The phone rang and he picked up. "Hello, Darby Talent."
"Hello, yes my name is Aidan Swift and I'm a friend of Jane's."
"Yes," he said with a terse tone. "I know who you are."
"All right." I cleared my throat. "Guess you've already formed an opinion of me, so I'm just going to ask you straight out. What the fuck is going on, and why did Jane leave town without a word?"
Russell eased off the sharp tone, apparently deciding I wasn't the enemy after all. "She lost the part after the original actress slated for the movie decided she wanted it."
"I figured she lost the part, but why didn't she tell me?"
He hesitated. "Well, she was crying pretty hard and mumbling so I had a hard time hearing exactly what happened, but she said something about you and giggling women and a pair of shoes."
"What the fuck?" I had forgotten about Diane’s and Bonnie's visit and the stupid gum shoes. But I was still lost. "They were women from work. One of them had stepped in gum on her way up to the apartment."
"I guess in her despair, Jane jumped to conclusions. She knew you had a reputation with the ladies, and she had just come out of a relationship where her longtime boyfriend had been cheating on her."
"She didn't even give me a chance to fucking explain. Where did she go?"
"She went back home. She said she was done with the dream, and she was going to work at the bank. Believe me, I'm just as disappointed as you."
"Yeah? I doubt that. At least you got to say good-bye. Thanks for filling me in." I hung up and pushed the phone into my pocket.
I stopped in front of my door and stared at it. I could hear Milo shuffling in the hall behind me.
"Hey, Milo," I said without turning around.
"Yeah?"
"You're going to need to order another door." Shards of paper thin wood flew around me as I plowed my fist right through it.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Jane
Heather, the senior teller and perfectly suitable replacement for Horrible Hilda, tapped her long, pink nails against the counter. "I didn't see you count that twice. Let's stick to the rules, Jane." The only difference between the H named supervisors was that Heather was my age, much prettier than Hilda and she had actually gotten her guy, Kenneth Rowe, most popular guy in school, to the altar. I had also grown up with Heather Wagner, and in a small town that meant we knew just about everything there was to know about each other. We had always had a sort of one up-man-ship competition growing up. Most of the time, Heather had managed to come out on top. I had been senior class vice president to her president. She had graduated sixth in our class, and I was number seven. Something she never let me forget. When I had finally managed to beat her at something, namely the position of head cheerleader, I immediately broke my leg and lost the spot. Heather was runner up.
I forced a grin and bit my lip to keep from saying anything. My mom was bank manager, and I was pretty sure that made Heather dislike me more because she knew I got the position because of family ties. It wasn't a position I wanted or coveted, but for the time being, it was a paycheck.
I started to count the stack of money again. Thankfully, Heather walked into her office. Mom came in from a dentist appointment. She walked to her office and returned a few minutes later. "How are things this morning? Busy?"
I glanced around at the empty bank. "We did have two customers. Oh, and Nelson's cow had twins. He was expecting one calf and was shocked when another set of hooves popped out." That was what my life had become, small talk about calves being born and scornful derision from an ex schoolmate who had been as much a friend as an enemy.
"How was the dentist?"
Mom waved in disgust. "I'm going to need a new crown in the back. And it's so expensive." She looked back toward the offices. "How is Heather treating you? I know there was always a little rivalry between you two."
"A little rivalry? If I cut my hair, she went straight to the salon to cut hers. If she bought a new backpack, I made you take me into town for a new backpack. But now she has won, and I have no way to catch up. She even landed the senior class big man on campus."
My mom leaned a little closer. "He's a big man all right. About thirty pounds too big. And he's going bald." She whispered the word bald as if it was a four letter word.
"Mom, I think you're taking a little too much glee in a man going bald."
She nodded. "You're right. Shame on me."
I snuck a peek toward the office and looked back at her. "How bald?"
Her smile popped back up, and she spoke with enthusiasm. "Big patch on the back and that forehead gets bigger every time I see him."
She straightened and put on her professional tone when the door to the backroom opened. It was only Tara coming off break. Mom relaxed back to her mom tone. She even decided to straighten the collar on my shirt. "You know, Janey, the old Rowley place is up for sale. It's priced very low."
I pulled the paper bands out of my draw to wrap the money. "Yes, that is because it's been on the market since I was twelve and since creepy Mr. Rowley keeled over in front of his porch steps. They normally put a low price on haunted houses. They just aren't top dollar properties."
Mom huffed. "How ridiculous. That haunted rumor is just something you kids came up with in school. There is nothing scary about the place. It just needs some love and attention. Maybe Dad and I could help with that."
"Since I grew up with a firm belief that the place was haunted, I wouldn't be inside for more than two minutes before I started hearing noises." I looked up at her. "Mom, I'm not sure if I'm ready to make Sheffield my permanent home. I love being near you and Dad again, but I don't think I want to make this bank my future."
She twisted her lips slightly to let me know that I hurt her feelings with that statement.
I put my hand on her arm. "I know you enjoy working here, but I don't think it's for me."
"Well, after the disgusting way Brock treated you and then the incident with that second man, who was just as awful, I would think you'd be happy to be back with people you could trust."
"I am, Mom. But face it, playing Monopoly with you and Dad on Saturday night is not exactly riveting. You know I love spending time with you guys but I need my own life. Besides, I don't know if that second man was being all that awful. He actually treated me very well. I felt safe with him. I was just in a bad way when everything happened and I ran. I needed to be home. Like you said, with people I could trust."
She hugged me. "And people who love you more than life itself. Since Tara is back from break, why don't you go take your lunch. I packed you your favorite—peanut butter and raspberry jam."
"Hmm, keep that kind of special treatment up and I might just stay with you and Dad forever."
I finished locking up the money and headed into the break room. I went to my locker and pulled out my purse to check my phone. I wasn't sure why I bothered since there were never any texts or calls anymore. Guess it was a habit leftover from my independent adult life where I had dreams and future plans and hot men waiting for me at the apartment.
Not a day had gone by that I didn't think about Aidan and how things should have turned out much better than they did. But self-implosion was sort of my thing, and once a fuse was lit I tended to go for the whole meltdown.
I was thrilled to see I had a text from Russell, for no other reason except it reminded me of that former life when I’d thought I was on my way to being someone.
"Call me first chance you get. Very important."
I dialed his number, hoping his important news wasn't about his new lover or winning a weekend in Vegas. He picked up on one ring.
"What took you so long?"
"I was counting money . . . twice. What's up?"
"Jonah, the casting director called me. I had left him a rather scathing voicemail to let him know that they had handled the whole thing very badly. He called back to apologize and let me know that they had been in discussion about taking you on for the number two role, Kelly's sister. It's a fairly big part, Jane. What do you say? Are you interested?"
Of course the news sent sparks of excitement through me, but I quickly tamped them down. "I don't know, Russ. I don't think I can go through that kind of disappointment a second time. They'll just change their mind again. They are such a fickle bunch of asses."
"Jonah says the part is yours if you want it, but I need to tell them by Friday."
"That only gives me two days to decide."
"Yep. Oh, and I forgot to mention, I had a little phone call from the big guy, your hunky neighbor. He called the day you left town. He was very upset. He said the women you heard leave his apartment were coworkers. You might have read that whole thing wrong because you were so distraught about losing the part."
"That would be right on par with all of my life's fumbles. Well, he's gone now. I'm sure he never wants to hear my name again. But I'll think about the part. I've got to go. My mom made me peanut butter and jelly, and yes, that's my life now. That damn sandwich is going to be the highlight of my day."
"Well, I don't want to twist your arm, Jane, but this could be the chance of a lifetime."
"I'll give it some thought."