Hayley sank further into the heated seat of the luxurious car as they sailed through traffic, and she smiled, unable to believe her good fortune. How fast things changed and how quickly she’d gone from desperation and resignation to excitement and optimism about her future.
Tears glittered and clung to her eyelashes.
I’m going to make it, Dad. Just like I promised. I’ve found a place I can afford to rent. I can continue school like you and Mom wanted. One day you’ll see me playing with a prestigious symphony. This is all for you, Dad. For all you sacrificed for me. I only wish you were here to see me the first time I play with a symphony.
A fierce ache besieged her chest and she rubbed, blinking furiously to rid herself of the tears that burned her eyes. It was hard to accept that her biggest—only—supporter was gone. First her mom, whom she’d lost when she was but a child, but Hayley still clung to the fleeting memories she had of her mother. Every time she looked in the mirror she saw her mother’s face. As her father often fondly remarked, she was the picture of her mother.
It was bad enough to lose one parent. Why did she have to lose both? The only two people she had in the world?
She leaned forward in the seat when she saw that they were approaching the street where her current residence was located.
“You can let me off at the corner,” she said to the driver, who hadn’t uttered a single word during the ride. “I’ll walk from there. It’s not far and the rain has stopped.”
The man glanced in the rearview mirror, obviously staring intently at her, though she couldn’t see his eyes behind the shades he wore despite the overcast day.
“I would feel better if I dropped you in front of your building,” the man said, surprising her with the firmness of his statement.
Hayley smiled. “No, it’s okay, truly. I’d like to walk so I can clear my head. It’s been an eventful morning.”
His lips tightened but he didn’t argue further as he pulled to the corner and glided to a halt. When she would have opened her door to duck out, he sent her a look of reprimand that froze her in her tracks. He got out and unhurriedly stepped around the car to open the passenger door not facing the street.
She smiled at him again, ruefully this time, and offered her thanks, squeezing the hand he’d offered to help her out. To her shock, the staid, somber man’s lips turned into a semblance of a smile, only the corners slightly tipping up.
“It was my pleasure,” he offered formally before once more returning to the driver’s seat.
Seconds later the car melted away into traffic and Hayley turned to walk the half block to her apartment, shaking her head at the most unexpected turn of events the day had offered.
She was so absorbed in the task of mentally packing and arranging the few remaining hours left before she had to report to work that she didn’t notice Christopher standing in front of her building until she nearly bumped into him.
“Hayley! I’ve been waiting for you,” he said in an angry tone, as if heexpected her to be where he wanted at all times and had been put out by having to wait for her.
She winced inwardly and only barely managed to suppress a sigh of exasperation. She didn’t have time to deal with a classmate who didn’t get the hint, no matter how many times she gently gave it, that she had no interest in any sort of a personal relationship with him—or anyone. If anything it seemed to make him all the more determined.
“I’ve been busy, Christopher,” she said quietly. “I only have a few days to find another place to live before I have to move out of this apartment.”
His lips twisted, his expression becoming sullen. “You could move in with me. You know that. I have money. An inheritance. And I get the bulk of it once I graduate with this ridiculous music degree.”
There was a gleam of satisfaction and greed, as if he expected her to be so impressed that she’d throw herself into his arms. But then at his mention of the “ridiculous degree,” distaste glimmered in his eyes as though he found music repugnant. She was shocked by his reaction. Why on earth was he enrolled in the school if he found it—and music—so abhorrent?
She shook her head because she wasn’t even going there. She didn’t care. Wasn’t going to ask, because she had no intention of doing anything to encourage him, and hisraisons d’etredidn’t matter to her. The only thing that mattered was that he finally get the message and move on to someone else. Hopefully someone more receptive.
“You wouldn’t have to work or worry about a place to live. I’d take care of you. You’re just being stubborn.”
As kindly as she could when what she wanted to do was smack his head, she said, “I don’t have time for this, Christopher. I go to school and work full-time. Aside from that, I have no desire to become involved in any relationship. I am quite capable of taking care of myself, and if you don’t stop harassing me, I’m going to the police and swearing out a restraining order.”
The last was said firmly, a hint of warning in her voice that she only had so much patience and that he was fast stretching the limits of it.
His face reddened and his eyes glittered with anger and something else that made her extremely uneasy. Before she could examine that other uneasy emotion and before he could say anything further, she moved quickly around him and escaped into her building, hurriedly punching in the code to gain access so he couldn’t push his way in.
At least he had no idea where she was moving to, and she planned to keep it that way. There was something about him that made her nervous, made her afraid to be alone with him. It was bad enough to have to suffer his presence around others. But at least now, the only time she’d be forced to see him would be in the one class they shared. The one where he spared no opportunity to display his overwhelming arrogance and sense of self-worth.
Shaking off unpleasant thoughts of Christopher’s persistence and the equally unpleasant thought that he wasn’t one to give up so easily, she instead turned her attention to her new apartment and the manager’s kindness. As a thank-you she would bake him her father’s favorite dessert. Homemade triple-chocolate brownies. She’d bring them to him when she went in two days to pick up the keys and be let into her apartment. It wasn’t much, but it was from the heart and hopefully he would appreciate the sweet treat.
Her apartment. Giddiness assailed her. Finally something of her own. She would be self-reliant and not dependent on the generosity and goodwill of strangers. Not that what the Forsythes had done hadn’t been welcome and deeply appreciated. When she first arrived in the city, she hadn’t the first clue of just how expensive housing was, and if it weren’t for them, she would have been on the first bus back home. But now she could make her own way, and that instilled satisfaction deep within her. She was one step closer to fulfilling her dream—and the promise she’d given her father as he lay dying.
***
Silas strode into Drake’s office, meeting Drake’s look of surprise.
