Page 1 of Fire in Stone

One

AMBER

“Sorry, Amber. You know I would let you stay. At least for another month, maybe. But Jonah…” Michelle scrunched her lovely face into a pained expression. “You know he’s all about business.”

“I know.” I nodded, wrapping my cardigan tightly around myself.

The Georgia air felt fresh this March morning. Today, however, the chill running through my body had little to do with the weather. I was being evicted from the place I’d called home for almost a year now.

Michelle and I had been getting along great since the day I’d moved into their basement apartment a year ago. Technically, however, the house belonged to Jonah, her fiancé. And he was “all about business.” His business as a landlord was to collect rent. As his tenant, I hadn’t paid rent for a second month in a row. I had nothing but change in my pocket, a fat, round zero in my bank account, and no means to replenish that any time soon.

Less than an hour ago, I’d found out I no longer had a job. The real estate office where I’d worked for a few months now closed unexpectedly. I got no notice, other than two of my paychecks had been delayed. One was cut short. And now, it looked like the last one wouldn’t be paid at all. Which sucked. A lot.

I was told I should file a claim. When my employer’s assets were liquidated, I might get some of my unpaid wages back. Maybe. Eventually. Except that the rent was due right now. I’d lived paycheck to paycheck. Missing one literally put me on the street.

I wished I could just turn around and leave. But where would I go? I had no one.

“Michelle, can I at least talk to Jonah? Please. I’ll start looking for another job, right away—”

She pressed her lips together, tenting her eyebrows with pity.

“Well… He’s not around at the moment.”

His truck stood in the driveway next to my beat-up car. The light was still on in their second-floor bedroom, despite it being midmorning.

I ran a trembling hand through the stubble of my undershave on the left side of my head. “He just wants me out. He’s not interested in talking, is he?”

Michelle heaved a sigh, folding her arms over her ample bosom. “Well, Jonah is a businessman…”

“He has another tenant for the basement, doesn’t he?” I took a guess.

She shifted uncomfortably, avoiding my eyes.

“A buddy of his is moving to town,” she finally confessed.

Coming to the town of Creek Bent had meant a new start for me. And for several months, it’d felt like I was going to make it. For once in my twenty-five years, I had an honest job and a place to live that I paid for, all on my own. I’d even started taking college classes after work at night. I’d thought I had finally done it—I’d built a life for myself. I’d gotten the taste of some stability and safety. And it truly sucked to give it all up again.

Michelle shifted her weight to another foot. Her leather sandals displayed her sparkly toenails, painted with the same pearly pink polish as mine. We’d painted them together, right here on Jonah’s porch, last week. Back when I still believed I had a job, a place to live, and a friend.

She shrugged uncomfortably. “Amber, you know Creek Bent is small. Things have been hard around here, with the economy being the way it is and stuff. But you’ll find something somewhere. Maybe in Atlanta? Things always seem to be better in a city.”

“Right.” The hollowness in my stomach wasn’t just from the missed breakfast. Dread pressed heavily on my chest.

“I’ll help you pack,” Michelle offered, her voice lifting.

Packing didn’t take me long. The basement came fully furnished. All my belongings easily fit in two suitcases and a couple of boxes, all of which I shoved into the back of my car.

After driving just around the corner from my old place, I pulled into the parking lot of the only grocery store in town and turned the engine off. There was no need to burn gas if I had no plan.

Dropping my forehead on my forearms folded over the steering wheel, I blew out a breath.

Now what?

I was behind on my car payments. My cell phone bill was due any day now. All of that was supposed to be taken care of by the money I’d thought I’d be getting any minute. Instead, I lost my job. And now, there was no money coming from anywhere.

Michelle was right about one thing, there was nothing waiting for me in Creek Bent. I had to try my luck elsewhere. Only with a tank just half-full of gas, that “elsewhere” couldn’t be very far away.

I needed a plan, a destination. I had to find a new place to live, and even more urgently—something to eat. Soon. My stomach rumbled. I usually had toast and coffee at the office in the morning. Today, I had no chance to have anything at all.

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