Hannah Malcolm sucked in a breath and smoothed down her skirt. It did little good. On the way to her new job—on her first day, of course—she’d gotten her heel caught in a drain and had broken it. She’d had no choice but to break the other heel so she could walk. But these had been brand new shoes. Shoes she couldn’t really afford.

The altercation had been enough that it’d made her miss her train. Of course, by the time she finally arrived at her stop, she left the train station to find that it had started raining. And her umbrella was sitting right by her door. At home. So she was not only late and had ruined shoes, she was now also soaking wet. She dare not look in a mirror for fear of seeing what she expected—that she looked like a drowned mess.

Surely, her boss would regret hiring her and tell her to turn around and go right back home. Then she’d be back at one of her many low-paying, crappy jobs. She’d never be able to move from her run-down apartment in Elizabeth. All her dreams of being a successful career woman, living in a fabulous loft in the city, had slipped down the storm drain with her brand new, expensive shoe heel.

Taking this finance job in Newark was a stretch for her. It meant commuting farther, taking on a job bigger than she was used to. It meant less time at home in the mornings and evenings with her daughter. It was a sacrifice, but one that she hoped paid off. Now that Melody was nine, she was old enough to get herself breakfast and didn’t mind hanging out at the neighbor’s apartment for a short time after school until her mother got home.

Hannah’s nervousness rose as she approached the building. She walked in, talking to herself the whole way. Up the elevator, past the receptionist, to her cube. She’d made it and set her things down. Maybe her boss wouldn’t notice she was so late.

Hannah hurried toward the bathroom to clean up, but before she could get there, her boss intercepted her.

“Hannah!” Her boss, Lauren, said beaming. “You’re here! Great! I have you all set to start orientation today.” Lauren’s smile faded as she looked Hannah over. “Everything… okay?”

Hannah forced her brightest smile. “Yes, I think.” She blew out a sigh and decided to go for the woman-to-woman pure honesty approach. “I’m so sorry I’m late. After all my careful planning, I didn’t account for getting my heel stuck in a storm drain or missing my train or”—she gestured to her wet clothes and limp hair—“forgetting my umbrella at home.”

“Oh, you poor thing. Well, go on and do what you need to do. We’ve all had those days, believe me. When you’re ready, stop by my desk and I’ll get you your logins and everything you’ll need. I thought we could do lunch today with the team supervisor and all just get to know each other.”

“That would be great. Thank you for understanding.”

Lauren smiled and walked away. Hannah ducked into the bathroom, grateful for a reasonable boss. Her appearance in the mirror wasn’t quite as horrid as she’d expected. She took down her hair and ran her fingers through it, then re-secured it on her head in a loose twist. It was better than nothing.

She made it through her morning orientation and had some time to set up her cube. She’d brought some photos of Melody along in her tote bag and set them out on her desk. The photos were a good reminder of why she was there—to make a better life for her and her daughter. No matter how difficult this job turned out to be or how overwhelmed she became, she knew that at the end of the day, she would go home to her daughter and everything would be better.

Once the IT guy got her computer set up and she could log in, she sat down and looked over her first assignment. Just reading what was needed made her heart speed. Could she do this? It didn’t make any sense.

Hannah took several deep breaths and had to get up to walk to the water fountain. She kept up her pep talk in her mind. You can do this, you can do this, you can do this. They wouldn’t have hired you if you couldn’t. By the time she returned to her cube, she was ready to tackle the task.

She opened her computer program to get started and ran into a problem. Already, she was having issues. She tried to figure it out and make things work, but it wasn’t making sense. She was near tears when she decided she would just have to ask for help.

With the printout of the assignment in hand, she knocked on Lauren’s door.

“Come on in, Hannah.”

“I just have a quick question about this task.” She showed Lauren the print out and explained her problem.

“Oh goodness!” Lauren said. “Oh no, this belongs to a different department. No wonder you had trouble. I’ll take care of that. Your assignments should all be waiting in your queue. If you run into any trouble or have any questions at all, just ask.”

Hannah felt the relief wash over her. She hadn’t messed up, after all. When she returned to her desk and checked where Lauren had directed her to, things went much smoother. She hadn’t even looked at the clock and when Lauren showed up at her cube, it took her a moment to realize how much time had passed.

“Oh, sorry,” Hannah said, “Let me just grab my bag.”

“I saw what you’ve been working on,” Lauren said, leaning on the half wall of the cube. “It’s all looking very good so far.”

“Thank you.”

Hannah followed Lauren to Sarah’s cube, then they left the building together.

“I know this fabulous Italian place just a few streets away,” Sarah said.

“Sounds perfect,” Lauren said. “Hannah, are you good with Italian?”

“Absolutely.” A cheesy pasta dish sounded like exactly what she needed right now.

After they ordered, they sipped their water and nibbled on breadsticks. Lauren and Sarah, who had known each other for years, started an easy conversation, and Hannah jumped in where she could.

“Have you seen the newest episode?” Lauren asked as they discussed a popular TV show.

“It made me cry,” Hannah confessed.

“Me too!” Sarah said. “I can’t wait for next week to find out what will happen with the doctor.”

“You know,” Lauren said, “One time I dated someone who looked just like the doctor.”

“No, you did not!” Sarah exclaimed. “Who?”

“A guy named Sam. But he turned out to be a complete loser. Just like my last boyfriend.” Lauren sighed.

“This is why I stay single,” Sarah said. “Not worth it.”

“I agree,” Hannah said. “I can’t even remember the last man I dated, but I know it wasn’t good.”

“Things didn’t work out with your daughter’s dad?” Lauren asked.

“No. He vanished.”

“Loser,” Sarah said. “See, you’re better off.”

Hannah wasn’t so sure. Being a single mother had been difficult and something she’d never thought she’d have to do. If Melody’s dad had been there, really been there, it likely would have been better for them both. Not that it mattered. She hadn’t seen him in ten years. He was gone before she could even tell him he had a daughter.

Trying to date while being a single mother hadn’t gone much better. Most men weren’t prepared for that sort of thing, and many of them didn’t seem good enough to be a father to Melody. Things had been going fine when it was just the two of them, and she planned to keep it that way.

As she was thinking this, feeling as resolute as ever in her singleness, she looked up to see the very man who she’d been thinking about. Anton DeCalvo. He was tall, wearing a suit, of all things, and as hot as ever. She swallowed hard. Would he even recognize her after all this time? She’d never forgive herself if she didn’t at least go find out.

“Speaking of men,” Hannah said with a smile, “will you excuse me for a moment? I just saw someone I haven’t seen in a long time.”

They both looked toward the door and giggled when they turned back to her.

“You better go talk to him!” Lauren said.

Hannah set down her napkin and stood, wishing more than ever that she hadn’t broken her heels. She felt short and it was difficult to walk in broken shoes. But she managed, and as she neared him, she saw that he was already looking at her.

He broke into a grin and raised a hand to wave. She returned his wave and grin.

“I couldn’t believe it when I saw you walk across the parking lot,” Anton said. “Hannah Malcolm. After all these years, still as beautiful as ever.”

“Thank you.” Her cheeks warmed and she couldn’t stop smiling. “It’s so good to see you! I can’t believe it’s been ten years. And you look just as good yourself. Maybe even better.”

Had she really just flirted with Anton DeCalvo? How was it possible he was here, in the middle of her crazy day, making things even more bizarre?

“Care to step outside to talk a moment?” he asked. He glanced back at her table. “If you’re able. I don’t want to interrupt.”

“It’s a work thing, but yes, I’d love to chat for a minute.”

He turned and held the door open for her. “After you.”