Finally, they were back where they began. At that point, they were frantically texting back and forth to their offices, then at the end, writing down their name and bid, folding it and bringing it to Nora.
She thanked each of them politely, stepped aside to open each bid, laid them side by side, and then picked up the second one from the bottom.
“Eloise of Lone Star Staging.”
The woman smiled and nodded as disappoint fell uponthe others.
Nora kept talking. “Eloise, your bid will be valid for the next three hours. I will need your card for further information, and will invoice your office with a bank and account number. Once I receive notice the money has been deposited, I will fax a signed bill of sale to your office. If you fail to meet the timeline and requirements, then Charles of Elegance Incorporated will be notified, and the lot will go to them. Thank you. I’ll call down to let them know you’re coming,” she said, and walked them to the door.
As soon as she turned the locks, she went straight to her bedroom and began undressing. The whole secret act of not revealing her name, and the outfit she’d chosen to wear, had totally sold their desire to have what she owned. She knew what the contents of the penthouse were worth because she’d bought them. But to her, they were just the finery and décor of the prison she’d put herself in. Her future was Ash. And, unless Eloise backed out, Nora was about to be thirty-four thousand dollars to the good, and on her way to Austin by tomorrow.
Chapter 19
By the time Nora received confirmation of the money transfer into her account that same afternoon, she’d already removed the stitches from her hand with a pair of her mother’s tiny embroidery scissors and a pair of tweezers, doused it good with alcohol that brought tears to her eyes, and treated herself to a Hershey’s kiss to make the ouchie all better.
She emptied her safe, packed the contents in with her winter clothes she was going to take with her, and boxed up her summer clothes, including the silver flatware that had once belonged to her mother, then called the concierge for a luggage cart. She took the boxes down to shipping to be sent via UPS to Asher’s address, then went back up to finish packing, boxing up all her office equipment to take with her in the car.
The next morning, she called for the luggage cart again, asked for help getting it down to the parking garage, dropped the apartment keys off at security on the way, and after they’d loaded all her belongings in her car, generously tipped them for their help and thanked them for all the years of their kindness. She was still sitting in her car sending Asher a text when they left.
On my way to you.
As she drove out of the parking garage and into the flowof traffic, she caught a glimpse of the ivory tower, growing smaller and smaller as the distance between her and her past became longer. A princess escaping her ivory tower. Racing toward the awaiting prince in another kingdom.
* * *
Asher was at his desk running background checks on two suspects in an indictment case when he got Nora’s text.
“Hot damn,” he mumbled, and sent a text back.
Made my day. Safe travels. Text me when you get to Austin. It’ll take me a bit to get across the city to my house.
Ryan Gamble, his partner on the case, glanced up thinking Asher had found a link. “What did you find?”
“Someone I lost a long time ago. She’s on her way to my house.”
Ryan frowned. “Wait! What? Don’t tell me you found her online?”
Asher shook his head. “No. I just went home to Crossroads and there she was, back to sell her family property after her parents’ deaths.”
“You grew up with her?” he asked.
“Every breath I took, she was there. And when I get the second text, I will be AWOL to let her into the house.”
Ryan smiled. “Congrats. You should have just given her a key.”
“Where I live, you need to know a code to get in the gate, a key to the house, and a code to deactivate my security system. That’s not exactly ‘welcome home.’”
Ryan’s eyes widened. “Damn, man, that’s some serious security.”
Asher shrugged. “I have trust issues,” he said.
and went back to work.
* * *
It was just past 1:00 p.m. when Nora drove into Austin. She pulled off the highway into a truck stop for gas, and got her first welcome from the geography and the weather.
It was seventy-one degrees and sunny in Austin, a city with an elevation of less than 500 feet above sea level. And eight hours north in Crossroads, it was in the high forties, and 3,671 feet above sea level.
