He s Not Coming.

What do you mean hes not coming ?

Clare OConnor turned away from the floor length mirror,her chin lifting so she
could search his eyes .
Not that she knew him well enough to be able to read anything there.Tall ,dark and
brooding shed named him after their first meeting.And despite the fact shed
named him after their first meeting.And despite the fact shed since had glimpses of
a wicked sense of humour ,when he chose to use it,she still thought her initial
impression was on money.
She shook her head What do you mean hes not coming? Did something happen to
him?
A muscle jumped in his jaw. And it was the first indication she had that he was
telling the truth .She shook her head again ,nervous laughter escaping her parted
lips.No way .Ther was no way Jamiehad done this to her .Not now.
I m sorry Clare.
When one long arm lifted towards her she stepped back ,the world tilting a little
beneath her feet.Where is he?
Hes gone .
Gone?
Gone where? Why?What had happened? This kind of thing didnt happen in real
life ! she tried to form a coherent thought rather than parroting everything she was
told .why now? Why not yesterday or the day before tahtor the day before that
/when ther had been time to cancel everything and let every one knowWhy let her
follow him all the way across the Atlantic if -?
he didnt have the guts to face you.
Clare laughed a little more manically.so he sent you to tell me?Of all the people
Jamie knew he had felt this guy was the one to send ?It was almost funny No phone
call ? No note ? Is this a joke?
No joke . Hes gone and hes not coming back.
The determined tone to his voice made the edges of her vision go dark.When she
feltr herself swaying ,two large hands grasped her elbows to steady her while she
blinked furiously.
You need to sit down.

Clare yanked her arms free ,her gazed focusing on a smudge of dirt on his jacket
before sliding over the dark material and noticing several other smudges along the
way .But she wasnt interested in how theyd got there, she needed she just needed
to think. She needed toWhen her chin jerked towards the door and her eyes widened with horror ,his husky
voice sounded about her head .Ill go.
Dear God .All the people beyond that door ,waiting for her-how was she supposed to
face them?But she couldnt let him go out there and do her dirty work for her .Not
that the offer wasnt tempting,but they were waiting for her. And some of them had
flown thousands of miles for her.So it was her responsibility to tell them
Swallowing down a wave of nausea ,she reaches for his arm. Wait .Just give me a
second here.
Taking several deep breath of cool air , she tightened her fingers around her
forearms , as if the part of her that was drowning naturally sought out something
solid to keep her from going under.
From some where she she founf the strength to keep her voice calm .did he leave
with her?
Clare
She flexed her fingers as she looked up.Did he ?I want to know?
Up until hed asked that question shed never really known for sure.But she had her
answer now,didnt she ? So much for telling herself it was paranoia