...an old-fashioned letter. Ironic, since a letter started our relationship. Ha!
...I knew there was something special about you.
...Since you walked off the set... can’t stop thinking about you.
...I think I love you.
...I have no idea if you’ll ever read this.
Affectionately yours,
Chloe
He stopped in the middle of the office’s main thoroughfare. To his left, a row of windows overlooked the city. To his right, developers and coders tap-tapped on their devices trying to break technological barriers.
She loved him. She loved him! The June sun shot a ray of light at his feet.
Dan poked his head from the conference room. “You coming?”
“No. I’m not,” Jesse said. “I’m sorry but, Dan, I have to go.” He dashed into his office, dropped his laptop on the desk, and snatched up his truck keys. “She loves me.” He laughed. “I love her.” Witheach confession, the scales of the past fell off and his heart stretched, awakening from a long, long sleep. “I’ve got to go...”
But Dan blocked his exit. “Is this about Chloe?”
“I love her, Dan. And she loves me.” He waved the letter under his brother’s nose. “She sent this two months ago. I can’t imagine what she’s thinking.”
“Want to know what I’m thinking?”
“I already know.”
“That we went after a huge client because of the technology and design idea you developed. Chloe can love you after this meeting. Two more hours isn’t going to make a difference. We need your brain and charisma in there. We lose this deal without you.”
“Really?” Jesse pushed past Dan into the hall. “Because you had this client on the hook way before me. You’re the man, Dan. You have the skill, the talent, and the reputation. Have you ever talked to Shantel Hannah? She’s brilliant. Sixty percent of what I put together came from her. She could easily take my place.”
“Jesse, if you leave...” Dan shook his head, hands propped on his waist, sorrow in his eyes. “You’re not coming back. I mean it. Paul will go crazy over this. And you’ve signed a noncompete. You cannot work at any other tech company for three years. Think about what you’re doing. Think!”
“Think?” Ha-ha. “For once, big brother, I am thinking. This time with my heart and not my head.”
30
CHLOE
June
You see, love stories never worked for her. She never got the guy. In life or on screen. Instead, she died. She was, asVarietyclaimed, “the queen of the death scene.”
If she didn’t know beforeBound by Love, she knew it now. But then Claude brought her the indelible Faith Freeman.
Stargazermight change her career. Not her love life.
However, the appearance of Oliver Hanson and the knowledge she was Esther Longfellow Hobart’s descendant also changed nothing about her love life. Hamilton and Esther’s love story may linger forever without resolve.
Chloe was not the answer to their longing. Nor was Jesse. The notion was too preposterous to entertain.
Unrequited love was just that—unrequited. Perhaps it would find satisfaction and justice in the next life.
Dad tried for a few days to entice her to fly with him to Boston. He had business there. But she refused. How much rejection could a girl endure? Not when she’d just begun to hope a little. Let her dreams breathe.
She woke up this morning determined to do something... different? No, the same.
