said, “I would’ve preferred to ask you at a nice, long candlelit dinner. Not a lunch hour like this. But I’m supposed to give notice to the chief today, and of course I had to come to you first.”
The scenes in her head, easily formed as hypotheticals, fell away at his last remark. “You’ve accepted the job already?”
“Well…yes.”
In the quiet beat that followed, he reached across the table and placed his hand over hers. “I know it might seem fast. But I’ve thought it all through.”
She didn’t doubt him there. He wouldn’t have asked without thinking of everything. “I’m sure you have, but…”
“Lily.” The sincerity in his voice, from just her name, stopped her. “I love you. And I want to do this for us.”
Us.
That was how he thought of them. With all the benefits the move and promotion would add to their lives, why wouldn’t he have nabbed the offer? He would have been foolish not to. Just as she, too, would be foolish not to accept his.
Wouldn’t she?
Teetering on a choice, toes on the edge of a cliff, she smiled.
• • •
The rest of the day passed in a blur of phone calls, memos, and internal questions with no easy answers. Patches of absentmindedness slowed Lily’s productivity and left her working late to assure her tasks were done with diligence. She couldn’t risk erring today of all days. She could ruin her chance to actually write her own column, the shot of a lifetime. One she would have to abandon if she accepted Clayton’s proposal.
If.
She had asked him for a little time, saying she had to be cautious with a child to think about. He said he understood, even insisted she keep the ring in the meanwhile. In agreement, she tucked it with care into a coin pocket of her purse, and they left it at that.
It hadn’t seemed right to share news of her own job opportunity. After all, if they were to marry, the point would be moot. As it ought to be already. Honestly, what was the great debate? To be torn by the prospect of a column, which could wither faster than it bloomed, would be as selfish as it was silly.
Clayton was smart and charming and kind. And he loved her. She was far too protective of her heart to say she loved him in turn, but she cared for him deeply. That much she knew. She also knew she would be safe with Clayton, as would her son. There would be no more critical looks or whispers to endure. No more discomfort during chats on marriage and parenting. No more chances of ending up the fool with another man—like Ellis. The emotional pull she felt around Ellis Reed was enough to warn her off.
The list of no mores continued throughout Lily’s trek to the boardinghouse. There, her room of solitude waited—without Samuel, without anyone. The way it would remain for at least another year if she stayed on her current path.
The bleakness of that vision was so engrossing that she didn’t sense another presence until footsteps registered from behind. A dim city haze further veiled the shadowed figure.
Lily hugged her purse to her body. Clayton’s ring would be a thief’s lucky find. She increased her speed. But like echoes in a cave, the footfalls kept pace with her own. Not stopping, barely slowing, she threw a glance over her shoulder. The head lamps of a passing car threw beams at her eyes. Dots of light floated in the air.
Someone was definitely following.
Chapter 31
Ellis was booked at the Hudson County jail. It smelled exactly as he would have guessed. An aromatic brew of stale booze, mold, and piss. The bowls of slop they served didn’t rate much better.
For assaulting an officer and resisting arrest, his bail was set at fifty bucks. A slight problem, given the sum of eight dollars in his wallet. He was permitted one phone call—and he wasted it. His bank in Manhattan had frozen his account, and no amount of pleading, even with the manager, garnered more than “We’ll gladly look into that, sir.”
A favor paid to Alfred, no doubt. Banking had to be like any other business in that way. Members looked out for their own. Or maybe the man’s underworld ties played a factor. It would certainly explain the guard’s unwillingness to grant him another call, answering “Later” in a gruff baritone to each of Ellis’s requests.
On the upside, he had ample time to choose which person