Page 60 of A Break in Communications

She hung her head. “Veronica’s not really my girlfriend…”

I paused. “Damn, you look pretty shaken up. Did she dump you?”

“She didn’t dump me. We weren’t really together in the first place. It was just kind of casual, I guess.” She kicked at the floor, cradling her coffee, a small Americano with the Kenyan house blend espresso. I’d kind of expected her to be the caramel-macchiato-with-whipped-cream type. “Anna told me how Veronica thought I was dumb and wasn’t really looking to get together with me, and I went and asked Veronica if it was true, and she said like,yeah, basically, it’s just fun to sleep together.”

I scratched my head, looking out the window. “From what I’ve heard, that’s Veronica’s modus operandi… don’t take it personally.”

“I’m upset with her. Or I’m trying to be. Why’s she coming around acting like we’re having these cute dates that mean something and then just up and pulling the rug out from under me and—and I’m notdumb.”

I sighed, smiling drily at her, and I stared for a second before I reached across the table, putting a hand on hers. “Sorry, Kelcey.”

She looked down. “I was supposed to be here to listen toyou,not the other way around.”

“Hey, we’re in this together. Preston girls know how to break a heart.”

“No kidding,” she mumbled. “I mean, I have no right to complain. Veronica and I were just a thing for like a week. You’ve been in love with Anna forever.”

So it was that obvious, huh? I guess everyone but Anna could see it. “Ah, we can both complain. I’m just miserable because Anna told me she wanted a clean break and to just be coworkers who don’t interact beyond that, I’ve lost my shot atthe promotion to the executive head office, and my grandmother fell down the stairs and is in the hospital.”

Her face fell. “Oh my god, you should have said earlier. I’d have walked in with a muffin for you.”

Muffins really were her answer to everything. I laughed drily, and I heard it come thickly through tears. “Maybe I’ll order a second one.”

“You really should. I’ll get you all the muffins you want.”

Guess Veronica wasn’t the only one fleecing this girl for her money. Hey, Kelcey had offered it, not me. “Thanks,” I said, my voice raspy, trying not to cry and absolutely dogshit at it. Couldn’t believe I was crying in front of Kelcey. How embarrassing.

“Is your grandmother going to be okay?”

“She’s… she’ll be fine. Broke her arm, but it’ll heal fine… I just need to spend more time looking after her, dealing with long-term care, dealing with the hospital. So I don’t have the time to go working on the press release, try to do something to win that promotion… it’s bullshit, is what it is,” I groaned, resting my head in my hands. “Why does this kind of thing happen all at once?”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

I snorted. “Ah… make Anna fall in love with me? Unless you’ve got a magic trick for that, I don’t think there’s anything.”

“I’m sure it’s still going to work out!” she said, squeezing her hand on top of mine. “Anna’s always been talking about you. I was honestly surprised it took you two so long to get together. I’m sure she just has a lot on her mind and has to work her way there!”

Veronica had said the same thing… maybe these two were more in sync than Veronica liked to admit. “She gave me an answer,” I said thinly. “I’m going to respect it. And besides, she’s getting the executive position. She’s going to be moving awayfrom me. Nothing I can do except watch her go. And I’ll get over it. This part just sucks.”

“It’s Christmas,” she said, her voice hopeful, as if that made any difference to anything. “Miracles are possible.”

“Miracles don’t care what month it is.”

“They care about Christmas.”

Well, with that definitive tone, I guess I couldn’t argue. I mean, she was right about the muffin, too—I took a bite of the muffin, a mouthful of pillowy chocolate cake, and it made things feel a little better. So if she was right about crying into a muffin making things better, maybe she was right about Christmas miracles.

She probably wasn’t. But it couldn’t hurt to believe in something nice.

Chapter 17

Anna

Lucy pulled one hell of a disappearing act. I barely saw her on Friday, but I guess whatever gave me the opening to get some work in. Put my nose to the grindstone over the weekend, and I threw myself fully into the work to make sure I spent as little time as possible thinking about Lucy—about Masters.

And it seemed like it was working. Things were great, everything coming together. Officially approached Gould about the event, and he was as approachable as he had been at the holiday party, saying he’d be delighted to be a part of it.

Which was great until he mentioned how he’dloveto see me and Lucy again. I’d kind of forgotten how he still thought we were dating… I didn’t know how we were going to resolve that part, but honestly, I didn’t want to resolve it.

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