Erika hired us, hired me specifically. I had no idea she had anything to do with you. If I’d known, I’d have never taken her as a client.”
“She lied? To me? And you did too.” His eyes narrowed, jaw hardened, world tilted. “Why?”
“I shouldn’t have. I know that. And that’s why I put my notice in today. I didn’t want to lie to you, to anyone, again. I never meant to hurt you,” she said, her tone frantic as she stepped toward him, and a surplus of tears fell freely from those traitorous green-gold eyes.
Emotion overpowered him. He stepped back, looking at a woman he thought he knew. “Don’t.”
“I’m sorry,” she whimpered. “Please, Bill. I made a mistake, a horrible mistake, but I’m sorry. And I”—she swallowed—“I don’t want to lose you. I couldn’t bear it.”
“I’m going to find her,” he said through clenched teeth. “You can see your way out.”
Her tear-dampened eyes widened. “What are you going to do?”
It was more than he could take. He’d nearly come undone listening to Erika’s sobs. Now the woman he thought he knew, thought he loved, had lied to him. Repeatedly. And wanted to know what he was going to do about the result?
“I’m going to find her, and help her.” He slammed his fist against the counter. “Damn it, Lettie. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I don’t know,” she whispered.
He glared at her. He didn’t have time to discuss this now, and he wasn’t at all certain he wanted to discuss it ever. “God help you if anything, anything at all, has happened to her.”
CHAPTER 21
Lettie’s nose twitched when Amy, carrying two plates, entered the breakfast nook.
“How much weight have you lost?” Amy asked, placing the plates filled with beef tips, mashed potatoes and gravy on the table, then sliding one to butt up against Lettie’s sketchpad.
Though Lettie knew the food smelled wonderful, at the moment, it turned her stomach. She continued working on her newest gown.
“I asked you a question,” Amy said, plopping down and taking a bite of potatoes.
“I don’t know. I haven’t had a chance to get on the scale.”
“Haven’t had a chance? You’ve been moping around here with your nose in that book for two weeks.” Amy reached out, grabbed one side of the bulky pad and yanked it away.
Lettie glared at the long line of charcoal slashing the page. “Did you have to do that?”
“Evidently, I did.” She closed the book as Lettie gasped, grabbed a square of wax paper and quickly thumbed through the pad’s pages to locate her current drawing. Then she slid the wax in place to keep the image from smudging, despite the gray streak ripping down the page like a determined bolt of lightning trying to strike . . . her.
Great. Nothing like a vivid image to put things in perspective.
“Eat,” Amy said.
Lettie vehemently decided not to answer, but her stomach growled like a dog at a postman’s leg.
“See? You’re hungry. Eat,” Amy commanded, then took a bite of meat.
Lettie narrowed her eyes at her sister, but she couldn’t deny her body’s craving, so she spooned a bite of potatoes. Garlic and butter, salt and pepper, teased her deprived palate and she moaned.
Amy grinned. “Thank God.”
“I’ve never been able to turn down your cooking.”
“For someone who can’t, you’ve done a heck of a job faking it the past two weeks.”
“I’ve eaten enough to get by,” Lettie said, taking another bite. She knew the meat was tasty too, but her stomach craved something soft and easy. The flavorful potatoes were perfect, and Amy was right. Though Lettie hadn’t realized it, she was hungry. Very hungry. She scooped a couple more spoonfuls.
“Well, thank you for humoring me. If your favorite meal didn’t do the trick, I was going to get Cass to come over and we were gonna force-feed ya. She suggested a slingshot method, but I liked the hold-her-and-stuff-her plan myself.”
“God help you both,” Lettie mumbled, but she couldn’t control her smile. It was good to have a caring sister, and a great friend, at times like this. Times like this being when she’d personally lost the best man she’d ever hoped to find by waiting too long to tell him the truth.
“Are you ready to talk?” Amy asked.
“About what?” Lettie knew the topic of choice, and in all fairness, she didn’t know if she could talk about him yet. Lord knows if she could, she’d have talked to Amy, or Erika, before now. The two seemed to spend the majority of their