I read the rest of it with growing horror. Yes, I’ve been delinquent on payments. I worked out a plan, spreading them out as far as I could, but apparently, not far enough.
If the bill is not paid in full by June 16th, we will have to start eviction proceedings, and you will forfeit the place to another patient on the wait-list.
June sixteenth. Meaning, three days from now.
My heart drops.
Eviction? I never thought it would get this far, this soon. Where could my mom go? She needs round-the-clock care, and besides that, she can’t deal with change. Her routine is the only thing that keeps her calm; the nurses it’s taken a year to warm up to, the garden where she likes to sit.
I can’t take that away from her. It’s all she has left.
I open my checking account and find the equivalent of a week’s worth of rent. Panic surges through my body when I look up and see Caleb, heading my way.
He sets a coffee on the edge of my desk. “Iced mocha latte. For you.”
I can’t be flattered that he remembered my drink order.
I don’t need anyone being charming around me. Not now.
No, my stomach is churning with dread and I’m about to lose my composure.
“It’s Friday.” Caleb continues, lounging there. He shoots me a smoldering look. “Any fun plans for the weekend?”
Fun? I stare at him in disbelief. Like I can even think about having fun when everything I’ve worked so hard to keep together is crumbling before my very eyes.
“I was thinking of taking a little trip. I have a place outside the city,” he adds. “You should come. And come.”
I shake my head. I’ve had enough. I can’t do this anymore. “Stop. Just stop. All of it,” I cry, tears pricking the corners of my eyes. “This hot and cold act. Playing professional one minute and trying to seduce me the next. It’s always on your terms. Everything you want. Well, I’m done with it!” I explode, scrambling to my feet. “Now you need to back off!”
For the first time, there’s something like surprise on Caleb Sterling’s perfect face. But I don’t stick around to see it. Humiliation flushes through me, hot and full of regret. I push back my chair, and flee.
I manage to find an empty stairwell in the back of the building, with nobody inside. I sink down on a cold concrete step, and dial Meadow View with shaking hands.
“Hi, Mr. Castle? This is Juliet Nichols. I’m calling about an email I received?”
“Yes, Ms. Nichols. How can I help?”
“Well, I’m having an issue with the payment,” I admit, crossing my fingers that I can buy just a little more time. “I should be coming into more money shortly, but it hasn’t yet hit my account. Is there a way I can file another extension? It’ll be just one more, I promise.”
There was a pause. “I’m sorry, Ms. Nichols, but we’ve already given you as much time as we can.
I swallow hard. I can’t pull my mother from the home. The last place was a nightmare—dark, damp, with cramped rooms. My mother never looked clean. I imagine her, back in that place, and tears spring to my eyes. “So you’re just going to kick her out?”
“Unless the account is settled, I’m sorry. We have no choice. She’ll have to find someplace else to live.”
I hang up, feeling utterly despairing.
There’s nothing I can do. I’ve failed her, when she needs me the most.
“What’s going on?”
My head snaps up. Caleb is standing in the landing above me. And he heard everything.
I quickly wipe the tears from my eyes. “Nothing.”
I get up, and try to hurry past him, but he blocks my path. “Juliet. You’re crying. Look, if this is about us—”
“Not everything’s about you!” I explode again.