have crazy eyes!”
“I just got a job. From college. Mary Delaney just called. Some rich businessman wants me to do some family research for him and he’s willing to pay me big money for it!”
Gigi and I are both jumping with joy. She knows I’ve been super broody ever since my return from the trip. Now there is something to distract me from thinking about all the wrong decisions I’ve made. I’ve been trying my best to hide the regret I have about not giving Reed my email address, but Gigi can sense it in the air. She knows I’ve been low.
Now with a new job, I’ll have something to keep me busy and a means to pay my bills.
“This is great news, hon. When do you start?”
“I don’t know. I’m going to find out today. I’m supposed to go to the office later and see Mary.”
“Do you know who it is?”
“No idea, and I don’t care. I’m being paid good money for a job that I’ll probably enjoy doing.”
“Yeah, sounds like a dream job.”
“I think I should go. You’ll be okay here?”
“Go. Go! We’ll be fine.”
I blow Hudson a kiss, give Gigi a hug, and then I rush out of the house and jump in my car. I haven’t felt this excited in a very long time. Not since I first decided I was going to leave everything and go to Europe.
Soon enough, I’m waiting at traffic lights on the way to the college and I’m bobbing my head to the beat playing on the radio. A car beeps behind me, and I look in the rearview mirror just as it zooms past me. For a moment, I’m sure it’s him in the driver’s seat. It’s Reed.
I peer through the windshield, but the windows are tinted, and now I can’t see anything as he drives off. He speeds away, which means I’m not going to be able to follow the car—besides, it has to be a figment of my imagination anyway. It can’t be him!
My hands shake a little as I grip the steering wheel. I turn the music down. I’m jittery.
What is going on with me? Am I starting to see things now? Am I hallucinating?
I drive in a daze to the college. I don’t feel a skip in my step anymore. The last thing I need right now is evidence that I’m officially going crazy.
There isn’t much information Mary was able to give me yesterday; she hasn’t even told me the man’s name. She said it is all very hush-hush because my new client is a high-profile individual and wants to operate in secrecy. I guess I just have to get used to operating under these new circumstances if I want to do this job well. It feels like a big project, and the amount of money written on the check he left for me in the office is big enough to make this job seem important.
The only thing I have is his address. It’s a fancy neighborhood in the suburbs, a lot like the kind of place Gigi and Morgan live in. I’m hoping I won’t be completely out of my element.
In an attempt to appear professional, I’m wearing a dark pencil skirt and a wine-red formal blouse. When I step out of the car, I’m worried that my clothes might be a little too tight on me. This skirt always has a way of making my hips look way too wide. My breasts feel voluptuous in the blouse. I’ve pinned my curls up neatly in a bun, but a few of them have escaped and are now messily framing my face.
I should have just worn jeans and braided my hair!
The driveway is enormous, with its own marble fountain in the middle and manicured lawns on either side. The door is big and foreboding and as I get closer, I’m worrying about making the right impression. If I do this job well, it could be a significant step-up in my career. A career I hadn’t even considered yet.
I knock on the door. They must have seen me arrive because I’ve noticed security cameras at the gates and they’re perched on top of the door here too. I can hear footsteps on the other side of the door, and when it finally opens, I see a suited-up young man with gray eyes.
This can’t be him! He’s way too young to be the client.
“Hi, I’m Ella Davies,” I say as confidently as I can.
“Yes, I know who you