Shocking Sapphires - Ann Omasta Page 0,22

standing by your crippled boyfriend’s side?”

“Of course not,” she answered, swiping a final, stray tear from her cheek. Her crying magically stopped when she realized it wasn’t swaying me.

Wanting her to stop with the dramatics, I said, “You don’t need to be here, Eva. We both know our relationship was fake, anyway.”

“It wasn’t entirely fake,” she reminded me.

A mental image of the hot nights we’d spent together flashed into my mind, but that had been a long time ago. In fact, it felt like an entire lifetime ago.

“I don’t know what kind of guilt has you thinking that you need to come here to save me, but you truly don’t have to. I’m going to be okay, and we both know there are other places you would rather be.”

“I want to be with you,” she said in what sounded like a sincere voice before she leaned in and crushed her lips to mine.

Of all the rotten luck, Molly chose that moment to return to my room.

17

Molly

I stopped short and stared at Grant as he made out with one of the most beautiful women in the world. The temptation to kick myself was very strong as I gawked at them. The two of them made sense. They were equals. I was just some hick from a ‘podunk’ town that had let myself believe delusions of grandeur that a movie star could actually have feelings for me.

After clearing my throat, I put my head down and scurried across the room, pushing the stroller ahead of me. “I forgot Scout’s favorite plushy. I’ll just grab it, and we’ll be out of your hair.”

I quickly scooped the soft blue elephant that I had named ‘Peanut’ from the window sill and turned to leave.

“Wait!” Grant said to my retreating back.

The guilt visible in his eyes when I turned back to face him almost did me in. It wasn’t fair of me to have inserted myself into his life or to expect him to feel for me even a fraction of how much I cared about him.

Eva’s presence practically electrified the room. She was almost as charismatic as Grant. He deserved to be with someone like her. Even if their relationship had been mostly fake in the past, she was here for him now, so I owed it to him to at least give him the opportunity to try to make things work with her.

Ignoring his request, I said, “I’ll leave you two to it, then,” before scurrying out the door and closing it behind me.

I’d been coming to this rehab facility to visit Grant for weeks, so I knew nearly everyone that worked here. I struggled to keep my tears at bay as I walked toward the exit door, so the employees wouldn’t see me break down.

Just before I made it to the sliding glass double doors, I heard her calling out. I knew her voice well because I’d watched her in so many movies––even a couple where she starred opposite Grant. The name she yelled was ‘Maggy,’ but I sensed that she was talking to me.

Biting back the impending tears, I turned to face her. Geesh, she is impossibly beautiful––as close to flawless as one could get.

She practically glowed with radiance as she slowly approached me. Despite the fact that she had called out for me, she was in absolutely no hurry to get to where I was standing with Scout’s stroller.

Once she finally reached us, she plastered on a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I just wanted to personally thank you for taking such great care of Grant’s baby, Maggy.”

“It’s Molly,” I said flatly, but she ignored me.

“I’m here now, and I’ll be hiring the best professionals to care for Grant and this little guy.”

She reached out to pluck Scout’s nose, which made him rear back.

Struggling to take in air as I processed her words, I asked in a croaky voice, “What do you mean?”

“Grant is a huge celebrity, dear. Only the best nurses and nannies will do for him and his son, but we do appreciate the work you’ve done so far. I’ll be sure to arrange for a generous bonus to tide you over until you can secure another job.”

The world began swirling before me as I realized that this must be what it felt like to pass out. I focused my entire being on stringing words together to ask her, “Grant doesn’t want me to watch Scout anymore?”

“They don’t need you anymore, darling. Besides, we’ll be getting Grant situated