Coming Home by Lydia Michaels Page B

she marched over to his register and waited as he handed his customer the change. Once the customer left he turned to her. “What’s up, Ev?”
    “Can you read this?”
    “Uh, yeah, but I’d rather not. I don’t really care who found Elvis and what the latest crop circle design is.”
    “No, just this article.”
    “Um, okay. Why?”
    She glanced around anxiously and leaned over his bagging station and whispered, “I can’t read very well.” Interesting that her curiosity outweighed her pride. More irrational behavior she couldn’t make sense of. What was happening to her?
    He tipped his head back as though he prepared to laugh like she were joking, but her desperation must’ve showed in her expression, telling him she was quite serious. “For real?”
    “Yes. Please don’t say anything. I can read small words, but not a whole article.”
    “Okay,” he said, calmly taking the magazine. “But why this article? Why not read something with substance?”
    She stabbed her finger at the picture. “I know him.”
    “Lucian Patras?”
    “Yes.”
    He chuckled. “Well, aren’t you full of surprises.”
    Scout glanced at their empty lines, knowing they didn’t have much time. “Will you please read it to me?”
    He nodded and folded the paper open. “Okay.” He cleared his throat. “
New Woman in Billionaire Patras’ Love Life. Lucian Patras was spotted attending a swanky private event with a new bombshell on his arm. Admirers are wondering what happened to the mysterious brunette he attended many affairs with this past winter, but are also pleased to see he’s paired up with Nicole Nottingham, young heiress of Nottingham Cosmetics and budding actress. Although Patras would not offer any comment as to what happened to the blue-eyed brunette he’d spent the winter beside, sources say the couple called it quits some time last April, just before Patras was spotted doing business at his hotel in Paris, France.
    “When Nottingham was asked if she and Patras were an item, she giggled and said, ‘Depends how you define the word.’ She then fled into a private benefit with the man in question. Followers are wondering if this one will be
The One
. The Annual Rose Bowl Charity event takes place this coming Saturday, and enthusiasts are anxious to see if Nottingham will again be on the arm of Folsom’s most eligible bachelor. The event is open to the public and tickets are five hundred dollars a plate. Tickets can be purchased at . . .
    “It just goes on to tell you where to buy the tickets,” Nick commented.
    Scout was going to be sick. That son of a bitch!
    You asked for this!
    Her mind took offense to the bitter swirl of jealousy souring her stomach and burning her heart. She’d pushed him away, made him leave and he’d done exactly what any man would do. What made her so special to assume she deserved more?
    Love
.
    She loved him and he was supposed to love her, but he was moving on. Outrage had her trembling. What if she’d truly pushed him away for good? The idea of a life without Lucian was too empty to contemplate. She realized that in the back of her mind she’d always assumed they’d get past this. But how?
    She was going crazy. One minute she hated him. One minute she wanted him. The only constant emotion that wouldn’t go away was the fact she still loved him. She searched her mind for some stable thought, but her head was a mess.
    “Hey, you okay? You don’t look so good.”
    She shook her head, afraid if she spoke she’d puke. Snatching the tabloid, she marched it back to the rack and stuck it with the other rags. Her stiff body slipped back into the space behind her register and she tapped her foot.
    He’d betrayed her. She deserved time to cope with her emotions, figure a way to make sense of them. The urgency now suffocating her only complicated matters more. Would she ever think clearly again? Apparently the answer was no, because she was about to do something incredibly