AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She did remarkably well, considering. She got through the rest of her shift without becoming tearful once. She made another round of calls to prospective employers, but didn’t let the round of fresh rejections get to her either. She even managed to eat all of the dinner she’d cooked in the stillness of her silent kitchen. Or nearly all of it. It wasn’t until she was running herself a hot bath, determined to get her first restful night’s sleep in over a week, and flung open the bottom cabinet to get the bath salts she kept for a special occasion, that Pull Yourself Together Day fell apart at the seams.
There on the shelf was the spare razor and men’s shaving gel Rye had left behind. She stared at them for the longest time, before picking them up and placing them carefully in the bin. But then she caught a whiff of the woodsy scent of pine forests and her legs buckled.
She gripped the basin to stay upright and stared at herself in the mirror, her arms and shoulders screaming with tension, the dark shadows under her eyes almost ghoulish.
What was happening to her? How had cool, calm, sensible Maddy turned into a basket case? And why had Rye, of all men, been the trigger? A man who knew her body better than she knew it herself, but cared so little for her he hadn’t even bothered to contact her since saying goodbye?
She drew a jerky breath.
Face it; he’s not coming back.
She frowned at her bloodshot eyes. She couldn’t even cry, the huge black hole opening up inside her making her feel as if she were totally numb and disconnected from reality.
She slumped back down on the toilet seat, pressed her knees together to stop them shaking.
Stop it. It’s over and there’s nothing you can do about it.
She grabbed some toilet paper, blew her nose, her hands shaking. She’d foolishly believed she was immune to love. And she’d found out in the most devastating way possible she wasn’t.
The misery pressed against her chest, the tears she refused to shed making her throat burn.
Not only had she fallen
hopelessly in love for the first time in her life. She’d fallen for a man who didn’t feel the same way about her and probably never would.
Because he had sealed off his heart at an early age—and was determined never to expose it again.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
‘MADDY, it’s Rye, how are you?’
Maddy’s fingers jerked on the handset at the sound of the rich masculine voice on the other end of the line. ‘I’m …’ She paused; fine seemed like an overstatement. ‘I’m okay. Where are you?’
‘London. I got back from California last night.’
The stupid bubble of excitement, of anticipation burst. ‘Okay.’
This was probably good. Just because she’d had some sort of bizarre mental and emotional meltdown and fallen in love with her no-strings fling didn’t mean she should pander to it.
‘I won’t be coming back to Cornwall,’ he continued. ‘Not for the foreseeable future.’
‘Oh.’ The word gushed out as air expelled from her lungs and her heart thumped to a stop.
She felt as if she’d been punched in the stomach—even though she had been expecting the news.
He’s not coming back. Our affair is over.
‘I would have called sooner,’ he continued, talking in that reasonable, matter-of-fact tone as Maddy’s insides churned and her heart galloped into overdrive. ‘But things have been hectic and I thought it would be easier to contact you once I knew what I was doing.’
‘Okay.’ She knew she sounded like a moron but she couldn’t form a coherent thought, let alone a proper sentence. She wanted to be angry with him for being so calm and unruffled when her life had become an emotional car wreck. But all she felt was numb.
‘Listen, Maddy, I can’t talk right now. I’ve got an important board meeting in a few minutes. But I want you to come to London. For Christmas.’
‘You want …?’ She struggled to register the words. ‘But why?’
The sensual rumble of laughter made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. ‘Well, apart from the obvious reason,’ he said, the husky tone of voice making her pulse points vibrate, ‘I may have found a solution to your employment problem. Phil told me you haven’t found a job yet.’
The abrupt change of subject threw her completely. ‘You spoke to Phil?’
