The trip up the twirly stairs made her aching head spin. Good thing she brought her overnight bag up with her on this trip, because she doubted she’d make it back down and up again without passing out.
There was a loft area with a small futon couch and a bookcase. She walked over and fingered a few titles. Just what she’d expected. A few old books on business and a large collection of vintage classics.
Two doors led off from the loft. One of those doors better be the guest room, because if he considered this flimsy couch thingy a guest room, the man had another thing coming.
She entered the first room and immediately smelled him.
William.
Really, the whole house held a whiff of him, but this room had to be his bedroom. The woodsy, masculine scent that made her want to nuzzle his neck every time he was near, even at so very inappropriate moments, permeated every square foot of this massive space. She could probably fit the whole top floor of Dad’s house in here.
She took a step back. The right thing to do would be to shut the door and go explore the other room where she’d be sleeping. Nosing around in Will’s bedroom rated up there with wrestling alligators on the safety meter.
But he’d said the only other bathroom was his anyway. So she could totally blame her need to pee.
Before she could change her mind, Hanna flicked on the light switch, lifted her chin, and marched into his room as if it were a normal, everyday occurrence.
She stopped in the middle of the room.
Oh.
Goodness.
Gracious.
It was all just so—
William. One hundred percent the Will she knew inside. That’s what his room screamed. Downstairs showed off the Will the world knew. The one she’d met on the show.
Tailored. Sophisticated. Wealthy. Planned. Crisp, perfect, handsome lines.
Up here, it was still all that.
But with warmth and Will’s classic charm. She could close her eyes and picture him in this room with ease.
The bed wasn’t made. She could see the spot where he’d thrown the dark gray microsuede comforter up as he’d rolled out of bed. His pillow was scrunched into an odd form. The other side of the large bed was crisply made though, as if untouched for a long period of time.
The opposite wall hosted the biggest TV she’d ever seen hanging from the wall.
Against another wall stood a black chest of drawers, a recliner sitting by its side.
And on top of the dresser was…
She took a step closer and picked up the frame.
A picture of her. The one from the show. She was dolled up nicer than she had been the whole show, thanks to the help of the makeup and hair departments and no doubt a bit of photo editing.
What was she supposed to think of this? Will kept a picture of her in his bedroom.
Will…who she was fake engaged to.
Will…who kissed her until she thought she would dissolve into a puddle.
Will…who she was afraid she was actually, truly, despite all the reasons she shouldn’t, falling in love with.
Putting the frame back down, a shiny object caught her gaze.
Picking it up, she blinked. Her coin. After all this time, she’d assumed it was long gone.
Maybe it was just a copy—
Turning it to the back, she gasped.
There it was. The pink smiley face she’d added to it.
On the last episode, she’d decided to be a little different. Determined that, whatever the outcome, God had a man for her. So she’d taken a pink Sharpie and drawn a smiley face on hers.
She had been so sure the future would hold smiles.
Ha.
She’d been so full of it.
If only she’d known then…
Yet, she smiled when she saw the coin. The thought of William holding on to her treasure, putting it in such an intimate spot as on his dresser, made her heart do a little ballet twirl in her chest.
She laid it back on the dresser, careful to put it exactly how she’d found it so Will would be none the wiser.
Unable to hold back her need to find a bathroom any longer, she crossed to the open door on the other side of the room. Ignoring the sight of a pair of boxers half hanging out of the hamper, she completed her business.
As she turned on the faucet to wash her hands, a light chime rang throughout the house.
What? Did he have it wired to play music when you washed your hands or something?
She turned off the water, dried her hands, and heard it again, along with a loud knock.
Ah, yeah. The doorbell. Duh.
She was halfway down the spiral staircase when reality slapped her.
The doorbell. Should she open it? Probably not.
But what if it was Will, and he forgot his keys or something?
Or maybe an attendant for the building needing something? Or a neighbor coming to say hi?
Or an ex-lover coming to reunite?
Oh, now she had to open the door.
Taking the rest of the stairs by two despite her head’s complaint at the rush, she got to the condo door and pushed an eye to the peephole.
Doug. What could he want? Other than to ignite more flames on the whole media thing, he’d done nothing to help the situation when he showed up last time. Although, he had helped get her back into her room. He could have left her out in the hallway in her pj’s, so that was something at least.
She unlocked the door and opened it for him. “To what do I owe this visit?”
No suave, “I’m awesome so you should hop into bed with me” grin graced his face this time. Normally that would elate her, but the frown it had been replaced with was even more dangerous.
He pushed around her and walked into the room. She shut the door and wrapped her arms around her middle. “Doug, what’s wrong?”
He turned, his expression grim and hard to read. “There’s something you should know, Hanna.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Hanna stared at Doug for several seconds in complete silence.
Why was he here?
What should she know?
Was this about William? His job? Was he fired?
And if he was, why was Doug here instead of Will?
