30

THE PHONE RANG AGAIN. “HANSEN, ERIK” ANNOUNCED A ROBOTIC VOICE from Allie’s phone.

She rolled her eyes and walked into her bedroom. When was that loser going to get the hint? The phone stopped ringing and the voicemail kicked in. “Allie, just pick up the phone, all right? I know you’re there.”

She went into her closet and started sorting shoes into “keep” and “give to charity” bags. She tried hard to ignore the voice coming from her answering machine.

“Aarrgh! Just tell me what I did wrong, all right? Seriously, just pick up the phone and tell me.”

Keep last summer’s flip-flops? No, they were scuffed. Into the charity bag.

“I love you.” His voice was soft and warm, full of the promise of candlelight and champagne.

She dropped the shoes and put her head in her hands. She soooo much wanted to pick up the phone.

“I need you.”

She turned and glared at the phone. “Yeah, you need me to give you a ride and pay your hotel bill so you can sell meth to kids!” She said it loudly to drown out the voice inside her that said I need you too.

“Fine. Have a good life.” Click.

She turned back to the pile of shoes and tried to ignore the ache in her throat. Her eyes blurred and she rubbed them harshly.

Man, the apartment felt empty. Come to think of it, her whole life felt empty. She suddenly felt a strong urge to call her mom just to not be alone for a while.

Focus. She had to focus. She had to get through all her clothing today. Otherwise she would fall behind schedule and wouldn’t be done in time. The gold stilettos were keepers and went in the box labeled “Shoes #3.” So did the underused cross-trainers. The black flats could go—she had two pairs just alike.

Three hours later, the closet was more or less empty. A few forlorn outfits hung among discarded hangers and empty dry-cleaning bags, but everything else was either in boxes destined for the mover or garbage bags destined for the Goodwill store. And Allie had gotten a workout despite not having put on her cross-trainers.

She admired her work and stretched. Time for a break.

The phone base on the black granite kitchen counter was empty and the mobile handset was nowhere to be seen. Okay, where did the phone fairy hide it this time?

She pressed the “Find” button and a muffled beeping came from the balcony. She walked out and dug the handset out of a stadium blanket on one of the Adirondack chairs. Two bars on the battery icon. That should be enough.

She pressed her mom’s speed dial, and a few seconds later Mom answered. “Hi, Allie. I was just about to call you. Sam was paying bills and told me there was five hundred thousand more in our account than there should have been. Did you put it there?”

“I did.” She settled into the chair and pulled the blanket over her as she spoke. “We settled a big case not too long ago and I thought you could use the money more than me.”

“Thank you, dear. That’s very sweet and very generous. But I can’t accept it. It’s just too much. Besides, we’re fine. I’m going to send it back to you.”

She was going to have to tell Mom sometime. Might as well do it now. “You can’t. I closed my bank account and I’m about to move.”

“Oh.” She could hear the surprise and worry in her mother’s voice. “Where are you going?”

Connor had assured her that her phone was safe, but that had been weeks ago. “I can’t say, but I’ll let you know when I’m there.”

Long seconds ticked by. “Are you in trouble?”

Allie bit her lip and squirmed in her seat. “Not really. It’s just that… I can’t really talk about it now, but don’t worry. Seriously, don’t. Everything’s fine. Oh, and don’t worry about the money either. I won’t be able to send anymore for a while, so I wanted to send a big chunk now. Besides, I’d just blow it on a snowboarding trip in the Himalayas or something.” She laughed, but it came out all jittery.

“Now I really am worried. What’s happened? Why can’t you tell me where you’re going?”

“Really, Mom. I’m fine. Completely fine.” A lie, but one Mom needed to hear. “Seriously. I’ll give you a call in less than a week, okay? If you don’t hear from me by then, you can worry, all right?”

Mom sighed. “I just wish you could tell me what’s going on.”

“So do I.” Time to find something else to talk about. “Hey, did I mention that I broke up with Erik?”

“Oh, my. How are you feeling?”

Allie pulled the blanket tighter around herself. “I’m good.

It’s been a long time coming. Glad I finally did it.”

“I’m glad too, sweetheart.” To Allie’s relief, her mother’s voice had lost the I’m-worried-about-my-little-girl tone. “He wasn’t the kind that makes a good husband.”

Allie sat up, hot indignation burning through her chilly loneliness. “Mom, please! I never even considered marrying him! The guy’s a rock star wannabe with a drug problem. I liked him and we had fun together, but that’s it.”

“Well, you two were together for a long time. And you’re at the age where you can’t afford to waste time with someone you wouldn’t marry.”

Maybe changing the subject of conversation to Erik hadn’t been such a good idea after all. “Not everyone gets married by thirty these days, for your information. And why are you so sure I want to get married at all? It didn’t work out so hot for Sam. She had the big wedding, started popping out kids, and now she’s manless again and back at home living with you.”

Allie immediately regretted bringing up Sam’s divorce. Sam wasn’t the one calling her an old bag who dated losers and would never get married. But it was out there now and Allie wasn’t going to back down. She steeled herself for her mother’s counterattack.

It still hit her like a gut punch. “I just don’t want you to be alone and lonely. That’s all. I love you and I want you to be happy.”

The ache was back in Allie’s throat, almost strangling her. “I know, Mom,” she forced out, her voice thick. “I love you too. And I’m sorry I said that about Sam. Don’t tell her, okay?”

“I won’t.” She paused and Allie could hear a child’s voice in the background. “I’ll be right there. Sorry, Allie. Sam and the girls just made dinner and Andrea just told me that they’re ready to eat.”

“Okay. I should get going anyway. Give them all hugs from me.”

“I will. And call me as soon as you reach wherever it is you’re going. One week, remember?”

“I remember. Bye, Mom.”

“Bye.”

Allie clicked off the phone and turned to go back inside. All alone and lonely.

She suddenly couldn’t bear the thought of spending another minute by herself. But who could she call? She’d met most of her friends through Erik, so they were all out. Trudi? And have to talk about her happy marriage and precious little twins? Not exactly what she had in mind. Okay, who else?

She scrolled through the contact list on her cell phone and stopped on Connor Norman. Now there was an interesting idea.

Kind of sad that her lawyer was the one person she could think of to call when she was feeling like this.

But still. She always had a good time when they were together. And she’d always wondered, just a little, what would have happened if she’d met Connor before Erik. Besides, she’d be gone in less than three days, so there wasn’t much to lose if this turned out to be a bad idea.

As the idea became more real, she started to get nervous. She laughed at herself, and the sound of her own voice startled her.

That settled it. If just thinking about Connor made her feel better, seeing him certainly would. She dialed his number before she could change her mind, then bit her lip as the phone rang.