"I—what?" My train of thought derailed horrifically, and I looked back and forth between their faces, waiting for the punch line.
"This pregnancy is proving more difficult than expected, as you've probably guessed. The baby's healthy, and I'm still on track for a normal delivery, but I need to eliminate certain risk factors. One of them, unfortunately, is working."
I stared. Paige had hired me. She couldn't leave. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that I can't keep working here."
"But…after the baby…you could come back, right?"
"I don't know, but I'm not going to put the store on hold while I figure that out. I'm resigning, and we want you to take my place."
"As manager," added Warren, like that wasn't perfectly obvious.
"I…I don't know what to say."
"You'd get a salary increase, of course," she said. "And then we'd hire someone to fill your old position. You'd take over all of my duties."
I nodded. I knew what her duties were—especially since I'd done them for the last few weeks. They involved more paperwork than sociability, but certainly Paige had worked the floor plenty and interacted with others. The job still involved people, but in a different way. I'd have no peers and no one above me save Warren. It could potentially put a damper on how much I hung out with the staff after work—particularly my goofing off with Doug. The position would entail a whole new set of complications and difficulties.
On the other hand, I'd have a lot more freedom and power. Paige planned all of our signings and promotional events, much as I had the Fest. It had been fun. I could do that all the time now. I could experiment with new things. That had appeal—a lot of it. And really, the challenging aspect of it also had its appeal. It would be new and different. I'd lived for centuries, and I knew the dangers of a static lifestyle. I had enough experience and education to take on very prestigious occupations—and I had done so in the past. This time around, I'd chosen a more laid-back job; was I ready to move on now?
My decision was made, but when I saw how anxious my silence had made them, I couldn't resist a little teasing. "Would I get my own office?"
They nodded as one, still tense, thinking that was what held me back.
"Oh. Okay. Sold."
I went home that night heady with the knowledge of my new job. I would miss Paige, but the more I thought about it, the more excited I grew about being store manager. Celebration was definitely in order, so I called Hugh and the vampires, and we went out on the town. I had fun with them, but honestly, I wished I could celebrate with someone else.
The late night of drinking made me sleep in considerably the next morning. I awoke to Aubrey sprawled across my neck, dangerously close to cutting off my air, in a position only a cat could find comfortable. My clock read noon, and I lay there, warm in the blankets and wondering what I was going to do with myself. The store wasn't open. It was Thanksgiving.
My phone rang. I rolled over and grappled for it, just barely avoiding getting Aubrey's claws in my jugular.
I stared at Seth's name on the caller ID as if it had magical powers. Taking a deep breath, I answered.
"Happy birthday," I said, trying to sound cheerful and not utterly petrified.
There was a pause and then a small, surprised chuckle. I hadn't known what to expect when he and I finally resumed contact after last week's drama, but his laughter hadn't been a contender. Unless it was bitter laughter while my heart bled onto the floor and I begged for forgiveness.
"Thanks," he said, his voice sobering a little. "But, uh, I don't believe you."
"Believe me what?"
"That you want me to have a happy birthday."
"I just said I did."
There was a long silence. My anxiety grew with every passing second.
"If you wanted me to have a happy birthday, you'd come over to my party. "
"Your party," I repeated flatly.
"Yeah, remember? Andrea invited you?"
I remembered. I'd been thinking about it every day this week.
"I didn't think I was still invited." I hesitated, heart aching. "I didn't think you'd want me there."
"Well, I do. So hurry up. You're late."
We hung up, and I just sat there. Seth had called at last. And he wanted to see me. Now. What was going to happen? What should I do? I looked at Aubrey and sighed.
"Guess I should have kept that last pack of ambrosia, huh?"
CHAPTER 24
Seth had chided me for being late, but with five daughters, the Mortensens were always running late. So no one, except Seth, really paid much attention to my tardiness.
Likewise, with so much chaos, no one really noticed that he and I didn't talk much. The girls spoke more than enough for all of us, and I took some comfort in their presence. As always, they couldn't get enough of me, crawling all over me and tugging at my sleeve to make sure they had my undivided attention. I enjoyed it all in a bittersweet sort of way. Convinced Seth and I were on the verge of a break-up, I mostly kept thinking that this would be the last time I would hang out with this wonderful family.
Andrea provided us with an equally distracting birthday/Thanksgiving meal. Terry and Seth had helped her, it turned out, but I still marveled that they had pulled it off while still managing the little ones. I said as much to Andrea.
"Parenthood makes you the ultimate multitasker," she informed me. "You'll see what I mean when you have kids."
I smiled back politely, not bothering to tell her there'd be no kids for me.
"Besides," Terry said with a grin, "we understand you're already sort of a superwoman. Seth was telling us about some crazy shindig you threw together at the bookstore?"
"Uncle Seth said it was cool," added Brandy.
"It was a fest," I corrected, glancing at Seth in surprise. I couldn't figure out at all what his feelings were for me. He'd invited me over and had apparently been singing my praises. None of that jibed with the fallout I expected from the Bastien incident, nor his initial stunned reaction to it.
Seth opened presents after dinner, the bulk of which were books and more contributions to his wacky T-shirt collection.
"Where's your present?" Kendall asked me.
"I left it at home."
We all hung out and talked after that, my apprehension mounting as I wondered where this evening would lead. When the party finally disbanded, Seth asked me if I wanted to go somewhere.
I took a deep breath. It was now or never. "Let's go to my place."
Once back there, we stationed ourselves on my couch—at a proper distance—and talked about everything except our relationship. I told him about my new position and got his congratulations. He told me about some interesting fan comments he'd received at the signing. When this had gone on for nearly thirty minutes, I couldn't take it any more.
"Seth, what's going on?" I demanded. "With us."
He leaned his head back against the couch. "I wondered when we'd get to this. Can't avoid it any longer, huh?"
"Well, yeah. This is a big deal. This isn't like a dispute over where to go for dinner…this is us. Our future. I mean, I…you know. You know what I did."
"I do." He studied my ceiling for a moment, then turned his amber brown eyes on me. In that moment, I almost understood why he always seemed to be staring somewhere else. When he turned his eyes directly on you, it was a hard and powerful thing. They were electric. "Aren't I allowed to forgive you?"
"Er…no. Well, I don't know."
This conversation echoed the one I'd had with Bastien earlier. He had said the same thing, and after weighing everything, I'd decided it wasn't worth being mad at him. Was it so easy to forgive the ones you loved?
"I won't lie, Thetis, it hurt. It still does. But, in some ways…well, it's only one step away from what you normally do."