Chapter 1
Amy needed help.
She approached the modest brick home, hoping the light coming through the window meant Celeste was still awake. It was late, but Celeste was her oldest and dearest friend, and Amy desperately needed to vent.
Thank goodness Celeste is a night owl.
Crickets chirped from somewhere deep inside the dappled willow trees forming a privacy hedge between Amy’s friends and the neighbors. The scent of freshly mowed grass hung in the air.
A cat screeched somewhere down the street, and a shiver raced through Amy despite the pleasant August night. She chalked her reaction up to the disturbing events from earlier.
How did my life fall apart in a matter of hours?
Fighting the urge to give in to the tears that had been threatening for the past hour, she knocked on Celeste’s door. Amy was not a crier. She’d learned at a young age crying solved nothing.
The porch light came on, blinding Amy, and the door opened a crack. She couldn’t fault Celeste’s caution. This Portland neighborhood was much nicer than the one Amy lived in, but it still left something to be desired. Especially at midnight.
“Amy? What’s wrong? What are you doing here?” Celeste rarely minced words.
Rightfully so, since Celeste usually tended Amy’s daughter, Kallie, through the night.
Celeste had come to Amy’s rescue six months ago when Amy’s new boss, Dennis, moved her to the night shift. Now Kallie spent the nights Amy worked at Aunt Celeste’s.
Celeste swung the door wide, and Amy pressed a hand to her stomach quelling the churning sensation.
What am I going to do?
Amy kicked off her shoes and made herself comfortable on the overstuffed couch in the family room. She hugged a throw pillow to her chest and chewed on her bottom lip. Pages with colorful sketches in various stages of completion for Celeste’s next children’s book littered the coffee table.
Celeste sat at the other end of the couch, cradling her hands around her seven-month baby bump. “Okay, spill. I can tell by the way you’re gnawing on your lip something bad has happened.”
Trust Celeste to perceive in a matter of seconds how messed up Amy’s life was.
“I left work early tonight—”
“Why?”
Amy let out a heavy sigh. “Because I quit.”
“What? Why?” Celeste’s left eyebrow shot up.
“Dennis gave me an ultimatum.” A shiver of disgust swept over Amy as she remembered how he’d backed her into a corner of the storage room.
Celeste scowled. “What kind of ultimatum?”
“If I want my job as day manager back, I have to make it worth his while.” Amy didn’t even attempt to hide the disgust in her voice.
“Worth his while? As in...?”
“Sleep with him.” Amy filled in the blank.
“That louse! Isn’t he married?”
Amy winced at Celeste’s volume as she nodded. She glanced at the door to the master bedroom where Celeste’s husband, Grant, slept.
“Doesn’t he realize you’re in a... relationship with Lance?”
Celeste’s hesitation before sayingrelationshipreminded Amy, her friend didn’t have a high opinion of Amy’s boyfriend and Kallie’s father. If Celeste knew what Amy walked in on less than an hour ago her hesitation would have been much longer.
