absently twisting a lock of hair. "Have you thought about looking for another job?"
    "Yes. All the time. But from what I can tell, jobs for which I am qualified are all pretty similar to my current position, except with different jerks at different desks."  
    "Oh, that's too bad," she said.  
    "I did think about just quitting and opening my own firm, taking cases that I want to take. I wouldn't mind helping people incorporate businesses, get started with their dreams. It's really the only time people are happy to engage a lawyer. Otherwise, people only go to lawyers on the worst day of their life."  
    Lindsey sighed and blew a lock of hair away from her face.  
    "Well, that's certainly true for me."
    "This is the worst day of your life?"
    It had been a hell of a day. Jailed, chased by a bike messenger, her car vandalized, and then a car chase through the city and the park. And she couldn't even go home after the worst day of her life. Even after that parade of horribles, she was still holding herself together—her freshly washed skin glowed in the light from