Chapter One
Just as she was backing out of the cafe, Rose tripped over the doorstep and had to scramble to find her balance— she failed, and landed with a splash in a puddle of what she hoped was just water. Jesus H. Christ. She looked up to see the manager of the café watching her with a bemused expression. Fantastic , she thought, so much for that great interview. If I can’t even walk without tripping, I doubt they’re going to trust me with a tray full of food and drinks.
She shot the manager a sheepish smile as she got up off the pavement and shrugged as she turned to hurry away down the street, her cheeks burning with embarrassment. She was beginning to think that Cleveland was cursed, or that maybe it was just her. Rose sighed and looked down dolefully at the mud drying on her taupe kitten heels. They were the last hold-outs from her former life as a high-powered information technology specialist in Silicon Valley. Now there was nothing left to remind her of what she used to be, of how successful she had once been. This was turning out to be just the cherry on top of a terrible, terrible year.
“Damn it,” she swore under her breath, biting her lip to hold back the tears that had been fighting to break free ever since the big move. But Rose wasn’t someone who cried easily, and even though everything else in her life had changed recently, she wasn’t about to give in to her emotions now. So she stood there for a moment with her eyes tightly closed, taking a long, slow, deep breath and trying to remember why she had come here in the first place.
It wasn’t her fault that she’d been toppled from her position of power and comfort. It was his—her cheating, lying, thieving ex-husband Brent. Anyone should have seen the divorce coming from a mile away; they had gotten married too young to begin with... high-school sweethearts. Meant to be. But as they grew older, the stress of becoming parents and balancing between work and home life drove them apart.
Rose shook her head in annoyance as she trudged off towards the bus stop, remembering how angry Brent was that his little wife was more successful than he was. He couldn’t stand the fact that she made more money than he did, that she received repeated commendations while he toiled at a dead-end job. She tried to be the dutiful wife, assuring him that she didn’t mind being the main breadwinner and that his big break would definitely come sooner than later. She tried to be encouraging and supportive; playing down her successes to spare his pride, but he just couldn’t bear the idea that he was playing second fiddle to a woman. Brent complained that she was emasculating him, making him look bad in front of all his peers. Rose would nod silently, and began to resent him more and more.
It was a fight that raged on for years and ended disastrously. She counted her lucky stars that she had gotten sole custody of her two young daughters.
Rose slumped down onto a bench at the bus stop, looking up at the dark clouds knitting together overhead. Aww crap. “Please don’t rain, please don’t rain,” she murmured fervently.
Just then, a rumble of distant thunder rolled, and a soft mist of rain began to fall.
“Wonderful,” Rose groaned, fumbling in her purse for an umbrella. She opened it and held it above her head, watching the potholes in the road slowly fill with water.
She took out her cell phone and stared at the lock screen background. It was a candid photo of her daughters, laughing as they built a sandcastle at the beach. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and the girls looked so blissfully happy. Rose wanted to dive into the photo and live there instead, forever carefree in paradise with her little girls. But instead, she tucked her phone back into her purse and looked around sadly at the gray, dreary surroundings of Cleveland, Ohio. Her wealthy friends back in San Francisco had begged her to stay with them and just crash at one
Just as she was backing out of the cafe, Rose tripped over the doorstep and had to scramble to find her balance— she failed, and landed with a splash in a puddle of what she hoped was just water. Jesus H. Christ. She looked up to see the manager of the café watching her with a bemused expression. Fantastic , she thought, so much for that great interview. If I can’t even walk without tripping, I doubt they’re going to trust me with a tray full of food and drinks.
She shot the manager a sheepish smile as she got up off the pavement and shrugged as she turned to hurry away down the street, her cheeks burning with embarrassment. She was beginning to think that Cleveland was cursed, or that maybe it was just her. Rose sighed and looked down dolefully at the mud drying on her taupe kitten heels. They were the last hold-outs from her former life as a high-powered information technology specialist in Silicon Valley. Now there was nothing left to remind her of what she used to be, of how successful she had once been. This was turning out to be just the cherry on top of a terrible, terrible year.
“Damn it,” she swore under her breath, biting her lip to hold back the tears that had been fighting to break free ever since the big move. But Rose wasn’t someone who cried easily, and even though everything else in her life had changed recently, she wasn’t about to give in to her emotions now. So she stood there for a moment with her eyes tightly closed, taking a long, slow, deep breath and trying to remember why she had come here in the first place.
It wasn’t her fault that she’d been toppled from her position of power and comfort. It was his—her cheating, lying, thieving ex-husband Brent. Anyone should have seen the divorce coming from a mile away; they had gotten married too young to begin with... high-school sweethearts. Meant to be. But as they grew older, the stress of becoming parents and balancing between work and home life drove them apart.
Rose shook her head in annoyance as she trudged off towards the bus stop, remembering how angry Brent was that his little wife was more successful than he was. He couldn’t stand the fact that she made more money than he did, that she received repeated commendations while he toiled at a dead-end job. She tried to be the dutiful wife, assuring him that she didn’t mind being the main breadwinner and that his big break would definitely come sooner than later. She tried to be encouraging and supportive; playing down her successes to spare his pride, but he just couldn’t bear the idea that he was playing second fiddle to a woman. Brent complained that she was emasculating him, making him look bad in front of all his peers. Rose would nod silently, and began to resent him more and more.
It was a fight that raged on for years and ended disastrously. She counted her lucky stars that she had gotten sole custody of her two young daughters.
Rose slumped down onto a bench at the bus stop, looking up at the dark clouds knitting together overhead. Aww crap. “Please don’t rain, please don’t rain,” she murmured fervently.
Just then, a rumble of distant thunder rolled, and a soft mist of rain began to fall.
“Wonderful,” Rose groaned, fumbling in her purse for an umbrella. She opened it and held it above her head, watching the potholes in the road slowly fill with water.
She took out her cell phone and stared at the lock screen background. It was a candid photo of her daughters, laughing as they built a sandcastle at the beach. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and the girls looked so blissfully happy. Rose wanted to dive into the photo and live there instead, forever carefree in paradise with her little girls. But instead, she tucked her phone back into her purse and looked around sadly at the gray, dreary surroundings of Cleveland, Ohio. Her wealthy friends back in San Francisco had begged her to stay with them and just crash at one
Similar Books
