Page 43 of The Love Hoax

Adam chuckles, and I meet his eye. He looks different. Maybe embarrassed?

Did I imagine the entire thing? Maybe he was just being playful. Sheesh, I almost kissed him.

I chide myself for once again second-guessing my instincts, letting insecurity and doubt fill my mind.

Adam goes to the large bay window, looking out. He keeps his back to me. “It can get like that out here. In June, I was hiking in the park and was hit with ten minutes of pounding hail. The climate out here is constantly changing. Very different from the coasts.” He pauses and turns around, his face serious. “About earlier... in the pool?—”

I feel the heat rise to my face. And then my phone rings. Bill the Bull.

I’m dying to know what Adam wants to tell me. At least I think I do. But something is up at the office. “It’s my boss,” I say. “I should take this.”

“Of course,” Adam says, grabbing an apple from the table and taking a bite. He seems nervous.

I excuse myself and go into the living room. Heavy raindrops bounce off the surface of the pool and onto the cement, leaving puddles all around. “Hi, Bill. Sorry I missed your call yesterday. My phone died.”

“I see.”

His tone is curt. I picture him sitting behind his desk, his slicked-back hair stuck in place with heavy-handed pomade.

“What’s going on? You never call on weekends.”

“How’s your vacation?”

Alarm bells are going off in my head. Bill the Bull never asks how things are on my end. The wind picks up, the rain poundingon the glass door, droplets streaming down the glass like thick tears. “What’s going on, Bill?” I repeat.

“I got a call from Jerry late on Friday. I didn’t want to ruin your vacation.”

Jerry is the firm’s CEO and Bill’s father-in-law. I can’t imagine what this is about. “Please come out with it. You’re scaring me.”

“Remember when attorneys from Becker and Stone came by a couple of months ago?”

I wrack my muddled brain, pulling up the memory. The rival firm had previously attempted a hostile takeover of Stilton and Everett then switched tactics, offering a merger. Jerry had been wary, and I suspected the deal never got past the first meeting. Especially since I hadn’t heard a word about it since. “Yes, what of it? Did they hammer out a deal?”

“Yes, yes, we did.”

Something in the way he’s speaking gives me pause.Is Bill taking over the reins from Jerry? God, I hope not. Without Jerry’s oversight, he’ll run the place into the ground.

“The deal was being kept quiet. I wanted to give you more of a heads up, but?—”

A pang of dread runs through me.

“What happened!” I hear myself shouting and quickly bring it under control. “Bill, tell me everything . . . please.”

I end the call and walk to the patio door. The sun is peeking out from behind the scattering clouds. Pulling the robe tighter around my waist, I step outside and dissolve into a puddle of tears.

I hearthe patio door open behind me. I don’t turn around.

Adam keeps a respectful distance. “I’m sorry, Evie. I couldn’t help but overhear some of your conversation.”

I must have been terribly loud if he could hear me from the kitchen over the pounding storm. A wave of embarrassment rushesover me as I recall Bill’s final patronizing words. “You’ll find something else.”

I’m fifty years old. Finding a job will be near impossible at this stage in my career.

I swipe at my face, speaking softly. “I just got canned.”

“Oh.” Then, “Was it unexpected?”

“Very much so. I’m blindsided.”