After listening to the entire tirade, I opened her texts.
First one was a picture of me proudly waving my bidding placard. I clicked on the photo and zoomed in. Caption read: Representative for Miss Star Martin pays $10,000, the highest price of the night for Colorado Ranger’s Pitcher, Hunter DeLuca in last night’s Bachelor Auction Fund Raiser, Men for Mutts. Miss Star Martin’s talk show is the highest rated morning talk show in Colorado and syndicated nationally. Mr. DeLuca, who returned to Denver after playing most of his career for the Braves nearly took the Rangers to the World Series last month but for one wild pitch. The gleam in Deluca’s eyes has us all begging the question: Who is the woman in green?
I took a deep breath and scrolled down to the next text.
Star:She’s a nobody. That’s who.
Star:And she’s unemployed.
Star:You’ll pay for this.
Star:Come pick up your belongings Monday morning.
Star:And bring the dress and shoes or I’ll send you the bill.
I was broke. In even worse debt than I could ever imagine… but I was free.
My hands were shaking but I’d lived through it.
And then my mom appeared in my doorway again. This time she held a newspaper in her hands and wore a deep frown. “I thought you were supposed to bid on Senator Flint.
And so it begins.
As terrible asit feels to get fired, I felt lighter than I had in months. Mom was upset. Simon had texted his disappointment in me… along with a large portion of guilt. And Dad just shook his head. He didn’t do much talking to me these days anyway.
I needed to find my own place.
Find a new job… something I could start right away.
I also needed to make some decisions about my career.
I stepped outside onto the porch, the screen slamming behind me, and discovered a gorgeous Indian Summer day. A breeze caught my hair, tickling my neck and shoulders. When I inhaled, I felt like the air actually filled my lungs. My chest felt looser.
As much as I had loved living in living in the New York City, Colorado was home.
Feeling unusually peaceful, I allowed my gaze to study the large trees lining the street, the green grass framing the sidewalks and the bright mums my mom had planted years ago.
I’d been home for six months and was just now noticing how much bluer the sky was here. And the leaves were turning! Orange, red, golden yellows! How had I not noticed them?
My mom was on the phone to her sister and her words floated out the door… lost her job… really messed up…
Hell, I could live with all that.
Star Martin was out of my life!
I picked my way down the front steps and strode along the sidewalk. I didn’t know where I was going but I was moving again.
And I had a date with a very cute boy tonight.
CHAPTER NINE
Hunter
Imanaged toget my run in later that morning. In fact, I went an extra three miles. Instead of turning around at City Park, I made a few circuits and then headed south for a while.
I felt antsy. I didn’t want to admit it but I was excited for my date with Holly.
Made me feel like I was seventeen again.
