she going to cry? No way.
Star clicked past Cade, neatly erasing him from her mind. She kept clicking. Photos of Emma, Finn, and Brad flashed past. Brandi and Will. More Cade. Destiny, John, Ernie. She didn’t want to see any of them.
“You took a lot of pictures of those people,” Frank commented.
“Too many.” Star exited out of the file. She needed air. “Let’s have lunch.”
“It’s a great house, Star.” Frank’s forehead creased. “But something tells me it’s not the house you love, but the people who live in it.”
“Don’t read so much into a bunch of photos, Frank.” She stood. “Come on. I’m starving.”
Frank didn’t argue with her, and Star was glad. Because deep down, she knew he was right.
* * *
A little after six p.m. Star left her office and started for home. She’d been home a week now, but today had been the worst. Just knowing that Frank and the rest of the crew had arrived in Seward yesterday had left her with an upset stomach and an exhaustion she hadn’t been able to shake the past few days. She craved sleep, needed sleep, making her think her period was due. She often experienced a heavy sleep pattern right before her time of the month. And while this made her happy, she was also distracted, wondering about Evan, the project, and Cade.
Cade had called her, but she hadn’t picked up his calls. She wasn’t strong enough to hear his voice. What good would it do to foster the connection between them? They had no future.
Star made her way from the car to her condo. Several packages were propped against the front door. The paintings. Her heartbeat picked up. Star opened the door and lugged the four boxes inside. Did she want to open them? She stared at the brown packages so long her eyes went dry. In the end, she couldn’t unwrap them. Her fragile psyche kept her from taking the trip down memory lane.
Depressed, Star inhaled, taking in the new smells, needing the scents of her modern condo like an addict needed a drug. These were the smells she loved, new carpet, fresh paint, shiny hardwood. She kicked off her heels and went upstairs to her bedroom.
Star sat on the edge of the bed, then fell backward onto the softness of her new, white duvet cover. Pure heaven. She was home. Home. She willed her mind to go blank and simply absorbed the quiet. No birds singing. No rain hitting the aluminum roof of the double–wide. No kids pestering her. This was the life. The one she wanted.
Her pity party over, Star decided she should probably eat, even though she wasn’t really hungry. She got up and slid her aching feet into comfortable slippers. In the kitchen, she opened the freezer and selected a frozen dinner, popping it in the microwave. She’d gained five pounds in Alaska. Her pants were tight. Since returning home, she’d made it a priority to take the weight off.
Ding.
She took the dinner from the microwave, grabbed a fork, and made her way to the couch. Star turned on the TV and took a bite of chicken in orange sauce. She caught the end of a rival design show. The chicken tasted like sawdust in her mouth. Fake food. Not real food like she’d had at Cade’s. What she wouldn’t give for some homemade chicken potpie!
Star tossed her fork on top of the uneaten dinner. She picked up the remote control cruising through the channels, stopping when a promo for Update This! Alaska Men came on.
There they were, her three Alaska guys. Several shots of Alaska followed. The beauty of the land caught her off guard. Maybe she was a hometown girl. She missed the place. Suddenly, busy, overcrowded Seattle didn’t seem so great.
Star quickly switched off the TV. Time for her to cowboy–up. She didn’t need any of it, not the space, not the air, and certainly not the man.
The ring of the phone startled her. Star pressed the talk button.
“Hello?”
“Star, it’s Frank.”
“Hey, Frank,” she said, sitting back down on the couch. “How’s it going?”
“Not well,” Frank barked into the phone. “I need you up here, now.”
“Me?” Star asked, startled by the command. “Why?”
“It’s Vivienne. Did you know she was sleeping with our Seward guy?” Frank didn’t give her time to answer. “Well, she was. Not only that. She broke up with him. He’s gone, took off in that plane of his for parts unknown. Meanwhile, I’ve got a crew up here,