Resigned, Noah did as asked and sat in the chair opposite James. He looked the older man in the eye, refusing to cower or try to cover up what he’d done.
“I received an interesting piece of information this afternoon.”
Noah fought the urge to fidget and said nothing. There was no question there.
A slight irritation flared in James’s eyes at Noah’s silence. “Any idea what it might have been?”
“I’m sure you’re about to tell me, sir.”
“You’re too much like your father,” James muttered. “Fine. If you won’t say it, I will. We made the decision regarding the associate position. Julia accepted it this morning.”
After an initial flood of surprise, Noah tilted his head and nodded. “Wow, that’s great. Well deserved.” He meant it, and felt ashamed he hadn’t considered Julia might put in for it. She was an excellent architect, a hard worker, and great with clients. He’d been too wrapped up in everything with Mia and David, he hadn’t even thought to ask if she was interested.
Which probably worked to her advantage, in all honesty.
“I agree.” James steepled his fingers. “David didn’t take the news so well.”
“He wanted it pretty badly,” Noah said carefully.
“It’s a shame he didn’t have the portfolio to back it up.” James assessed Noah carefully. “It’s what he said after I broke the news that I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Okay.”
“He claims you and Mia got married so she could quit and keep the company insurance for her medical condition. Is that true?”
“Yes.”
James’s brows shot up. “Yes?”
“Yes. That’s why we got married.”
The man who had been his mentor for years sat back in his gray leather chair. His expression was hard to read. “I’ve got to say, I didn’t expect you to confirm it.”
“I’m sorry.”
“That you committed fraud, or that I found out?”
Noah inched forward in his seat. “Look, James. You’ve known me a long time. Since well before I was an architect. You’ve been a friend of my dad’s, and a friend of our family, for decades. By proxy, you know Mia has been a part of my life for a long time. Our friendship was never a secret, even when we both worked here. In fact, I think most people knew that friendship was the reason my dad offered her this job without a day of administrative experience.”
“She wasn’t a bad employee.”
“She was great. Doesn’t mean she would have gotten the job if she’d walked in as a stranger off the street.”
James tipped his head to concede that fact.
“My point is, our friendship was no secret. But how much I loved her was. I kept it from everyone. Even tried to talk myself out of it on occasion.”
“I take it that didn’t work out?”
Noah gave a humorless laugh. “I can’t stop loving her any more than I can choose to stop breathing. When she had the opportunity to go back to school on a scholarship and pursue her dream job, I couldn’t stand by and watch her give it up. I couldn’t think of any other options, James. Our policy is antiquated and doesn’t allow partner-based dependents without marriage. Even if it did, we couldn’t wait until open enrollment in November. She deserved this chance, and God knows it was no hardship to marry her. It’s real for me, if that makes it any easier to swallow. It always was.”
“You should have come to me. Maybe we could have changed our policy, or made an exception.”
Noah shook his head. “It wouldn’t have been that easy. Besides, there wasn’t time. She had to accept the scholarship to start this summer, and never would have done it if she wasn’t confident she had coverage for the medicine she needed to live.” He glanced at the photo of James’s family on the bookcase. They vacationed at Seaside every summer, and they stood on the beach there, James’s arm around his wife with their four children surrounding them. “What would you have done? If you were in my shoes and Sharon needed you, wouldn’t you have done the same?”
James folded his arms across his chest. “It’s the lie, Noah. I have a hard time criticizing you for taking care of Mia, you know that. Not only because I care about her too, but because it’s plain as day how close you two were and how much she means to you. But this company was built on trust and integrity. I need to be able to believe in the people who work here. In their character. And everyone should expect the same from me.”
“I understand.”