Grace conceded, “Alright, what next?”

“We have to pick something.”

Looking around, Amanda saw a perfect hiding place and headed for a small alcove in the back corner of the store, “Let’s go over by the bookshelves so we’re out of sight.” They walked between two shelves and scanned the closest displays. Grace pulled a book from the shelf and held it out for Amanda, “How about a book?”

“I suppose that’s as good as anything.” She contemplated the weathered blue linen cover with its faded gold embossed lettering for a moment, then took it from Grace.

Chapter Five

Hesitating before she hit the final number on the keypad of her Nortel desk phone, Donna knew she needed to contact Matthews, but dreaded the task. “Hi, this is Donna Williams at Heads Up, for Mr. Matthews. Yes, thanks, I’ll hold.” After ten minutes she was still cradling the phone between her ear and shoulder and had gotten lost in her e-mail. Matthews suddenly came on the line and she had to clear her mind of the thoughts about what a jerk he was for making her wait so long. “Mr. Matthews, this is Donna Williams. I wanted to touch base with you to make you aware of the of the situation with Amanda Winfield, she’s dealing with some very serious family health issues right now, and she hasn’t been able to spend any time in the office over the past few days.” Listening to his tirade, she knew she needed to take the blame, even though it galled her to have to do it. “Yes sir, that was my fault. Amanda had asked me to contact you to cancel the appointment and it slipped my mind. Please accept my sincere apology. Because of Amanda’s need to be out of the office, I’ve cleared my calendar for you and will be happy to help you with any concerns you might have in regards to the short list… Mr. Matthews?” Donna slammed the phone down and did a little ranting of her own, “You son-of-a-bitch, hang up on me and see if I ever call you back. What is it – is everyone going crazy?”