Page 88 of Rejected Heart

I shook my head in disgust. “You three don’t understand, do you? You know what? If Cooper doesn’t want any involvement in the venue, he doesn’t have to be a part of it. I’ll do it.”

“It’s a lot,” Tate noted.

“You think I don’t know that?” I retorted. “I don’t care how much time it’s going to take me. It’s not like I’ve got anything else to do.” My eyes shot between the three of them once more. “I wish you knew what you had.”

“What are you?—”

“You’ve got no reason to be upset.” I shot my hand out and pointed at each of them, ultimately settling on Wyatt. “Do you know what I would give to be able to hold my wife’s hair back as she was sick over the toilet because she’s growing our baby in her body?”

Wyatt’s face blanched.

I slid my attention to Cooper. “And you? I’d be counting my blessings if I were you. You’ve got abeautiful wife who loves you and a healthy, gorgeous little girl. You might not like meetings, you might hate the workload, but you’ve gotnothingto be pissed about. All three of you are so lucky, and you’re sitting here, fighting over nothing important.”

Without another word, without giving them the opportunity to respond, I turned and walked out.

22

LAYLA

“I might haveto go job hunting when I get back.”

Even as I said the words, a wave of frustration washed over me. This was not what I needed right now.

“What? What do you mean?”

I’d just gotten off the phone with my employer, and I was so discouraged by the conversation, I decided to reach out to Frankie. If I told my mom about the call, she’d wind up feeling guiltier than she already did.

“My employer called me. I just got off the phone with them a few minutes ago,” I shared. “They had reached out to me to ask about my return to work.”

“So, you haven’t actually lost your job, then?”

“Well, I guess if I called them back and told them I can get be back on Monday, they might take me back. The truth is that they were looking to get a better idea of my anticipated return to the city and, subsequently, work.”

“Oh. Well, how’s your mom doing? She’s getting better, right?”

She was getting better, but there was still a long road of healing and recovery ahead of her. In all fairness to my former employer, it was now the middle of August, and I’d been here in Landing just shy of two months now.

“My mom is healing, but it’s been a slow process, and she’s not ready to be left alone yet. She’s been back to see her doctor, and she’s started physical therapy. Unfortunately, she still hasn’t been cleared to bear any weight on her leg, and it’s probably going to be another week or two before that happens. I can’t leave her alone all day long right now, and they can’t hold my job forever.”

Though I’d had a feeling when I saw the incoming call from them where the conversation was going to end up, I could admit it hurt. With everything I’d been dealing with lately, the last thing I needed was to add being unemployed to the list.

“I’m so sorry, Layla.”

“It’s okay, Frankie. I’m where I need to be.”

As soon as I said those words, I wondered if that applied to more than just my mom’s situation. It certainly didn’t feel that way. At least, not for the last couple of weeks.

I hadn’t seen or heard from Liam since he’d taken me out for that sunset picnic weeks ago. I’d have been lying if I said he hadn’t been on my mind nearly every waking moment since.

There’d been such a heavy silence between us from the moment he’d asked me to have that last meal withhim. I’d been left feeling such an overwhelming sense of dread as I honored his request that night. And now I couldn’t stop thinking about him, wondering how he was doing. This new version of Liam—the quiet, introverted one—simply broke my heart. Had I really been the one to do that to him?

“But it’s not like you planned for any of this to happen,” Frankie argued, her voice cutting into my thoughts. “You had a family emergency.”

I smiled, feeling grateful I had her in my life. “I hope you know how much I love you.”

“Of course, I do. I love you, too. But that doesn’t have anything to do with this. They shouldn’t have taken your job away from you.”

“It’s been almost two months, and I don’t have a clue when I’m going to be able to return,” I reasoned. “I think they’ve been more than fair and as accommodating as they could be. To be honest, family emergency or not, I’m surprised they waited this long.”

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