Page 47 of The Lucky Heart (Jamison Valley 3)
“Well, I had a great teacher.” James had been my mentor for years and I hated letting him down, but I was miserable and it was time for a change. I had always vowed never to let myself suffer in a job that didn’t make me happy.
“When will I lose you?”
“I’ll give you a firm resignation date later this week. I’d like a couple of days to do some forecasting and see when I’ll have all of my current assignments wrapped up. If you need a rough estimate, probably the end of January, early February.”
“I’ll take whatever you can give me. I appreciate your willingness to stick around and finish up with these clients.”
“The last thing I want to do is leave you high and dry.” It wasn’t like I had another job waiting.
He sighed. “I’m going to miss you. Whoever gets you next is one lucky employer.”
I smiled. “I’ll miss you too. Bye.” I set my phone down and stared at it.
What did I just do?
Quitting my job certainly hadn’t been on my to-do list today, but when James had called to touch base, I’d had to be honest. The words I’m unhappy and this job just isn’t for me anymore had just poured right out.
I didn’t regret it but my timing was brilliant, as ever. Just days before Christmas and I was looking at unemployment come spring. So now, in addition to making new friends, being a nicer person, building lasting relationships, et cetera—Felicity’s Journey Home also included finding and starting a new career.
Damn.
At least I was lucky enough to have a good chunk of change stashed away in savings. I didn’t need to rush to find a new job and could spend some time thinking about what I wanted to do with my life.
I walked to the fridge and popped the top off a plastic storage container, lifting out another rainbow-chip cupcake. In four enormous bites, it was safely in my belly, along with the other five I’d eaten throughout the morning.
The last three weeks since the party at Slater’s Station hadn’t been much fun. I’d been putting in relentless hours at work, often waking up before five a.m. and working well into the night, only stepping away to visit Mom and cook her dinner. The grueling hours had cemented the fact that I didn’t want consulting to be my lifelong career.
And now it wasn’t.
But the added work had been necessary. I’d been cramming my days full of distractions so I wouldn’t think about Silas and how I’d completely humiliated myself.
Gah! Why had I kissed him? Any progress I’d made toward building a friendship had been erased. I had been a daft idiot to push for more, because he didn’t want me like that. Now I didn’t have him at all.
Grabbing my phone, I hit Sabrina’s name only to get her voicemail. Again.
“Three voicemail messages and no return call. I’m assuming that your phone is in a bag of rice because you’ve dropped it in a toilet. Why else would you not be returning my calls or sending me a ‘Hey, I’m alive’ text? You have exactly twenty-four hours to respond before I call the police. Please don’t be dead.”
My phone chimed with a text not long after I hung up.
Sabrina: Not dead. Call later. Love.
Next up, I found Khloe’s name. Just as I’d suspected, it went to her voicemail too.
“Hi, Khloe. It’s Felicity. I was just calling to say hello, find out what you’re doing for Christmas. If you want to meet for a holiday coffee, I’d love to see you. Bye.”
That was what felt like my millionth message for Khloe, but I wasn’t giving up. She was either going to accept the fact that I wasn’t going anywhere or change her number.
The cupcake wasn’t doing its job and I was still in desperate need of a pick-me-up. If I couldn’t gab with friends, then I needed the next best thing. Shopping. Prescott didn’t have much but I’d make due at the hardware store today.
Two hours later, I pushed inside Mom’s trailer, my arms loaded with groceries and two bags full of new kitchen gadgets.
“Mom!” I called. She came walking out of her bedroom with a white bandage across her cheek. “What happened?” I gasped, dropping my bags and rushing toward her.
“Oh, I just slipped.”
I brushed my fingers over the bandage. “Did you go to the hospital?”
