But she wasn’t going to tell Vivian that. She wasn’t ready to go back yet, if she ever would be, and right now leaving this little beach town and going home to face the world terrified her.
Vivian reached down and ruffled her hair. “I know you do, but I won’t be the one to hold you back. There’s so much you can do with your life. Not being able to dance ballet doesn’t mean your career is over. You can become an instructor, open your own ballet school. And you should think about getting involved with a man again.”
“I will. One day I’ll do all that.” She steadied her voice in an attempt to keep the desperation out of it.
“And when is one day? A year from now? Two?”
“I don’t know.” Her throat suddenly felt tight and in the mirror she saw the sheen of unshed tears in her eyes.
“I’m sorry, honey, but I think you should go back to San Francisco.”
A single tear spilled out and slid down her cheek. “Are you firing me?”
The obvious look of regret on Viv’s face didn’t make her answer any less hurtful. “Yes. I won’t let you hide out here, so I guess that means I’m letting you go.”
As the full significance of her boss’s words settled in, Ellie clamped her mouth closed to keep a sob from slipping out. How could Vivian look so calm? How could she fire her without even blinking?
She sat there, waiting for Vivian to smile and say “gotcha” but it didn’t happen. It was only when Vivian uttered a soft, “I’m sorry” and headed for the door that a startling question hit her.
“Just answer one thing,” Ellie burst out. She twisted in her chair and watched as her ex-boss turned to face her. “Was this Luke’s idea?”
“No.” Vivian didn’t even hesitate.
Despite the relief filling her stomach she still wasn’t soothed. “Then why were you having dinner with him yesterday evening?”
“What?” Vivian furrowed her brows in confusion. “I didn’t have dinner with Luke. I was—” Her sentence came to an abrupt halt, bringing another wave of suspicion to Ellie’s gut.
“You were what, Viv? Marlene’s cousin saw you with a dark-haired guy. Who was he?”
Vivian opened her mouth then snapped it shut.
In a tone dripping with bitterness, Ellie managed a low taunt. “Come on, who were you with?”
It seemed like an eternity before she finally got her answer. “I was with Josh.”
Her spine stiffened. “Josh?” she echoed. “As in my brother, Josh?”
“Yes.”
Not even the guilty look on Viv’s face and the apologetic tone of her voice could stop the rush of red-hot betrayal that sliced through Ellie’s chest. Vivian and Josh? Her best friend, the one person she’d leaned on all these months, was in cahoots with her brother?
“How long has he been in town?” she asked through clenched teeth.
“A few days.”
“I see.”
Vivian stepped closer, her green eyes swimming with regret. “He just came here to make sure you were—”
Ellie held up her hand and shot the other woman a silencing—and icy—stare. “I don’t need your explanations.” She locked her jaw in an attempt to stop its trembling. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to get ready for the show. It’s my final curtain call, after all.”
“Ellie—”
“I. Need. To. Get. Ready.” Each word emerged as a ragged gasp.
“All right. We’ll…talk later then?”
The fury clogging her throat prevented an answer from coming out so she simply fixed a cold expression on her face and waited. Waited for Viv to leave the room. Waited for it all to sink in. Waited until she was alone before finally allowing the tears to fall.
“Don’t go in there.”
Luke stopped in his tracks at the sight of Vivian’s red-rimmed eyes and pale face. He’d been on his way to Ellie’s dressing room after finally working up the nerve to see her. He knew he and Ellie needed to talk about what happened between them last night and he didn’t appreciate Vivian intercepting him. No matter how distraught she looked.
“I really need to speak to her,” he answered, reaching for the doorknob.
Vivian stopped his hand. Her grip felt cold. “Now is really not the time, Luke. She’s upset.”
“Why is—” He stopped suddenly as the answer dawned on him. “You fired her, didn’t you?”
The older blonde’s small nod and dejected expression caused a wave of cold regret to swell in his chest. Damn. When he’d asked Vivian to fire Ellie yesterday he hadn’t known what would happen at the bungalow. His despicable behavior had no doubt hurt her, but add to that the loss of her job and…well, he now understood why Vivian seemed so devastated. Though her devastation probably didn’t even compare to Ellie’s.
“Did you tell her I asked you to do it?”
“No. She was angry enough as it was. Especially when I told her Josh was in town.”