Page 102 of No More Heartbreakers

Major Life Decisions

Janet called late Saturday morning, waking me from a miserable night of fitful sleep and troubled dreams.

She told me to take the day off since I’d pulled a double-shift the night before and said Colleen would be filling in for me on the anchor desk.

And apparently in Aric’s life as well.

Great. Well, I deserved it after the way I’d repeatedly pushed him away and failed to communicate with Hale to the point that he’d felt confidentproposingto me.

After Janet hung up, I stared at the phone in my hand. I desperately wanted to call Aric, but I couldn’t think of anything more disturbing than having him pick up and hearing Colleen’s voice in the background.

Except maybe if Colleen was to answer his phone.

Something tipped over heavily and spun in my stomach. The thought of him wrapped in her spray-tanned limbs made me more nauseous than the after-effects of that consoling bottle of wine from my fridge.

Which I’d emptied.

I had made such a mess of things. The surge of confidence I’d felt last night after my live shots was only a memory now.

I fell back onto my pillow, my head dizzy with confusion over the job decision and the budding terror that Aric might never let me explain, never let me tell him I loved him—that he wouldn’t carewhatI had to say anymore after such a betrayal.

Another wave of nausea rolled through me. I hated feeling like this.

Maybe it would be better to go back to the way things were before, when I’d felt less, cared less. I could accept the weekday anchor job here, find another safe boyfriend.

My life wouldbeless, but at least I’d be comfortable again.

No.

I sat up, and my feet hit the floor. I couldn’t stay where I was in life any more than I could hide under my covers in bed all day, no matter how tempting that might be. Icouldn’tgive up until I’d at least talked to Aric and told him the truth.

My eyes darted to the clock. What time would Colleen slither out of there?

In the meantime, I couldn’t stand being alone with my racing thoughts. I needed to speak to someone objective.

Clearly my mom and sister didn’t fit the bill. They’d be all about the idea of my staying local and probably furious about what I’d done to Hale.

Mara was probably still sleeping. I dialed Kenley’s number, hoping I wasn’t waking her or interrupting a romantic Saturday morning snuggle with Mark.

She answered on the second ring. “Hey girl. I’ve been thinking of you. What’s new?”

Her tone was much brighter than mine, almost artificially bright.

“Well…” I told her about the anchoring offer here in Peachtree Valley.

“It’s a good job,” I rationalized. “I mean, it’s more money and I’d still be doing TV news, right? And I wouldn’t have to worry about going off somewhere and failing again.”

“That’s true,” she said, like there wasmoreto be said on the subject. “But you’re burying the lead on me. What about Hale? Where does that leave you two?”

“Well, we’re uh… not. We broke up. For good. Last night. After he proposed. Oh my God, I’m a mess—help me.””

“He proposed, and you said no? Well, I guess you know how you really feel about him now.”

“It was awful.”

“I’m sure.” She paused. “It’s okay, Heidi—you did the right thing.”

“You think so?” I sniffed.

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