Hot Stuff (Hot Zone 1)

Each would react in their own way, of course. Sophie would analyze but hold her feelings inside. Micki would hover and try to make things better! And Annabelle would internalize the situation; equate Lola's leaving with her parents' deaths, and do everything she could to make peace within their little unit.

Lola shook her head sadly, knowing Annabelle would probably hurt the most. No, that was wrong. All the girls would be in pain. Only Annabelle would also suffer the accompanying fear.

"Lola?" Micki asked. "What's wrong?"

"Tell us," Sophie encouraged her.

Annabelle remained strangely silent.

Lola drew a deep breath. "Your uncle's been keeping some important information from you and I've decided it's time to come clean."

"The hell you will," Yank bellowed from the doorway.

Lola tensed. She hadn't counted on him joining them but she should have anticipated it anyway.

"Who let you in, you old coot? You have no right to sneak around and listen to other people's conversations." Lola forced herself to meet his gaze. "Why don't you just turn around and take your gyrating hips out the door?" With that, she pivoted around, turning her back on him.

He deserved her cold shoulder. His actions today had merely cemented her resolve to leave and she didn't mind telling him off now. She certainly wasn't worried about holding on to her pride. In an hour, she'd be gone and Yank wouldn't care whether she'd bared her soul or not. But at least she'd leave with the knowledge that she'd done all she could to be upfront and honest and to try to save the life she loved.

"I'm talking to my family," she added for good measure.

"Family?" Yank snorted. "This is my family."

His words cut deep, but she held on to her resolve. "Well these girls are mine, too, and I can have a private talk with them if I choose. Unless you'd like to be the one to tell them everything?" Lola challenged him.

Yank Morgan could bluster and storm around. He could resist her charms and her body if he wanted, but no way could he ever resist a challenge.

Silence reigned. The girls had stepped back toward the wall, giving them their own private arena to play this out. Even Brandon, who'd come in behind Yank, stayed in the shadows. But he met her gaze and gave her a silent nod of encouragement. Brandon was such a good, decent man.

But he'd never known trust and understanding. Would he ever realize Yank considered him family? Always had and always would. And then there was Vaughn and Annabelle. What a couple they could be. Lola shook her head, knowing she didn't have time to dwell on them now.

She faced Yank, possibly for the last time. "You're as scared to tell them the news as you are to face the truth," Lola goaded him. "And you're just as scared to make a commitment and I've had enough. Of everything." All the frustration she'd held inside, all her fear for him, all the love he'd never let her show- she'd kept everything bottled up inside and now the cork came loose and her emotions spilled out in mean-spirited accusations.

She hated how she'd been reduced to this level, and that was yet another reason she was finished with this man who didn't love her back.

"Girls," she began, "your uncle-"

"Is going blind," Yank said, rising to the occasion as she'd predicted. "I'm gonna be blind as a bat one day and there ain't nothing you can do about it."

Stunned silence filled the air around them as the girls digested Yank's version of his situation. Which wasn't completely accurate, but that had been Yank's attitude since th

ey'd gotten the diagnosis. Defiant and angry. And hopeless. Unwilling to do anything the doctor suggested to help his situation.

"He's exaggerating as usual," Lola explained to the girls. "But there are issues that will need to be dealt with and since I won't be here, you all need to know everything."

"Harrumph."

"The diagnosis?" Annabelle was the one to ask, ignoring her uncle's grumblings.

"Macular degeneration," Lola said.

Sophie narrowed her gaze. "It's the leading cause of blindness in people over age fifty-five, right? I watched a segment on the Science Channel."

"That's right. But there is help when it's caught early. The reason you girls need to know this is you need to make sure the business doesn't suffer." And she'd taken steps to make sure The Hot Zone stayed as strong as ever. Lola might be leaving physically but her heart would always be here. "I have a plan."

Annabelle stepped in closer as did Micki and Sophie. Yank merely continued to scowl. He probably still didn't believe she was going anywhere. But he'd know as soon as he returned to the office and saw her empty desk.

"What do you have in mind, Lola?" Annabelle asked.