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She so needed him to hold her and tell her everything was going to be all right, that the institute would realize how valuable she was despite the tabloid coverage and tell her that her job was waiting for her whenever she was ready to start.
He strode in and as soon as she’d shut the door, he thrust a paper at her.
Uh-oh.
Feeling more than slightly sick to her stomach, and knowing that things might be worse than she thought, she looked at the headline on this week’s Rag Magazine.
Attack of the Deadly Phone Maze, just under it was a picture with the caption, “Simon Says…Study Stupid.”
It was the picture the reporter had taken of Ari and Simon when they’d opened the door last week. It was apparent that there was more than just a little tension between them.
“I told him it wouldn’t work,” she muttered.
“Told who?” Collin asked.
“Simon Masterson. He came here demanding I do something, write a letter to Rag Magazine refuting their article. I told him it wouldn’t work.”
“And yet you wrote it anyway, they quoted you.”
She skimmed the article, and the sinking feeling in her stomach sank even further. “Misquoted is more like it. They took everything I said totally out of context.”
“Ari, this is ridiculous.” Collin paced the length of her small living room, then turned back toward her and said, “The first article was bad enough, but now this?”
He started pacing again.
“Collin, it’s not as if I asked for this kind of publicity. This isn’t what I wanted.”
She’d tried to avoid this very thing, but would Simon Masterson listen?
No.
Just like a man.
“You didn’t ask for it the first time,” he said, mid-pace, “but you certainly provoked this second article.”
“I didn’t provoke anything. Simon Masterson provoked it because he wouldn’t listen to me.”
And it was obvious that Collin wasn’t listening, either, as he paced back and forth.
“I didn’t provoke anything,” she said again. “It’s not as if I thought a letter to that Rag would work. It’s all Simon’s fault.”
“Either way, this is unacceptable.”
“I—”
Collin stopped right in front of her. He looked pastier than normal. And for a fleeting moment, Ari wondered what she’d ever seen in him. He was a very hard man to love.
She quickly squelched that disloyal thought.
Collin was perfect. He’d never find himself in such an absurd, embarrassing situation.
“Collin, I agree. The situation is unacceptable. I wish I’d never written that thesis. To make matters worse, the institute called, and—”
He interrupted her and said, “I think we need a break.”
“A break?” she repeated.
She wanted to break down and be comforted. She wanted a hug and a pat on the back.
She wanted Collin to reassure her, to tell her that everything was going to be all right. That’s what fiancés were supposed to do…comfort you when you were down.
Jeez, you’d think someone as perfect as Collin—someone who prided himself in always doing the right thing—would know that.
But instead of comfort, he wanted a break?
“Yes,” he said. “There’s no way that we can be married under these circumstances. You need time to clear this mess up, and I’m afraid that’s going to take all your time and attention.”
“What you mean is that by calling off the wedding you’ll be able to distance yourself from me. From this fiasco. What’s the problem, Collin? A fiancée who’s in the tabloids might be detrimental to your career?”
“As a matter of fact, yes.”
He said it so coolly.
So calmly.
So matter-of-factly.
There was no trace of chagrin. No embarrassment that he was so shallow. Just the statement that her misfortune reflected poorly on him, and could affect his career.
Ari hadn’t expected him to admit it. She stood, totally dumbfounded.
“Mother and Father are just as distressed as I am. We discussed your situation and decided taking a break, putting the wedding on hold, was best for all of us.”
For all of them.
He didn’t care what was best for her, his fiancée, the woman he was supposed to love.
When he’d first walked into her apartment she’d wanted nothing more than to pour out her woes to him, to have him hold her and tell her it would all be all right.
And now, she just wanted to kick him.
Summoning her pride, she said, “I believe you’re right. It’s over.”
She tugged her engagement ring from her finger.
The gaudy diamond surrounded by little diamond clusters that had been in Collin’s family for two generations. Ari had never liked it. It had always been rather formal and ornate for her tastes.
“Here.” She handed it to him.
“Ari, I didn’t say we had to call it off permanently. We’ll just put the wedding off until this incident is cleared up.”
“No. It’s over. Here’s your ring.” She opened his hand and dropped the ring in it. “You can go now.”
He looked a bit taken aback, as if he’d expected her to argue or even plead. Well, there was no way that was ever going to happen.
She walked to the door and held it open. “Goodbye, Collin.”
“This is only until you get your life in order,” he said as he planted a gentle kiss on her forehead before walking out the door.
“No, it’s not. This is goodbye. Permanent. Whatever we had is over.”
Ari shut the door in his face and simply stood there staring at it.
What had she done?
She’d dated Collin since right after college. She’d met him as a student nurse, her first day at the hospital. They’d been together ever since.
What was she supposed to do now?
No job.
No fiancé.
No reputation to speak of.
What was she going to do?
She didn’t get to wonder long before her thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell.
For a second she thought it might be Collin coming back to say he was wrong, that he couldn’t live without her, that she was more important than his career. But the bell didn’t just ring one polite little ring. No, it was that long, continuous sound that didn’t leave a doubt in her mind who was on the other side of the door. And it wasn’t Collin.
Simon.
Simon Masterson.
He’d probably read the article and was back to blame her. She swung open the door, ready to take him on and give him a piece of her mind…because it was obvious he didn’t have one of his own.
She’d told him his plan wouldn’t work.
“I told you—” she started, then realized it wasn’t Simon. “Bubbi?”
“Shh,” her grandmother said. “Hurry up and let me in before they catch me.”
3
ARI HELD THE DOOR open as Bubbi wheeled her walker into the living room.
“Close that door and lock it before they find me. I think I gave them the slip, but who knows? They’re cagey enough to figure out where I was going.”
“Who are they?” Ari asked as she closed and locked the door.
“The home. Shady Pines. They probably sent some of their goons to bring me back. After all, they want my money.”
“What money do they want?” Ari asked weakly.
Bubbi had broken her hip last fall and moved to Shady Pines, an assisted-living apartment complex in the heart of the city.
“Money? Why, the money I pay to live there. And they’re not getting any more. I’ve run away.”
“Bubbi, you can’t run away. If you don’t want to live there anymore, we can make other arrangements.”
This couldn’t be happening.
Truly, Ari just couldn’t deal with one more thing.
Not one more.
Tabloids, her parents fighting, lost jobs, lost fiancés, and now a runaway Bubbi?
No, it just wasn’t fair.
Just one short week ago she’d thought her world was perfect and now it was perfectly awful.
“Okay, you’re right,” her grandmother admitted. “I didn’t run away, I rolled away. My walker and I rolled right out the front door, hailed a cab and came here. I thought about going to your parents, but things have been weird there since Ralph retired. So I need to borrow your guest room until I can find someplace else to live.”
“Bubbi, you know you’re welcome to stay with me, but I thought you liked the retirement community.”
“I thought I did as well. At least until that man moved in. Now, I can’t stand it. Everywhere I go he follows me, he talks to me. Why, he even asked me to dance.”
So this wasn’t about problems at the home, but about a man.
“A man,” Ari said, the statement akin to a curse.
That made sense.
Men did tend to muck up things.
Look at Simon…and Collin. They were certainly making a mess of her life, so it figured that a man was responsible for her grandmother running away from the home.
Ari wasn’t quite sure she understood the tie between running away and dancing, but she certainly sympathized with the man part.
“Problems dear?” Bubbi asked, obviously picking up on Ari’s distress.
“I lost my job at the institute, and Collin broke up with me,” she admitted.
“I’m sorry about the job, but not about Collin. I never did like him. Just like I don’t like Hiram. Taunting me by asking me to dance.”
“You ran away because a man asked you to dance?”
