Kyle slumped into his chair and sighed. “That I don’t know. She called to give her two-week notice, but then Frank told me to let her go immediately since she would be working for a competing station. This is a disaster.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “This can’t be happening.”
If she left suddenly without telling me, without saying goodbye, most likely she wanted nothing to do with me either.
But why?
We had obvious feelings for each other, so why would she just throw that away?
I snapped my fingers. “Did you ask Debbie if she knows anything?”
“No,” Kyle said. “Good thinking. Go.”
I jumped up from my chair and ran to the lobby.
Debbie was on the phone when I got there, so I had to wait for her to hang up.
I crossed my arms, getting more impatient by the second.
“You bet. Thanks for calling.” Debbie finally hung up the phone. “Hi, Ben. What’s up?”
I leaned on the counter. “Did you talk with Lori after the meeting?”
She nodded. “Yeah, but just for a moment, but then she said she was going to chat with you about your job in San Francisco. I thought you saw her.”
“I did, but then she got a phone call and—” I blinked. “Wait, what?”
“What?” Debbie said.
“How did Lori know about the job offer in San Francisco?”
Debbie grimaced. “I may have told her, but you were going to tell her anyway, right?”
Still, that didn’t explain why she would just quit like that.
“Not a surprise she quit,” Debbie said. “I mean, with you leaving for San Francisco, she really had nothing here, right? Your show was going to end.”
I stumbled back a step and swallowed hard. “I was flying to San Francisco just for two days, not forever. That job was a contract consulting gig that I was going to do virtually from my home, part-time. Lori thinks I’m moving to San Francisco for a full-time job?”
Debbie nodded and hesitated. “I thought so, too.” She covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh, no.” She stood, her eyes widening. “I’ve really messed things up. This is all my fault.”
Her eyes began to fill, and it took all my strength to not let mine do the same.
That’s why Lori quit, and didn’t even say goodbye.
She must think I’m the worst person in the world.
I closed my eyes and massaged my temples. “This can’t be happening.”
My perfect world was falling apart.
We had the number one show on the radio.
I was falling in love with the girl of my dreams.
And just like that, out of nowhere, it appeared that I was about to lose both.
There was a painful tightness in my throat.
I didn’t even know if there was still time to do anything about it. She had already quit and accepted her old job back. The only thing I could hope for was that she hadn’t signed a new contract there yet.
I pulled my phone from my jeans pocket and called her but it went straight to voicemail, and then I got a message saying the voice mailbox was full.
I banged my hand on the counter. “No!”
“I’m so sorry, Ben.” Debbie frowned. “I don’t know what else to say. I did this, but I hope it’s not too late to make things right.”
I was hoping the same thing.
Giving up was not an option.
“I love her,” I muttered. “I really love her.”
“Of course, you do,” Debbie said. “It’s written all over your face. You need to get that woman back, Ben. Don’t stop until you do.”
Those were my sentiments exactly.
The question was, how exactly was I going to do that?
Chapter Twenty-Five
The Next Day . . .
LORI
The one thing I could always count on when I was feeling blue was my grandma Joyce. She always knew what to say and how to make me feel a little better, even if it was just temporary.
She had a rather simple yet effective solution for just about every problem under the sun.
Pancakes and bacon.
Grandma Joyce had gotten my multiple sobbing messages and texts late last night after she had returned from the meditation retreat with Wayne. She immediately replied with a text, inviting me over for breakfast this morning.
My emotions were all over the place: hurt, anger, sadness, regret.
I wiped my eyes again and sat down at the table on the other side of Grandma Joyce’s kitchen counter, tapping my fingers on the maple wood as she placed some pancakes and bacon on a plate, and set it down in front of me.
“Eat,” she said.
“Thanks.” My energy was low, from a broken heart obviously. “Butter?”
Grandma Joyce held up a finger. “I knew I forgot something.” She grabbed the butter from the counter, along with her plate of food, and sat down at the table across from me.
I nodded my appreciation of the tasty pancakes and bacon, grateful that I had an appetite.
Grandma Joyce reached across and placed her hand on top of mine. “Everything will work out just the way it’s supposed to. You’ll see.”
She was much more optimistic than I was. How was I supposed to think about the future or even the present when I couldn’t get my mind off the past?
I had a longing so intense, it felt like my body was starting to ache. I ate faster, hoping that would distract me from my thoughts or at least make me feel a little better about them.
Grandma Joyce looked up from her plate. “Whoa, slow down there. You’re eating like the world is about to end.”
“It already has.”
She smiled. “Not even close.”
I sniffled and forked some pancake and held it up. “Well, this makes me feel a little bit better. Thanks.”
She smiled. “Anytime, dear. You know that.”
Fortunately for me, my grandma showed me mercy and had the radio on her kitchen counter tuned to an adult contemporary music station instead of her usual choice, the Dr. Tough Love Show. It would have been too painful for me.
I had to be patient and understand it would take some time to transition back to the way things were before Ben had entered my life, but the heaviness in my chest was unbearable at times. My thoughts weren’t helping.
I had easily moved on from the breakup with Zachary, because deep down I had always known he wasn’t the right man for me.
Ben, on the other hand, was different. He would be more difficult to get over.
There were so many things about the man that I loved: His sense of humor. His compassion. His smarts. His touch.
Especially his touch.
My thoughts traveled to our ballroom dancing class and the way he had held me, the way he looked at me, and the kiss we shared in that video that went viral.
Of course, that reminded me of how he had been counting the kisses we had shared.
It was so darn cute.
Nine.
Too bad there wouldn’t be a tenth.
Grandma Joyce pointed her fork at me. “You’re thinking again. That’s not healthy for you at this point in time.”
I forced a smile. “I’m trying my best, but it’s not easy.”
She nodded. “It’s a fresh wound. Give it some time.” She pointed to the radio on the counter. “I love this song.”