Chapter 11
Unsettled Heart
Arielle Nygard
“Arielle, can you come to my office please?” asks Jeanine Davies on Monday afternoon. When I’m seated across from her, my knee bouncing with nerves, she gives me a sympathetic look. “I’ve got some bad news. The hospital is scaling back its staff complement and there’s a chance you will be let go.”
I stare at her, incredulous. I want to wail at the unfairness of the situation, but I know that won’t help my case. “Um, okay,” I say in a brilliant show of professionalism. “When will the decision be made?”
“We’ll know in about a week. I am motivating to have you stay on, but there’s no guarantee.”
“Thanks for letting me know.” My phone beeps and I quickly check the screen. It’s a reminder to fetch Austin from school. “Is there anything else? It’s just that I need to collect my son from school.”
“That was it,” Jeanine says.
“Okay. Then I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Have a good afternoon, Arielle.”
I’m heading for the parking lot when Lisa Massey falls into step beside me. Lisa and I have worked together for years and have developed a good friendship away from the office.
“I just heard about the layoffs,” she says with a grimace. “I’m so sorry you’re on the chopping block. Are you okay?”
Again, the urge to wail about the unfairness of my life right now rises in my chest. But this isn’t the time or place. “Not really,” I say, “but I can’t talk about it now. I have to fetch Austin from school. Want to come by after work for a glass of wine?”
“Absolutely. Hubby’s playing soccer tonight, so I’m all yours.”
I give her a quick hug. “I’ll see you later.”
∞∞∞
When I answer the door that evening, Lisa offers me a large pizza box and a tub of Rocky Road ice cream.
“You’re an angel,” I say as I close the door behind her. We go through to the kitchen and I set the food on the counter next to an open bottle of chilled Chardonnay.
“Okay, so tell me everything,” says Lisa a few minutes later. She takes a sip of her wine and selects a slice of pizza from the box set between us on the table.
“Everything sucks!” I say childishly, then sigh. “My life is falling apart, again.”
“Hey,” Lisa says kindly, “this job isn’t your whole life. And you haven’t even lost it yet. There’s still a good chance that they will keep you on.”
“But it’s not just this job. I’ve also lost my cat-sitting job – the poor thing died. And... well... there’s a guy.” My voice trails off as a struggle to find the words.
“A guy?” Lisa says, raising her eyebrows in interest. “Let’s start there. Who is this guy and why don’t I know about him?”
I take a deep breath and dive in. “His name is Samuel Foster. He’s the guy whose cat I’ve been looking after for the past few months.” Lisa’s had some idea that there’s been secrecy around my employer’s identity, but I’ve never hinted that there might be anything between us. But it all comes tumbling out now – aside from the crazy Robin Hood stuff – that’s something I keep firmly to myself. Along with the fact that Sam Foster is also Atticus Colt – who just happened to ditch her spectacularly when she hit on him after a performance at the school.God, there’s so much wrong with this story.I put aside my reservations and forge ahead. “He’s amazing, but he’s messed up too. And I kind of wonder if that’s half the appeal,” I blurt out. “Munchkin – that’s his cat – died on Saturday night. He’s had the cat since he was nine and he’s taking it really hard. He says he wants to move to India, and he wants me and Austin to go with him.”
“What? Wow!” Lisa says on an exhalation. “That’s a hell of a thing to ask someone. Especially someone you’ve known for such a short time.”
“So it’s not just me? I’m not crazy for thinking he’s crazy?”
“Definitely not!” Lisa chews on a mouthful of pizza, clearly thinking. “Do you want to go?” she asks after she swallows her food.
I don’t have to consider my answer. “I want to be with Sam, but I don’t want to move Austin away from everything he knows. Our life is here.”
“I’m going to play devil’s advocate for a minute,” she says. “If the hospital lets you go, what will you do? Will you have to move?”
“No!” I say immediately. But that’s my heart talking, and I know it. Even now, I’m hearing Sam’s words ringing in my ears. About Steve. Am I hanging onto the memory of a dead man? “I don’t know... probably. This house is expensive, and it doesn’t hold the same appeal it did before I met Sam. Before... this was my home with Steve. I didn’t ever want to let that go. But now... it’s just a house really. If it wasn’t for Austin, I might have put it on the market already. I don’t want to upset his world, but it probably is time that we moved into a smaller place.”
