“No, it was my first choice.”
She sucked in a breath, and if she were standing in front of me, I was sure I’d see that proverbial light bulb illuminate. “Seattle?”
“Yes.”
“Your number-one choice,” she somberly said. Then the phone muffled, and I heard her say, “Fine. I’ll be right there. Sorry, but my boss is on a tirade. What did Collin say?”
“He doesn’t know.”
“Oh.” The sadness in her voice had tears pricking my eyes. I could hear someone calling her name. “I’m sorry. I need to go. Troll is calling. I love you. I’ll call you later. And, Charlie, Collin will understand if you need to leave.”
Leaving Collin made my chest ache. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“You’ve been working for this your entire life. Don’t make any rash decisions.”
“Okay, I won’t. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
The call ended. I grabbed a throw pillow with my free hand and clutched it to my chest, as though trying to muffle the pain of my heart.
If only life had a crystal ball to tell me what to do. Resting my head back on the cushion, I looked at the vaulted ceiling. “What am I going to do?”
As though someone heard me, there was a knock on the door, and before I could amble over to the foyer, the door swung open.
“Don’t call the police. It’s just us!”
Harley’s voice boomed through the house. When they came into view, I almost let my tear-filled eyes flow over.
“Sweetie, what’s wrong?” She set down a pink box from SUGARCOAT THIS! Bakery, owned by Jackson’s wife Alexa and her mom. “Is it your ankle? Are you in pain?”
Cami scurried over, set down a silver thermos, and sat next to me. “Do you want me to get in touch with Collin?”
Shaking my head, I sniffled. “No, I’m fine. There’s just so much going on.”
Harley wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into a hug. Releasing her hold, Cami opened the carafe, produced three Styrofoam cups, and poured us each a hot chocolate before opening the bakery box. The sweet scent of butter and sugar wafted out of it.
“Everyone needs provisions,” Cami said with a wink. “Although this situation might call for wine. Can you have wine?”
“Yes, I’m no longer taking pain pills aside from an ibuprofen before bed. But hot chocolate is great, thank you.”
“Here,” Harley quickly said, handing me a cookie in the shape of a star and looked too pretty to eat.
“This looks amazing.”
“Alexa is the best. Wait until you taste it.” Doing just that, I took a bite and closed my eyes. “So good, right?”
“Yes, it’s the best cookie I’ve ever had.” Truth was, I barely tasted it. No fault of what I was sure was a delicious confection.
“Enough about cookies,” Cami said, scooting toward me. “Tell us what has you all upset. You look as though you are ready to cry. Are you sure it isn’t your ankle?”
“I got an email today.”
Grabbing my tablet, I tapped the passcode and handed it to them. Their eyes scanned the screen, then landed on me.
“Seattle?!” Cami’s shriek made me thankful Collin’s home was set back off the road—or a neighbor might have thought someone was in trouble.
“You’re moving?” Harley’s frown made me wish there was wine in my mug rather than cocoa.