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My lips twitched despite his rude comment. “I was born there, Eric. Maine’s not home anymore, but it was for a long time.”
Eric blinked, realized he’d just insulted my place of birth, then cleared his throat. “The agency will arrange for living accommodation. You’ll have a budget.”
I nodded. “Understood.”
“It’s a big upheaval,” he carried on, eying me.
“I know. But the project’s exciting.”
Eric nodded. “As long as you know what you’re letting yourself in for.”
I grinned. “When do I ever get in over my head?”
He rolled his eyes. “Jammy bastard.”
My grin widened and I got to my feet. “I’ll go and tie up those loose ends with the Peabody account.”
Eric hummed under his breath, his attention back on the files in his hand. “You do that,” he murmured disinterestedly.
I left his office without a backward glance, and the minute I was out of there, I grabbed my phone.
Seeing a ping from Lauren, my hea
rt clenched. We’d been texting nonstop since I’d made it back to the city.
It was harder than I’d imagined being here without her. It wasn’t like I had any memories of her to be sad about, but I was just lonely, I guessed.
The texts helped, as did the calls. We phoned two or three times a day, and it was helping.
I’d done without her for so long that doing without her at all was no longer a possibility.
Not without me losing my goddamn mind.
I’ve got my fingers, toes, hands, feet, legs and arms crossed. This has to go well. I need to go to work soon, and I can’t drive crossed like this.
I smirked at her silliness. Dingbat, I texted back. Great news. Eric needs to pitch to the board, but we both know it’s going to happen. Guess who’s coming to Maine?
I was surprised by her lack of an immediate response. I wanted to share my excitement with someone, even more so because I had to maintain a calm, borderline uninterested façade to perpetuate the notion I didn’t really give a fuck about being in Maine or not. When, truth was, I’d have sold a kidney to be able to go back there.
I was reaching a crossroads in my life, I realized. One I hadn’t realized I was even approaching.
Tiffany and her baby bump had a hell of a lot to make up for. I’d been content in my miserable existence without Lauren. I’d been successful, on the road to a momentum-powered promotion that would see me earning what I’d only dreamed of back in college… I’d also been headed for an early grave.
Then, my PA had declared she was pregnant and all of a sudden, I couldn’t stop thinking of Lauren. Of her being pregnant. Of her being mine again.
Then out-of-the-blue had come the contract with Justin Gandy, which had merged our spheres once more…
At twenty-nine, I shouldn’t be thinking about chucking everything in. I shouldn’t be, and yet, I knew the day would come if it meant losing Lauren again.
Would she move here?
I wasn’t certain. Ellen wasn’t ill anymore but I sensed the mother-daughter relationship was a thousand times closer than it had been before, and they’d already been a damn sight closer than most. Would I want to put her through that separation?
Did I have a choice?
Everyone had a choice, I supposed, but the truth was, leaving New York behind wasn’t the mammoth decision it should have been.
There was no way I was leaving Lauren in my past. She had to be a part of my future—had to. It was imperative.
