Five Minutes Late (30 page)

“Thank for sending me those signs, they were a wake-up call for me. I love her and she’s alive. I love her so much and I’m going to tell her. And I love you too, Mom.”

Cedric walked back to the car and pulled out his cell phone and dialed.

“Dominic Cunnings.”

“Hi Dominic, it’s Cedric Johnson.”

“Cedric, we good to go for tomorrow?”

“I’ve changed my mind.”

“What?” he yelled. “You can’t do that. Everything is in place. I need to sell that property tomorrow!”

“Well, then you better get that contractor back into the game, it’s not going to be me.”

“If the offer is back on the table to the contractor, I won’t be able to undo it again.”

“Count me out.” Cedric disconnected and felt like a heavy weight was lifted off his shoulders. He had his priorities and at the top of the list was Ellie.

Sweet Ellie.

His phone rang and he eyed the screen, expecting Dominic to call back. It was Tony instead.

“Hey Tony.”

“I want to come with you tomorrow when you buy the property.”

“It’s not happening.”

“What happened?”

“Ellie is alive, that’s what happened.”

“Of course she is. Why wouldn’t she be alive?”

“It’s a long story. Anyway, I can’t live without her.”

“And?”

Cedric stroked Tofu on his back. “Vlad will make the deal fall through on the property if he sees me with Ellie. And Ellie is more important to me than the promise to my mom, so done deal.”

“You can have both!”

“No, I can’t.”

“But—”

“Tony … it’s done.”

Cedric disconnected and dropped the phone into the center console.

Chapter Thirty

Grandpa Frank kissed Ellie on the cheek and poured himself a cup of coffee. “You doing better this morning?”

Ellie forced a smile for him. “Yeah, thanks. Better. I need to get focused since it’s my first day back to work.”

“Sure you don’t want to take a few days off?”

“I need to get back. I’m excited to jump into things at the library, and it will be a good distraction. Win-win, right?”

Grandpa Frank nodded and kissed her on the cheek. “That’s my girl. Call me if you need anything.”

“Of course.”

Fifteen minutes later, Ellie settled into her desk at the library and organized the new piles of mail and books that weren’t there before she’d left for the conference.

Julio bent over to hug Ellie in her chair. “Welcome back. You doing okay?”

“Not really, but I need to catch up on things. Hopefully the work will keep me from thinking about the accident.”

Julio nodded and rubbed her back. “That must have been horrible to see that.”

“The worst part was the news of the two people who died. When I found out, I almost lost it. That could have been me. I could be dead right now, just like my mom.”

That was the ironic part. Ellie’s mom died because she was five minutes late, and Ellie was
alive
because she was five minutes late trying to get the front seat in that first bus. Tardiness used to be the worst thing in the world, the reason her mom was no longer alive, but now she had to rethink that logic.
 

And then there was Cedric. If he hadn’t been five minutes late to work that day, she would have never met him on that street corner. Of course, that was over and done with, so no need to travel down that road again. She felt pain in her gut and it traveled to her heart.
 

She was sure she loved Cedric.

“Have you talked with him?” asked Julio, who was obviously a mind reader.

“I never would have thought in a million years that Cedric was someone who slept around. He didn’t seem to have that type of personality.”

“I’m a good judge of character and I don’t think he sleeps around. Let me see the pictures.”

Ellie pulled them from her computer bag and handed them to Julio.

Julio nodded. “They look real alright, but you can do anything in Photoshop these days. I saw a picture of Jennifer Aniston with a penis and I was one hundred percent convinced she had an operation.”

Ellie laughed. “Thanks. It feels good to laugh.”

“That’s what I’m here for.”
 

Ellie’s smile disappeared. “That didn’t last long. I feel like crap again.”

Julio rubbed her back and smiled. “That was quick. Okay, I need to tell you something.”

“More bad news?”

“Actually, it’s sweet and kind and romantic. And it’s love.”

“If you are going to brag about Hugo again, now’s not a great time.”

“Not me. You.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Cedric donated the money that got you the promotion.”

Ellie blinked rapidly, but didn’t speak. Her mouth opened, but words didn’t come out.

