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“Lorelei. Talk to me. Tell me what’s really going on. I just…this can’t be it. I can’t have read our relationship this wrong.” He reached for her chin, cupping it in his hand. “Please, let’s just talk this out.”
Lorelei shook him off and backed away from him. She wrapped her arms around her middle. “I’m sorry. This is incredibly awkward for me and I really wanted to avoid a scene.”
A scene? That’s what she was worried about? He was dying inside at the idea of Lorelei not wanting him. And Lorelei was standing in front of him as cool as a cucumber, barely breaking a sweat. It was as if ice water was running through her veins.
He shook his head in utter disbelief. How could he have not seen this coming?
“Daniel, I really have to get some sleep. I have an early morning on set.” She didn’t meet his gaze directly but looked down at the floor. She couldn’t even bother to look him in the eye.
Hurt seared through him. He wasn’t even sure how he was still standing. “Okay. I’m sorry to have bothered you. No matter how you feel, Lorelei, these past few weeks have been the best days of my life. I’ll never forget them. Or you.” Before he broke down in front of Lorelei, Daniel made a quick exit from her house.
Once she could no longer see him, Daniel allowed his shoulders sag. He was in a daze as he got behind the wheel and revved his car. Hot tears burned his eyes as he left her property. Daniel drove on auto-pilot as his mind whirled around and around, reliving the conversation with Lorelei. She’d dumped him like a hot potato without any warning or real reason. Or at least it didn’t seem like a legitimate reason to Daniel. A feeling of unworthiness crept through him. Once again he was alone. Unwanted. Unloved. He let out a ragged sigh. This was it for him. He didn’t think he would ever put his heart on the line again because he hadn’t seen this coming. It was too devastating. Too heart wrenching.
The only thing he could do was accept Lorelei’s wishes. She didn’t want him. She had ripped his heart out without even flinching. He didn’t bother wiping away the tears flowing down his face. He wasn’t ashamed of crying. He loved Lorelei with all his heart and soul. And it was a crushing realization to discover she didn’t feel the same way about him, and in all likelihood, never would.
**
The morning after. For the first time in her life, Lorelei felt too sick to report on set for a shoot. She was supposed to be shooting a commercial for a cold cream product with a best-selling health and beauty brand. When she woke up, it felt as if someone had run her over with a semi-truck. She had called Olga and told her she was too ill to report to set. Olga knew Lorelei well enough to sense that something was seriously wrong and she didn’t press her for details. She told Lorelei not to worry about it and that she would handle it with the client.
All Lorelei could think about was Daniel. If she pinched herself would she wake up from this nightmare? Could she turn back the clock and take back her decision to break up with Daniel?
In the cold light of day did it even make sense? Had she simply torpedoed her relationship with Daniel because she didn’t think she deserved him? Or had she allowed the shadow of James Ellis to completely ruin things? It was all so confusing.
Lorelei had resigned herself to the fact that Ellis would be released from prison soon since she wouldn’t be making an appearance at his parole hearing. In light of that fact, the prosecutor told her since Ellis had exhibited exemplary behavior in prison he was a good candidate for release. An in-person impact statement from her could totally change things. But Lorelei couldn’t do it. She couldn’t be in the same room with that monster! Just the thought of him caused panic and fear to skitter through her. One look into the depths of his black eyes would be impossible to erase from her mind.
She felt like a coward. Not just for being unable to face James Ellis but for breaking Daniel’s heart. And her own. She pressed her eyes closed as memories of his shattered expression flittered through her mind. He had been so broken up. She had seen it in the depths of his eyes. She’d heard it in the brokenness of his voice. Maybe in the end it was better this way, she thought. At least this way he would be safe from harm. She wouldn’t have to worry about him being stalked or threatened. Or worse. And she knew anything was possible given Ellis’s past actions. He was a monster!
Now she was second guessing herself about breaking up with Daniel, but it was too late for regrets. She couldn’t change what she’d done.
Lord, please help me. I did what I thought was right but now it seems as if it was wrong. So very wrong. I love him and I want to be with him more than anything in the world.
But part of loving someone was protecting them. James Ellis was a monster who could unleash hell on Daniel and the entire Donahue family. He terrified Lorelei.
But it also terrified her to lose Daniel. He was the other half of her heart and she truly couldn’t imagine her life without him.
**
Daniel felt completely adrift. It was amazing to think back on how he had felt after being broken up with by Patsy. He’d felt only a sliver of pain compared to this. Being dumped by Lorelei had hit him like a sledgehammer. It felt as if she had plunged a knife in his gut.
He couldn’t eat or sleep or keep a single thought in his head. At times he wasn’t sure what day it was or whether it was morning or night. His heart was more than broken. It was shattered into small, unfixable pieces. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that Lorelei was the other half of his heart. She was the woman of his dreams. He would love and cherish her as no other man could. And yet, she didn’t love him back. Evidently she didn’t think it was possible to love him since she hadn’t been willing to give their relationship a fighting chance.
The doorbell had been ringing incessantly, giving Daniel no other choice but to trudge downstairs and peek out of the peek hole to see who was driving him crazy. With a groan, he swung the door open to reveal his mother standing on his doorstep.
Penelope Donahue was dressed in a light pink matching track suit with the words Pelican Bay Pride stitched on the chest. She immediately launched herself at Daniel’s chest and held on to him tightly. Daniel could tell from her red-rimmed eyes that she’d been crying.
“Hey, Mom. Why don’t you come in so we don’t have to hug it out on my doorstep?”
Penelope released him and walked inside, immediately turning toward him with a critical eye. She looked him up and down, making tutting noises. “Daniel. When was the last time you’ve eaten or showered? It looks like you’re growing a beard and you’re disheveled.” She wrinkled her nose. “Did you sleep in those clothes?”
Daniel scratched his jaw. “Which question should I answer first? No, I haven’t eaten today and yes I haven’t shaven so I have a five o’clock shadow. Yes, I slept in these clothes. They’re pretty comfy. And no, I haven’t showered yet.”
Penelope shook her head. She looked as if she might burst into tears again at any moment.
He might just beat her to the punch. There was something special about the relationship he shared with his mother. Because of all of his issues when he was a kid, they had bonded over countless cups of hot chocolate and sugar cookies and video games. She had spent more time one on one with him than his other siblings in order to fill the void of Daniel not having any friends at school. He had cried on her shoulder more times than he could count. Although he loved his father very much, his mother had always been his moon and stars.
“So I guess Nash told you about me and Lorelei.”
“He did. He’s very worried about you. We all are. And we’ve all been calling you. Over and over again. The calls have just been going to your voicemail.”
