The Job Offer - By Eleanor Webb Page 0,30

to stay away. It was just as well she was leaving, he told himself again. At least he knew that she was not after him for his money. She did not know who he really was, and she was perfectly okay with leaving once their vacation romance ended. He ignored the catch in his gut at the idea of using her then walking away and drove back to the inn.

Chapter 8

Anne climbed up the back balcony's narrow fire escape staircase around five-thirty the next morning. The lights were off in Ben’s sitting room and the door was locked. So she tried the bedroom door and found it unlocked. Ben had flipped the security bar over to keep the door open a crack. Opening the door, she slipped inside and turned on a small table lamp. His bed was empty. The sheets were messed up and still warm indicating that he just got up. She heard the sound of the shower being turned on inside the bathroom and saw a sliver of light under the door. With nothing to do but wait for him, she crossed over to the sitting room and made a pot of coffee at the buffet counter. Then, thinking a cinnamon bagel would be nice, she grabbed the key card from the table and went downstairs to the inn's casual sitting room where a continental buffet was being set up for guests who preferred a light breakfast as opposed to a bigger breakfast in the dining room. She remembered that Ben used to like chocolate covered cake donuts and blueberry muffins, so she grabbed one of each and a cinnamon bagel for herself.

There was no one in the hall on her way back up the stairs or in the hallway when she let herself back into Ben's room a few minutes later. She could still hear water running in the bathroom, only this time it came from the sink. After setting her plate of goodies down on the coffee table, she poured herself a cup of coffee, and added two creamers just as she liked it. The morning edition of the Seattle Times was waiting outside the hall door when she returned, and she had brought it in with her and set it on the table next to the plate. Seeing it still where she left it, she sat down on the couch and picked it up to read while she enjoyed her coffee and bagel. Wednesdays were typically not known for being newsworthy, and today proved no exception.

Flipping through the sections, she found the business section where there was a brief mention about Stanford Enterprises winning an award for its improvements in the field of manufacturing biochemical research. The award was to be given out in a gala event in early August. Thinking about the news article, she was hit once again with the desire to work for the company and be a part of all of their important research. She had not heard anything about a call back yet, but there were still interviews to be conducted that week.

Moving further along in the paper she came to the lifestyle section that had a photo on the front page of a young, blonde socialite with her new husband. Normally she would not care, but her eyes caught on the photo because the man looked familiar. Looking closer at the man, she had a start and shook her head unbelievingly. The man was none other than her father, the distinguished attorney, Andrew Conner. The woman looked younger than Anne. This would make her new stepmother wife number six for her father. He certainly was a busy man, Anne thought with more than a touch of rancor. Just as long as he stayed out of her life, she thought. Mom would see the article and probably think the same.

Anne's mother was the first wife of Andrew Conner. They met while he was still in law school, and she was a receptionist working at his father's law firm thirty years ago. They fell in love and after a whirlwind courtship of two months decided to get married. Actually, they needed to get married because Anne was on the way. Her mother was a month and a half pregnant when they eloped in Las Vegas before returning to break the news to his parents. It was not a warm welcome. The scene, from what Anne was told, was not pretty. Her grandfather accused Anne’s mother of trying to trap her