Jilted Jock - Rebecca Jenshak Page 0,44
me off. Even across the country he was screwing with my head. He was offering kisses and Richard was offering his whole life. It was an easy choice.
My phone rang and I answered it without even registering the caller. “Hello?”
“Hi, Adele, it’s Madelyn.”
“Oh, Madelyn. Hi.”
“Is now a good time to talk about the interview?”
“Sorry, yes. You just caught me off guard. I wasn’t expecting to hear from you until next week.”
“And I wasn’t expecting to make the call so soon, but the hiring manager called immediately after your interview. They loved you. They couldn’t put together the offer fast enough.”
“Wow. That’s amazing.” My stomach was in knots and my palms felt sweaty as Madelyn gave me the details.
“Take the weekend and think about it. They’re hoping to get someone soon, so I’d like to give them an answer by early next week.”
“Of course. I will let you know Monday morning.”
“Perfect. Congratulations, Adele. They were really blown away. If this job isn’t for you, we’ll keep looking.”
“Thank you. I really appreciate it.”
I hung up and sat in stunned silence. Just like that, things were working out. My boyfriend had forgiven me, and I had a job offer. There were no more obstacles. Every road to New York was wide open.
I got home late Sunday afternoon. I hadn’t realized I was dreading walking into an empty house until I stood on the front porch holding my key up to the lock.
Finn hadn’t emailed again or tried to contact me any other way. Not that I’d expected him to. And I was glad. Truly.
Finally, I forced myself to go in. I wheeled my suitcase to my room without allowing myself to look around. I was afraid the emptiness of the living area would be too much. I crossed to the other side of the house the same way, only looking up when I got to the doorway of the spare room. It looked exactly like it had before him, but it would always remind me of him now. No one else had ever really used it. On the few occasions that CJ had slept over, he always ended up in my room, too afraid to sleep that far away in a strange house.
I walked to the center of the room. His scent still clung to the room and tears pricked my eyes. I backed out feeling ridiculous at how sad it made me. I blamed it on too much happening too soon until I saw the ugly gold vase on the kitchen counter. Smiling, I laughed through tears at the hideous thing. Though, admittedly it wasn’t as ugly now that it had flowers in it. Somehow it worked. I fingered the pink petals. What the heck did pink roses stand for? Something decidedly not love. Regardless of what they were supposed to mean, all I felt looking at them was goodbye.
Showering and putting on leggings and a baggy t-shirt, I decided a day with family was just what I needed.
Aubrey pulled me into a hug before I could shut the front door behind me. “Congratulations!”
“Thank you.”
Pixy and CJ were right behind her and I could see how excited they were. CJ didn’t really understand of course, he was just excited anytime anyone else was. Pixy nudged my hand and I petted him. “Who is going to bring you strawberries?”
Chance cleared his throat and I looked up into my brother’s face. No excitement there.
“Hi,” I said cautiously and crossed the room. I hugged him quickly and stepped back. “I take it this is your disapproval?”
“Ignore him,” Aubrey said, gluing herself to his side. “He’s happy for you, he’s just doing a bad job of showing it.” His arm went around her automatically and something about that made it easier. My brother would be fine without me. He had his little family. He didn’t need me. It’d been the other way around – I’d always needed him and now it was time to let him focus on Aubrey and CJ.
Chance grunted. “Congratulations.”
“Real believable, bro.”
Aubrey chimed in, “Let’s sit outside where CJ can play, and you can tell us all about the job.”
Chance stayed quiet, staring out at the yard while I told them about the position, the guy that would be my boss, how close the building was to Richard, emphasizing how excited we were to be in the same city and be done with the long distance.
“I think it’ll be good for all of us.” I nudged Chance’s foot with mine. “It’s about time