Something felt fishy. And if anyone knew about fish issues, it was Hanna.
Walking around him, she tightened her fists and headed for the kitchen. Whatever was to come of this, she would be the one to control the conversation and then kick him out as soon as she’d gotten out of him whatever tidbit he’d come to tell her. “Would you like a water or something to drink?”
Doug ran his fingers through his hair, leaving a path of crazy hair that looked about as nervous as he did. “I think you need to sit down, Hanna.”
“Oh, come on. It can’t be that bad, otherwise Will would have come himself. Unless he died or something.” She sucked in a breath. Surely not— She shot around to search his face. “He didn’t, right? He’s okay, isn’t he?”
He held up a hand. “He’s healthy as a horse. But he isn’t okay.”
Confusion swirled like a whirlpool threatening to suck her under the water. “Just spit it out, Doug. What’s going on?”
“Will was asked to resign today.”
Hanna blew out a breath but remained standing and firm. She’d known it was a possibility, but her heart ached for William. His job was everything to him. Yes, it could consume him at times. He spent countless hours on his laptop or tapping a text to his assistant or on conference calls, even while he was away with her. There was no one more dedicated to his job than William Preston.
To have it yanked out from underneath him was going to be devastating.
But this wasn’t “new” news. So why send Doug instead of just making a phone call?
She tossed a water bottle from the fridge in Doug’s direction and grabbed one for herself. “Okay. So William knew this might happen. It stinks. I think they’re making a big mistake, but that doe
sn’t change anything.” He was still fake engaged to her, job or no job. And if they broke up now, she’d just look like a loser dumping a guy when he was down on his luck.
William wouldn’t turn the cards on her like that—would he?
The press would paint her as the exact kind of woman The Price of Love was designed to weed out.
A money-grubbing vixen who bailed at the first sign of money trouble.
Which was almost comical because she was pretty close to the opposite. She had a hard time accepting that he had the kind of money that funded a condo like this and allowed him to jet off across America on a whim.
Doug took a swig of the water and sat down at one of the barstools on the other side of the counter. “There’s more, Hanna.”
She just stared at him and raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to explain.
“I’m sure you know he was worried about being fired because of the dip in sales.”
“Yes, we’d discussed it several times. We’d hoped the engagement and then the interview this morning would help, but obviously, there wouldn’t be time for that yet.”
Doug tipped his head to the side. “So that’s what the engagement was all about? A play by Will to keep his job?”
That, and to save her reputation. But she didn’t know how much Doug knew. “No. I love him, Doug. We never really called off the engagement in the first place, and when Will came back and apologized, I forgave him. We both knew what was at stake, but our feelings for each other are very real.”
At least she could now say that statement with 100 percent truth. Her feelings for Will were undeniable, even though still inadvisable.
Screwing the cap back on the water bottle, Doug looked up, his expression somber. “Well, this is going to hurt even more, then, and I’m sorry for that.”
He was officially making her nervous. “Enough, Doug. Just say what you came to say and leave.”
“Fraud. Will wasn’t fired due to the sales numbers but because of his part in a massive accounting scandal.”
He—what?
Confusion threatened to swallow her whole. Hanna closed her eyes and shook her head. It wasn’t possible. Will wasn’t like the Bernie Madoffs of the world.
Not her Will.
Right?
Doug walked to her and put a hand on her shoulder. “Look. I’m sorry to—”
She pushed his hand off and shoved him. Hard. “No. You’re lying. Now keep your hands off me and get out.”
He wisely took a step back. “I know this is a shock.”
“It’s not true. I don’t know what’s going on here, but it wasn’t William. He’s not like that.”
Doug reached into the hidden pocket of his suit coat and handed her a thick envelope. “I checked it myself. The numbers were just too off this month to refute. Now, these aren’t public yet, and we’re going to try and keep this pretty hush-hush and fix it internally. No need to have another scandal on their hands.”
The old CEO. The one busted for accounting fraud by the Feds a few years back. She knew pretty much zilch about all that corporate lingo stuff, had only skimmed over the news with some reference to socks—or SOX?—and SEC and a bunch of other things that made no difference to a budding kindergarten teacher at the time. But it hadn’t been good. That’s all she knew.
And now William was messed up with all that?
It just couldn’t be.
She grabbed the envelope and used it to point to the door. “Good-bye, Doug.”
He stuffed his hands into his pockets and took his sweet time getting to the exit. “I included some cash in the envelope for you to get home on. I’m afraid you’ll need it. And—I need those papers back. Obviously, we can’t risk this information getting into the wrong hands.”
Her fingers tightened around the envelope that featured the Foster and Jones logo and address. She should just give it back to him, let Will explain himself first. Wasn’t that the proper thing to do?
No, the proper thing to do would be to pray about it. That’s what her dad would lecture.
But God would want her to know what Will was really up to, right? He was all about truth.
And Hanna wanted to know the truth more than anything.
