Free Unpredictable Love by Jean C. Joachim Page A

transplant any day.
She’d need to blow town. Move, get a new job, disappear. She’d come
to realize she couldn’t face him with the truth, couldn’t bear to
see the betrayal in his eyes. She’d done it, and now, she was
taking the coward’s way out. She didn’t care. It hurt too much to
even consider telling the truth.
    She needed this opportunity. It was her only
solution. She’d already figured on renting a room in Oak Bend
instead of an apartment. That way, she’d have money to send home to
Nan and her sister. Amber wasn’t qualified for a better position
and had no hope of finding anything there. They needed Jory’s
financial contribution.
    She’d gotten it all planned. Get the offer,
move to Oak Bend, and start over. So, maybe she’d be breaking
Trent’s heart. Maybe her own too. That’s life, those were the
breaks, and she was willing to live with the consequences of her
foolishness. As for Trent, hell, he’d get over her. After all, she
wasn’t the shiniest apple in the basket.
    She met Jim Sparks at Rusty’s, a cocktail
lounge in the center of town. He looked to be in his early fifties,
salt and pepper hair, ten pounds overweight. He gave her a big
smile, which emphasized the wrinkles around his kind eyes.
    Jory ordered a ginger ale—she was driving,
after all. Jim had a Manhattan.
    “ Mac Caldwell speaks very highly of
you. I’ve been looking over your portfolio. Nothing worthy of a
Pulitzer yet, but you give good, thorough coverage to the
happenings in Pine Grove, and you do it with style and warmth.
Nothing worse than an editor who hates his or her town.”
    She agreed. As they fell into easy
conversation, she relaxed. They chatted for an hour. Then, he paid
the tab, and they got up to leave.
    “ I’ve got one more candidate to
interview, but I’d say you’re running at the head of the pack.
Don’t sell your house and buy a condo yet, but do start thinking
about moving to Oak Bend.”
    “ I am. I mean, I have been. It’s a
lovely town. A lot bigger than Pine Grove. Bustling. Probably a lot
to write about here.”
    “ That’s what we think. Thanks for
coming all this way. I’ll call you in a couple of weeks. No rush on
this. Our current managing editor isn’t leaving until the end of
the month.”
    “ Thank you, Mr. Sparks. It was a
pleasure to meet you.”
    She put her car in gear and headed for Route
55. A smile crossed her lips. As she drove, she listened to music.
Julian Lennon’s song, “Too Late for Goodbyes,” came on.
    For a moment, an image of life with Trent
flashed through her brain. A small house, a dog, bird watching,
reading together, steamy nights in tangled sheets ran through her
mind like a music video. Was it too late for goodbye? She was
invested, all the way, in love, completely.
    There was no way she could survive the
rejection sure to come when he got a look at her. Telling him the
truth was the right thing to do, but she didn’t have the guts for
it. That settled the dilemma. She let out a breath. If and when he
got his sight back, she’d skedaddle out of town, with no forwarding
address. And that would be the end of it. She refused to think
beyond that point. After all, until he got the transplant, they
could remain together.
    When she got home, she pulled up Oak Bend
real estate on her computer and began her search for a place to
live. She admonished herself not to overthink the situation, simply
follow the plan she’d mapped out, and everything would be all
right.
    When she turned out the light, she ignored
the war going on between her heart and her head. Eventually,
blessed sleep released her from reality.
     
    * * * *
     
    The next night, Trent was more animated than
usual. She detected the scent of soap, fresh in the air. His short
hair was combed. He was clean-shaven and wore a new hospital
gown.
    “ Hi, Trent, it’s me,” Jory
said.
    He shifted his position in bed. “Lock the
door. Marie said we could.”
    Jory turned the latch and raised