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He turned to Patty. “Can you unlock the conference room and double check that everything was set out last night? The continental breakfast should be set up by eight o’clock.”
“I assume Jim’s Deli is delivering?” Patty asked.
“Yes. Will you keep an eye out for them? I didn’t call and tell their delivery guy to ask for you instead of Debbie,” Andrew said as he headed down the hall to his office.
“No problem,” Patty said as she headed toward the conference room.
Neither Andrew nor Patty noticed that Theresa stood with her hands fisted tight, nails digging into the palms of her hands. If looks could kill, Patty would be dead in her tracks.
Theresa took a deep breath and unfurled her fists. Looking down, she saw that there were small crescents turning red with blood where her nails had cut.
She took deep breaths, just as her doctor had taught her to years before. In and out. In and out. Deep, calming breaths.
There was a time when Theresa would have really lost it in a situation like this. Back before her sessions with Dr. Baker, she would have needed to hide in a bathroom and cut herself. She would have watched as the small lines of beautiful magenta raised up on her pale skin, replacing the pain and rage she felt.
She was healthier now. She no longer needed to cut. She was able to breathe and calm herself instead.
Just another problem to be tackled.
If Theresa was good at anything, it was fixing problems. She always prided herself on finding the right solution.
I’ll just address Patty next. That’s all. Take things one step at a time, one problem at a time, working closer and closer to Andrew. Then he’ll see. He’ll see me and remember we’re meant for each other. Meant to be together like no one else.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Jill spent the morning in her darkroom. She occasionally shot with a digital camera and she used digital for her marketing photos. But for most of her artwork, she still used film. Good old-fashioned film that she developed in her darkroom.
She loved developing her shots the old-fashioned way. The smell of chemicals, the click of the reel as she loaded film for processing, the ability to play with her shots by dodging or burning areas of the picture or using different filters.
These things made Jill fall in love with the art of photography and she wouldn’t give them up for the convenience of a digital camera and computer.
She came out of the darkroom she’d set up in her grandparents’ basement and checked her messages. She always turned the ringer off when she was developing so she could focus on her work, getting the timing and exposures just right. Jill knew that when she lost her focus, she wasted materials and time.
There were no voicemails but there was a text from Andrew asking Jill to call him. She almost laughed at the small thrill she got from seeing his text. She dialed his number as she walked up the stairs and went to the back door to let Rev out for a potty break.
“Hey, gorgeous!” came Andrew’s voice over the line. She felt a shiver of excitement rip through her, as if his hands tripped over her body, setting off all of her erogenous zones.
“Hey, yourself, sexy.”
“Oh, I could get used to being called sexy,” came his deep reply. “You’re good for my ego.” Jill could hear Andrew’s smile through the phone.
“Ha! As if you need any help with that ego, mister. Now, why are you chatting me up during the day instead of working?”
“What are your plans this weekend? Thursday night through Sunday afternoon,” he clarified.
“What are you up to?” she asked, suspicion lacing her tone.
She wasn’t at all sure she wanted to be making weekend plans with Andrew. She could already feel the pull of a ‘real’ relationship with him, but wasn’t sure she wanted to let this go past the no-strings sex stage.
Hell, who was she kidding? It was already past that stage, but she still felt the need to dig in her heels and fight it if she could. Andrew had told her he didn’t do strings. If she couldn’t keep this relationship casual, she knew she’d end up hurt.
“Would you be okay with letting Kelly and Jack keep Rev for you for the weekend?” He still wasn’t giving Jill a clue about what he was getting at.
“Maybe… What are you planning, Andrew?” She tried to put censure in her tone but it was hard to be tough with Andrew. He was too damn cute, and he knew it.
“I have to go to Austin, Texas for a meeting Friday but I’ll finish early in the afternoon. I thought if you came with me, we could head out to Big Bend National Park afterward. It’s a long drive but if we fly out of Midland-Odessa instead of driving back to Austin, we should be able to spend Saturday and some of Sunday morning hiking. You’ll get some great pictures and there’s a resort and spa we can stay at nearby.”
She could hear the excitement in his voice as he detailed their plans. That and the fact that he would go out of his way to bring her somewhere for her photography, rather than just viewing her photography as an afterthought, melted her resolve in an instant. Not to mention her heart.