Ignoring Doug, she slid her finger under the envelope flap and opened it. The first thing she saw was green.
There had to be at least twenty hundred-dollar bills there.
Two thousand dollars would take her home and back much more than once.
She glanced to the right and remembered Will’s office. Fitting that she sit in there to find out just what exactly he may or may not have been up to, right?
No longer giving a flip about his privacy or that she was leaving Doug standing in the hallway, she marched in and plopped into Will’s big, brown leather chair. She stacked the bills in front of her on the desk that was mostly clean except for a few file folders.
This was it. Time to find out what Will was all about.
She unfolded the loose sheets of paper and scanned the top page.
She was no genius when it came to numbers and had been lucky to get a C in accounting in college.
But even she could tell that something wasn’t right. This quarter’s numbers were much higher.
She scanned the rest of the pages, but the numbers and various charts meant nothing to her. But they’d obviously meant something to Doug. And if they really had fired Will, then they meant something to the board of directors as well.
Flinging the pages across the room toward the door, Hanna buried her face in her hands, ignoring Doug as he quietly picked up the scattered papers then slipped out the front door, wordlessly.
Good riddance.
What was she going to do? Spend the money on the next flight back to Embarrass? Wait around to give Will a piece of her mind?
Neither sounded enticing. Her life was spiraling downward quickly, and it looked like the only way to stop was with a big, fiery train wreck.
Lord help her.
Hanna sat back and gripped the wad of cash. What a great thought. God helping her. She didn’t blame the Big Guy. She could take a mental review of the past twelve months and see no less than one hundred times she’d done something stupid that was probably directly against what God would have had her do if she’d asked Him.
Why should He bail her out now?
No, she had to set this right on her own. She was treading water and sinking fast.
It was time to abandon ship and swim home.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
The next flight out of Nashville to Minneapolis was a red-eye that left at 10:00 p.m., which suited her perfectly. She would need to tell the cabbie to put a rush on it, and it would be late and dark, so hopefully she wouldn’t have to worry about anyone noticing her escape. She’d have to stay in a hotel tonight and take another flight in the morning to Duluth, but she refused to stay in Nashville any longer than she had to.
And even if she did run into any gawkers, she’d just ignore them. The damage could get no worse than the truth already made it.
After putting a call in for a cab to come pick her up, she slumped up the stairs and grabbed her bag. She passed by Will’s door and paused.
Debating for a moment, she set down her suitcase and marched into his room to his dresser, grabbed her coin off the top, and shoved it into her pocket. Slipping the glittery diamond off her finger, she put it in the place where the coin had once been.
She’d given him her heart, and he’d wrecked it twice now.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times…not going to happen.
Retrieving her bag, she focused only on the steps in front of her, not allowing herself to be taken in again by the opulence of her surroundings.
Downstairs, she made her way to the yellow cab at the curb.
“You the lady headed for BNA?”
The young man took her bag as she nodded. “Yes, thanks for getting here so fast. My flight leaves at ten,
so I don’t have a lot of extra time.”
“Sure thing. You mind sharing a cab though? A guy just asked if I was going that direction, and I told him I’d check with you to see if you’d want to split the bill.”
Anything to save cash. “Sure. No problem at all.”
The cabbie motioned behind her, and she turned to see a portly man, probably in his fifties, walk up. “Thanks, ma’am. I sure do appreciate it. A friend was supposed to pick me up and bailed on me at the last minute.”
She nodded. At least he didn’t look dangerous or anything. “No problem. I’m in a hurry myself though, so—”
He held up a hand and walked double speed to the taxi and opened the door for her. “Say no more, we’ll get going.”
Hanna smiled. A gentleman. Phew. “Thanks.” She slid in to the other side to make room for him to sit beside her. A bit awkward, but she’d survive.
Hopefully, the man wouldn’t recognize her, but he didn’t seem like he’d be up on reality TV and the drama that goes on afterward.
He sat beside her, and the cab took off a moment later.
“I guess I should introduce myself. I’m Seth. And you are?”
She was tempted to make something up, but she’d had way too much lying of late. It was time for the truth. “Hanna. My name is Hanna.”
“So, Hanna, you leaving home or going home?”
She forced a smile. “Going home. Definitely going home. And you?”
He lifted the laptop case in his hand. “Leaving. On business. Takes me all over the country most weeks. Where’s home for you?”
“Northern Minnesota. Making it to Minneapolis tonight, then catching an early flight north in the morning.” The faster she could be home to her safe spot, the better.
He turned slightly and laughed. “Now, that’s just crazy. I’m headed to the Twin Cities tonight, too. Although I’ll be staying there for a few days before I jet off again. You on the ten o’clock flight, too?”
This was almost God ordained or something. A friendly person to talk to on the cab ride, half the fare, and a familiar face on the flight home. Not that she was in the mood to talk to anyone, but anything that would get her mind off her woes would be great.
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