25

After a Sunday of fielding curious questions from her brothers about Evan, Celia was relieved to go into work on Monday. She wasn’t ready to admit to even her family that she and Evan were anything more than business associates. They knew what had happened in New York and that it was complete nonsense. She loved them for their undying loyalty and their absolute faith in her. Which was why she was reluctant to confess to a relationship with Evan. It would only muddy the waters even though she and Evan both knew the truth.

She was late, thanks to a traffic snarl that lasted an entire hour and an already late start from her apartment. By the time she made it off the elevator, it was closing in on noon, and her mood was in the toilet.

When she saw Shelby, she knew something was wrong. The usually cheerful receptionist eyed Celia with something that looked suspiciously like pity, and she refused to hold Celia’s gaze for long.

Not even wanting to know what that was all about, Celia bypasse