Julio sat on the edge of her desk. “Actually, I think I may be understating the facts. Cedric donated enough money for you to get the promotion, plus build a new wing on the library, and maybe even re-do the roof.”

Ellie’s hand flew to her chest. “He—”

“He loves you, that’s what I think. The way he looks at you, damn.”

“It was a kind gesture, absolutely, and I’m grateful. But money can’t buy you love, you know the song. Vlad used to do the same thing, use money to get what he wanted.”

“You’re comparing Cedric to Vlad?”

Julio was right. That was crazy. There was no comparison between the two.
 

Ellie stood up. “But the photos don’t lie.”

“I think they do lie. And just so you know, I called Cedric when I couldn’t get a hold of you after the accident and he sounded genuinely worried about you. He even went to the hospital to look for you. No way he was faking that.”

Ellie nodded, then noticed the Fed-ex package buried under some papers on her desk. She slid the package out and looked at the return label. Hyatt Regency in San Francisco. “Yes!” Ellie opened the package and pulled her phone out. She plugged it into the charger and powered up the phone. Within a minute, the phone went crazy. Ellie read the screen. “I have fourteen voicemails and ten text messages.”

Julio smiled. “Somebody sounds very popular to me. I have a feeling it’s sexy Cedric.”

“Excuse me,” said a female voice behind them.

Ellie and Julio both turned around and froze.

Julio’s hand flew to his chest. “Oh my fucking God. You’re the woman in the photos.”

It was definitely her. The woman who killed Ellie’s dreams.
 

“I—” said Pamela.

“How can I help you?” asked Ellie, her tone cold enough to freeze meat.

Pamela looked toward the floor, unable to meet Ellie’s eyes. “It would be good if we talked. May I sit down?”

“Yes.” Ellie cleared the books from the other chair, gesturing for Pamela to sit. Julio snuck away as Pamela sat down.

She bit her nails and avoided eye contact with Ellie, moving around in her seat. Ellie didn’t understand why she was here or how she had found her.
 

“I don’t know where to start. I’ll start with my name. I’m Pamela DeVille.” She began to cry.

Ellie handed her a box of Kleenex. “Here.”

Pamela grabbed a few out of the box and wiped her eyes. Then she blew her nose.

“Okay,” Ellie said, not knowing what was going on. “Is this … library related?”

No way it could have been, but she didn’t know what else to say.

Pamela wiped her nose again. “Cedric related. And Vlad related.”

Ellie’s heartbeat sped up. “Okay.”

Pamela sat up in her chair. “Everything you saw in the pictures was a set-up.”

Ellie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “A set-up?”

Pamela nodded. “Vlad told me he loved me and—”

“Wait a minute … you’ve been seeing Vlad? Oh God, I need a drink …”

“He told me that he wanted to be with me, but he couldn’t move forward since he was still heartbroken from you. He asked me to do something I’m ashamed of, to kiss Cedric at the farmers’ market while a photographer took pictures. Then he would have closure with you and could be fully with me. I should have listened to my gut, but I was blind. He promised me everything.”

She had a sick feeling in her stomach. It didn’t look as if Pamela was feeling any better either. Ellie cocked her head to the side and squinted her eyes, thinking, still trying to fully grasp what had happened. “So, why are you here? Why are you telling me this? Shouldn’t you be with Vlad, planning the rest of your lives?”

“That’s just it. Vlad lied to me. He never wanted me at all and was just using me to get back with
you
. After that day with Cedric, he said he changed his mind about me and asked me to leave. He was so cold, an asshole. Being the fool that I was, I begged him not to leave me. That’s when he said he was going to San Francisco for a few days … to be with you.”

Ellie nodded. “It makes sense now.”

“I’m so sorry. What I did to you was absolutely horrible and unacceptable. You should be hitting me or throwing things at me, but you’re smiling.”

Ellie jumped up, ran around to the front of her desk, hugged Pamela and kissed her on her forehead. “Thank you.”

Pamela wiped her eyes. “Definitely not the response I expected.”

“Before you walked in today, I had no hope. Now I have hope!”

“You think there’s still a chance with you and Cedric?”

Ellie eyed her phone. “If any of those voicemails or text messages on my phone are from him, I’d say there’s a very good chance.”

