“Golden, aren’t you going to work today?”
At the sound of her mother’s voice she groaned then pressed her cheek into the pillow. “No, mother,” she said loudly, forcing a hint of life into her voice. “No work today.”
“Oh.” Eugenia sounded surprised. “All right, then. Get some rest. I imagine you’re tired from your trip.” Then her footsteps sounded, padding away from the door and down the hallway.
Golden was not disturbed again until nine o’clock when her cell phone rang, exactly thirty minutes after she should have reported to work. She didn’t even have to look at the screen to know who it was. She did not pick up the phone and she did not answer.
Golden closed her eyes and she did not open them again until almost ten o’clock when her tummy began to growl. She sighed. No matter that her emotional world had just disintegrated her physical being still demanded attention. She rolled out of the bed and headed for the bathroom.
She dragged on sweat pants and an old T-shirt and went downstairs to make herself a quick breakfast. A glance around told her there was no-one in the kitchen. Grateful, she dashed in and filled a bowl with cereal and almond milk then she grabbed a spoon and beat a fast retreat back to her room.
She’d finished eating and had returned to the refuge of her bed when she heard a car pull up to the house. Darn. She knew that sound. It was her stepfather’s car that had just purred to a stop in front of the house. Golden’s heart sank. She’d hoped he’d be out for the day. She was not looking forward to being in the same house with him for the next several hours.
She was so intent on avoiding her stepfather that she didn’t even return her empty bowl to the kitchen. Instead, she rinsed both bowl and spoon in her bathroom sink then laid them out on top of her chest of drawers. Now what? She looked around the room and her eyes landed on a book she’d bought weeks earlier but hadn’t had time to finish. And it was a good read, too. Now would be the perfect time to lose herself in the pages of a romantic story set in the time of the Vikings. Maybe it would take her away from her own troubles.
She was all the way up to chapter ten, in the middle of a scene where the noble Viking had just kidnapped the daughter of his nemesis, when her cell phone began to buzz. This time she did pick it up and when she glanced at the screen she saw that it was exactly who she thought it would be. Well, Reed Davidoff could call all he wanted. She would never give him the satisfaction of an answer.
She dropped the phone on the bed, picked up her book and flipped to the next page, intent on submerging herself in a story she knew would have a happy ending. She would not let Reed spoil her day.
Golden was in the middle of chapter fifteen when there was another disturbance and she was forced to pause. Someone was ringing the doorbell. Once, twice, three times it rang. Golden frowned. Where was her mother? Where was Manchester? Why didn’t someone answer the door?
Breathing a heavy sigh she marked her page and headed out the door. She hoped it wasn’t one of those awful door-to-door salesmen pushing carpet cleaning services or lawn care. She wasn’t in the mood.
Golden swung the door open, the prepared arguments already forming in her mind. They had hard wood and stone floors and they had a gardener. Whatever they were selling, she didn’t need it.
She didn’t get a chance to use either one. She found herself staring up into Reed’s steely-blue eyes. “Reed,” she gasped then snapped her mouth shut. Then she remembered to glare at him. “What do you want?”
He took a step closer, his frame filling up the front door, forcing her to take a step backward. “Why didn’t you show up at work today?”
Tilting her face up, she met his stare. “I’m not coming back. I quit.”
His frown deepened. “You can’t just walk off the job like that. Your employment contract says you need to give two weeks’ notice.”
“Under the circumstances,” she countered, her tone biting, “no notice is necessary. I cannot work for a man I don’t trust.”
The blue in Reed’s eyes grew dark, his pupils dilating in anger. His lips parted as if he were about to speak and that was when she heard the voices drifting in from the back of the house. It sounded like her mother and Manchester had just opened the garden door and were entering the house, deep in conversation.
Golden’s hand shot out and she pushed Reed backward and away from the front door. Quickly, she followed him out the door and pulled it shut behind her.
“What’s going-”
“Shh. We can’t talk here. Just get in your car and take me down the lane.”
The last thing she wanted was for Manchester to find Reed on his doorstep. If given the chance her stepfather would draw him in and ply him with questions and, knowing how manipulative the older man was, he would soon have Reed on his side.
She was hurrying with Reed to his car when she remembered what she was wearing. Her face colored as she realized the picture she must have made when she opened the door to the unexpected visitor. Sweat pants and an old T-shirt? She was still wearing bedroom slippers, for goodness sake. It was a good thing they were out in the country, in a region remote enough where they could drive along a tiny road and not see anyone. She would make him pull over at the most convenient point, let him say his piece and then he could be on his way. And that would be that. She would never see Reed again.
At that thought the bravado seeped out of her and her heart began to slide from its resting place down to the bottom of her stomach. She would never see Reed again. She almost came to a halt. She knew he was lost to her, he could never be hers, but still...the thought made her lift her fingers to her lips. She could feel a sob rising and she could not let it escape.
Head down, Golden slid into the passenger’s seat and watched as Reed walked around to the driver’s side. She drew in a few surreptitious breaths and by the time he got in and started the car she’d regained a tentative hold on her emotions.
He glanced at her. “Where to?”
“Just drive along there,” she said, jerking her chin toward the small road that branched off from theirs. “If you need to talk to me you can do it there.” He set off and when they got to a grassy bank shaded by trees she told him to stop.