Page 52 of Love in the Storm

“Yeah. I just wanted to check on you before we head out.”

Lyric bit her lips between her teeth and nodded. A second later, she met his gaze. “I’m fine.”

“I’ll call you as soon as I can. We can talk.”

“Right,” Lyric whispered.

So, that was it? That was their grand farewell? Fire blazed inside him, and he wanted to scream. Why did it have to be this way? Why did things haveto change? Why was she pulling away? Was there more to the truth more than what she’d told him?

She turned and reached for the door.

“Lyric–”

“Hmm?” she asked quickly.

There were a million reasons he should say his good-byes now and walk away from her, but it could never be that simple–not between them. Not when he’d be seeing her face and hearing her voice every time he closed his eyes for many nights to come.

“I’ll call you. I promise.”

Was that all he had to say? It was all so stupid that he couldn’t think straight.

Lyric sighed. “We’ll see.”

And just like that, she walked out of his life.

18

LYRIC

Lyric tightened her grip on the plastic grocery bags that weighed her down on both sides. She rarely bought so much, but it had been such a long time since she’d stocked up on groceries that her cabinets were bare.

She wasn’t sure which payment was worse–the blow to her wallet or the arm workout.

After panting all the way down the sidewalk, Lyric released a big sigh when she reached the door of her apartment building. Her apartment wasn’t far from the store, but walking it with groceries in tow was tougher than she’d expected. She still hadn’t picked up her car from the cabin.

With her hands tied, she backed into the door and did an ungraceful turn to dodge it as it slammed closed behind her. Now, the stairs.

She was grateful there was only one flight.With the way her weekend was going, she wouldn’t be surprised if the remaining steps to her apartment started multiplying right before her eyes. The ache in her back throbbed, and her heels were screaming. It wasn’t even noon yet, and she wanted a nap.

Would Kendra fuss at her if she skipped church today? Just this once, she wanted to fall onto the couch and stay there until tomorrow.

“Three, two, one,” Lyric panted as she crested the top of the staircase.

A man cleared his throat, and Lyric looked up to find Russell standing beside her door. He looked everywhere but at her.

No. No. Not today. Anybody except her landlord.

“Mr. Porter.” She would have probably led with a better greeting if she wasn’t on the verge of passing out.

“Miss Woods.” He cleared his throat again. “You’re three months behind on rent now.”

“I know. I’m sorry. Can I pay you part when I get my check tomorrow?” She had five dollars in her purse right now, but she wasn’t about to offer it to him. That wouldn’t go over well if she gave him a fiver when she was carrying forty dollars in groceries into the apartment he owned.

Russell shuffled his feet. “If you can’t pay it all, I’m going to have to rent to someone else.”

All the blood in her body was rushing to her feet,her fingers were close to falling off, and she couldn’t get her lungs to do their stupid job.

Russell scratched his head and looked at her door. “I mean, I get applications from time to time, but I don’t have any openings. I figure I need to rent to someone who will pay.”

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