After Pamela left, Julio approached her desk with a man she didn’t recognize. He was dressed like he was ready to play tennis. The only thing that was missing was a racket in his hand.

“Ellie, this is Owen. He says he has something important to tell you regarding Cedric.”

Ellie jumped up. “Is he okay?”

“Yes. Well, physically, yes. I’ll just get right to the point. I got a call from Cedric’s friend, Tony, who alerted me to something very alarming that is going to take place. You need to know about it. It affects you.”

Ellie rubbed the silver hummingbird pendant on her neck. “What is it?”

“Cedric has been trying to re-acquire a property in Gilroy that had been in his family for a few generations.”

Ellie nodded. “He told me about it.”

“But did you know it was being sold by your ex’s brother, Dominic?”

“No.”

“Vlad blackmailed Cedric and said he wouldn’t be able to buy the property unless he stopped seeing you. Cedric made a promise to his mom before she died he would buy the property and that’s why he disappeared from your life.”

“Oh my God.”

“There’s more. Cedric changed his mind and decided to pick you over the promise to his mom. That means he’s going to lose the property.”

Ellie couldn’t speak. She covered her face with her hands and tried to maintain her composure. Nobody has ever done something so romantic for her. “What can I do?”

“The property is going to be sold this afternoon to a contractor who has plans to build a strip mall there. The only way we can stop the sale is if we have something on Vlad. Anything at all. Or even his brother, Dominic.”

Ellie blinked. She couldn’t let Cedric lose the property. She didn’t want to be the reason his family history was torn apart.

“I realize this is a lot to take in,” continued Owen. “And as I mentioned, we don’t have a lot of time. Two hours max or the property will be sold.”

“I can handle it. Where’s the sale taking place?”

“At the County Supervisor’s office.”

“I know where it is.”

Ellie walked into the County Supervisor’s office and the receptionist stood up to greet her. “Ellie! How have you been?”

Ellie hugged the woman. “I’ve been great, thanks for asking. Is Dominic here yet?”

“Yes, he’s in conference room two.”

Ellie walked into the conference room and found Dominic sitting at the table with another man.

Dominic stood up. “Ellie, it’s great to see you. Do you mind waiting for me in my office?”

“I need to speak to you now.”

“Can it wait five minutes? We’re just signing a few things and we’ll be done in a moment.”

“This is an emergency and it involves Vlad.”

“Okay. Phil, do you mind waiting just a few minutes outside?”

“Not at all.” The man left the conference room and Dominic turned to Ellie. “What’s going on? Is Vlad okay?”

“Right now he is. And so are you. But it won’t take much for you both to be in jail. That would mess up your plans for re-election, wouldn’t it?”

Dominic wiped his forehead. “What did he do this time?”

“Here’s the deal, this property you’re going to sell needs to be sold to Cedric Johnson.”

Dominic threw his palms in the air. “Cedric had an opportunity, but called last night and changed his mind!”

“Vlad blackmailed him and told Cedric if he dated me, you would sell it to someone else.”

“I had no idea about that.”

“Maybe you didn’t. But if you don’t sell the property to Cedric, the press and the public are going to receive details about a certain property that Vlad acquired from the county. And since you orchestrated that deal, well, you probably know how it’s going to end.”

“On paper, I did nothing wrong.”

“You will be guilty by association. People will see your name come up during your re-election campaign and think of your brother and the scam he pulled.”

“He’s such an idiot.”

“No argument here.”

Dominic paced back and forth behind the conference table. “How do I know this won’t come up again in the future and bite me in the ass?”

“You don’t. But if Vlad stays out of my life, and Cedric’s life, completely, and I mean completely … I promise you’ll never hear from us again. You need to control Vlad, he’s getting out of control and he’s going to take you down with him.”

Dominic nodded. “Consider it done.”

Chapter Thirty-One

Ellie stood on the corner next to a group of people and took a drink of her latte, as she waited for the light to change. When the light turned green, she proceeded to step off the curb.

“Don’t even think about it,” said a male voice behind her.

Cedric.

Ellie spun around and swallowed hard as her eyes began to burn. “That line sounds familiar.”