In Another Life by E. E. Montgomery Page A

stuff. I’ve arranged for movers to come a few days after that, but I’ll be gone by then. I’ll send you an email when it’s all set up so if you want to be out when they’re here, you can.”
    I breathed through my mouth, aiming for silent but knowing I failed. My throat was too tight to get any words out and the only things running through my head were, ‘Why don’t you want me? What did I do wrong? I thought we were in love.’
    Apparently only I was.
    The tears came then along with a slight loosening of my throat, but when I turned to ask Mike all the questions, to finish the argument, he was gone.
    So were his suitcases.
    Eight years later .
    I strode into the building, knowing I was unforgivably late for the meeting, but I’d been up all night and had come directly from the hospital so they could damn well wait for me. I sketched a wave to the receptionist and kept walking.
    â€œMr Jones,” the receptionist called, rising to intercept me. When she was close enough to speak softly, she said, “Mr Watson rang down to say they’re all here and having coffee. From what he said, you’ll be just in time for the beginning of the discussions.”
    â€œThank you.” I continued on my way, grateful that Quinn was there to smooth things over. It made my absence less of a disaster. This was the first big merger I was in charge of. I didn’t want to make any mistakes — even ones I couldn’t control — like the last two days at the hospital.
    I emerged from the lift to find Brittany, my PA, standing ready with the files I would need. As I took them I leaned close and whispered in her ear, “Remind me to take you and the receptionist downstairs out to lunch next week.”
    Brittany grinned at me. “That’ll be seven lunches you owe me then.”
    I laughed — she was right. By next week, we’d be knee deep in another project. “We’ll take our laptops,” I said as I continued to the conference room.
    My smile lingered as I pushed the heavy wooden door to the conference room open, but died as soon as I took in the faces sitting around the table.
    â€œEli,” Quinn Watson excused himself from the man he’d been talking to and walked around the long table to greet me. “I’m glad you were able to get here. How is she?”
    I dragged my gaze back to my friend and neighbor. “She’s stable for the moment,” I spoke softly, needing to share at least that much but not wanting to blurt my private life out amongst strangers. Looking back around the room, my gaze landed on the man I thought I’d never see again before returning to Quinn — and others. I took a deep breath as I stared at the folders in my arms, images of his wide smile and strong arms flickering through my mind as I convinced myself it didn’t matter that he was there. He had left. I’d moved on. Three breaths later, I’d focused my mind totally on the contents of the folder and was back on task. Anything else that might have bubbled up as I entered the room, any unruly emotions I’d pushed aside years ago, were back where they belonged. Buried under the order and routine that was now my life.
    Mike tried to catch my gaze several times. I saw it as I addressed the gathering and presented our case for a merger — but I ignored him. The little horned cowlicks were gone,subdued in a short, controlled style. Even his eyes seemed less bright, the color the same, but the energy and curiosity that always shone from them somehow dimmed in the tanned face. His presence didn’t matter to me. I told myself that over and over as I focused my discussions on the group leaders. His name had never shown in any of the correspondence so I could only assume he was a last-minute addition, or a newbie working his way up.
    Two hours later we took a break. Food was carried in and adjacent rooms were opened to allow everyone to