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I had no choice but to take it or be knocked over by it. “Oh, uh, thank you, but I—there …” I stopped and put the basket down on the table so I could see her while I explained this.
She was over by the paperwork that had been left for me. “Don’t worry about this tonight. Just bring it in with you tomorrow.”
“Yes, but, like I was trying to say, I believe there has been a mistake,” I blurted out, hating that I had to do this. I really wanted to be able to stay here tonight.
Her brows drew together. “How so?”
I smiled. “I’m sure you saw my résumé, and I’m not qualified for a job that comes with an apartment like this, a salary that high, and”—I waved a hand at the basket, filled with food, that was almost half as tall as me—“welcome gifts such as this.”
She took out her phone and tapped on the screen. “You are Liberty Virginia Dillard, birth date April 6, 1993. Your last place of work was Abernathy’s. Correct?”
“Yes, that’s me, but …” I held my hands out at the apartment. “I don’t—I mean, I didn’t think I was qualified for a job this nice. I don’t have a college degree. You saw that, right?”
The woman tucked her phone back into the pocket of her blazer. “You think we made a mistake because you don’t have a college degree?”
I nodded.
“Why don’t you prove that we didn’t make a mistake and show us that you belong here? That you are worth this apartment and the salary attached.”
Was she serious? I opened my mouth and closed it. I didn’t know what to say. I had been sure she would be ushering me out of here by now.
“What do you say? Do you believe you can do this job?”
I wanted to say I didn’t know, but this woman seemed to have faith in me that I didn’t. The small flutter in my stomach reminded me of what all I had to fight for.
“Yes. I know I can.”
She smiled. “Good,” she said, then headed for the door. “I will see you tomorrow morning then.”
“Okay, bye. Thank you,” I called out.
The door closed behind her, and I looked over at the tower of food, wrapped up in pretty packaging. It looked familiar, but I couldn’t figure out where I’d seen something like it before.
40
Liam
I jerked open the door before Madeline could ring the doorbell. Her vehicle pulling down my driveway had been the only moment in the past twenty-four hours that I wasn’t in complete torment. The sight of her meant that Blaise had found Liberty.
“You look like you haven’t slept in a week,” she said, her eyes scanning me before she stepped inside.
Ozzy came walking into the foyer to see who had arrived. He wasn’t in much better shape than me. He’d not eaten much since Liberty had left, and he kept pulling his dog bed to the side of my bed she’d slept on, as if he believed she would come back and he wanted to be there.
“Where is she? Did Blaise find her?” I asked, still gripping the doorknob. I wasn’t going to sit and visit. I needed a goddamn address.
Madeline smiled at Ozzy. “Hello, Ozzy.” Then, she lifted her eyes to me and crossed her arms over her chest.
There was disapproval in her steady gaze that I didn’t have time for. She could berate me later. I just needed to get to Liberty.
“That’s why I’m here. I told him not to,” she informed me.
No. I shook my head. That was what had kept me sane since I’d walked in this house and found Liberty’s note and the photo of our baby.
“Madeline, I have to find her,” I pleaded, my hoarse voice cracking.
She raised her eyebrows. “If she wanted you to know where she was, then she would have told you. The fact that she did not means she wanted time,” she replied.
Fuck. I’d have to find someone who could track her down. She didn’t have a car, and her phone was going straight to voice mail. I’d driven to every motel and hotel in the city and outside the city last night. Nothing. No one had her as a guest. A few had told me that they weren’t allowed to give out that information, but when I had grabbed them by the collar and pulled them over the counter, they had talked.
