Eclipse of the Heart

chapter 4

In the morning, Amanda woke before dawn. She checked her phone. 6 a.m.

She had a text from Logan.

Changed my plans.Left for London.

She scrolled down for the rest of the message.

Nothing. The jerk! She flung herself out of bed. What about her job? She needed that job! Her whole life depended on that job.

The mixture of dread and anticipation that had kept her up half the night was spiked now with anger. How dare he leave her hanging like this?

She stormed into the bathroom, twisted on the shower and let the water pummel her. When she emerged, she checked her phone again. Against her own wishes. She was not about to let that smug, overly confident male become the center of her existence. Furthermore, how was she supposed to pay for this lavish suite?

But when she'd gotten herself dressed, packed, and down to the front desk, she discovered that the bill had been settled and a plane ticket back to New York had been left for her. The news only made her angrier. Her anger must have shown on her face.

"Is everything all right?" the desk clerk asked. "Mr. Winter thought he had handled everything."

"Yes," she snapped. "Everything is fine." Except she didn't want him to handle everything. She was perfectly able to run her own life. In fact, she was done with him and his arrogance and his stupid fake job.

"Your car is waiting outside," the clerk said, nodding toward the revolving door.

"Thank you," she managed, though she feared her teeth might be grinding together. She grabbed her overnight bag and headed for the door.

She had a long ride to O'Hare to seethe. Until she finally got tired of her own ill-temper and faced the facts.

She'd been looking forward to seeing Logan this morning. As much as she hated to admit it, she was disappointed that he clearly didn't feel the same desire to see her. That disappointment was fueling her anger.

She had to accept that he didn't owe her an explanation of his plans. But he could have let her know whether or not she had the job. Apparently, he wasn't as thoughtful as he'd almost convinced her he was yesterday.

That thought brought her to a new worry. She'd have to call her mother and tell her what happened. As painful as the news would be, her mother had to know before she quit her own job.

On that thought, she fished her phone out of her purse and dialed.

Her heart clenched when her mother answered immediately, her voice a shade lighter than it had been in months.

"How's the new job, dear? I can't tell you how happy I was to be able to quit yesterday."

"You already quit?" Amanda heard the fear in her own voice.

"Yup," her mom chirped. "I started looking online right away to find someplace where I could live in Denver…" Her voice trailed off. "Is something wrong, Amanda?"

The job fell through. He wanted my body, not my mind. No, that wasn't true. He probably would have used her for the night and then tossed her out without a job, either. So she wasn't any worse off than she had been. She sighed. None of those words could be said to her mother.

"Mom…" She didn't need to say more.

"What happened? Are you all right?" The note of anxiety was back in her mother's voice.

Amanda slumped in her seat. "The job fell through."

"Oh, dear," her mother said, her voice wavering for a minute. Then she took a deep breath – Amanda could hear it clearly – and said, "Don't worry, dear. We'll figure something else out."

Amanda almost broke down in the cab. Her mother had been so thrilled with the news of Amanda's new job and the insurance benefit.

"I just couldn't do it, Mom. There had been a mistake."

"What kind of a mistake?" That was the voice of a mother who'd run into any breach to save her child.

"He mixed me up with another candidate."

"What happened to the job you thought you were getting?"

"I…I'm not sure, Mom." She couldn't lie to her mother. It just wasn't possible.

"Amandaaaaa." She dragged out her name in the way that always said, I'm waiting.

"Apparently, he had two openings. One was the position I thought I was interviewing for. The other was for a…a playmate."

"Playmate? Is he two?"

Perversely, Amanda wanted to jump to his defense. "No, he's a grown man, mom."

"So what happened to the other job?"

"I'm not sure yet. I might still be able to get it."

"I don't want you accepting any job from him, Amanda," her mother stated. "He doesn't sound like a respectable man."

"Oh, mom." She sighed again as the car approached the airport. With her mom out of work now, Amanda's options were limited. Someone had to bring in a salary and benefits. Her mom had been working part-time at a medical office, until the entire focus of her life had shifted to helping Julie beat her medical diagnosis. Her mother had been determined to travel to Denver, where Julie was going to complete a six month course of treatment at the National Jewish Hospital for her lung disease.

Someone had to be with Julie, to deal with the doctors and all the medical issues. Even more importantly, someone needed to be there to provide company and comfort.

Amanda hefted her bag as she exited the car. It suddenly felt very heavy. Because she had to face the facts. She had no choice but to try to get Logan's job on whatever terms he dictated.