Chapter 1: Rebecca

Rebecca Owens sighed deeply as she entered a few more numbers into her spreadsheet. She rested her chin on her hands as she studied the figures on her laptop monitor.

There was no way around it. She had three weeks of severance pay left before she was completely broke. Unless she found a new job within days, there was no way she could pay her rent next month.

She groaned and squeezed her eyes shut. This was a disaster. How had her entire life fallen apart in three short months?

It was bad enough that she’d been laid off from her job of four years as an administrative assistant to the CEO of a medical supplies company. That had been a blow.

It had been worse to come home to her apartment four days later to find her boyfriend and many of her valuables gone. Thank God she’d taken her laptop with her that day, or no doubt he would have taken that too.

Worse yet was a month later when all the bills started coming in. Credit card statements from companies she’d never heard of demanding payments on astonishing balances. Credit card statements from cards she DID have showing they were maxed out due to large cash advances she’d never withdrawn and purchases she’d never made.

All courtesy of that lying scumbag Blaze Hutchinson.

Her heart squeezed painfully as the image of his handsome, smirking face floated into her head. She’d thought she’d loved him, but that was before he’d stolen from her and left her atop a mountain of debt. Now, with the benefit of hindsight, she knew she’d only felt infatuation for him, not love.

But it still hurt. She’d trusted him, and he’d betrayed her.

She’d dutifully reported the theft and fraud to the police, and contested the credit card charges. So far, however, neither the police nor the credit card companies seemed interested in finding Blaze and holding him accountable. She was still being hounded for money from collection agencies.

She’d been given three months of severance pay when she’d been laid off, but the amount was only a percentage of her former salary and barely covered the essentials of her budget. Next month, there’d be nothing left.

The amount she’d get from unemployment coupled with the part-time waitressing job she’d picked up wouldn’t be enough for rent and utilities. Not unless she could figure out a way to go without buying groceries for a month.

Thanks to Blaze, she had no credit cards to fall back on and wouldn’t qualify for a loan, even from one of those shady payday loan outfits.

Bleakly, she saved her work and powered down her laptop. She might have to move home to Redding, California, even though there was no room. Her mother was also struggling financially, and she shared a one-bedroom apartment with Rebecca’s younger sister, Lindsey.

Lindsey was 19, ten years younger than her sister, and attended a local community college – the same one Rebecca had. Her mother worked as a certified nurse’s assistant in a local hospital.

None of them had quite recovered from the death of her father five years ago. His illness had been long and costly, and they’d needed every penny of his small life insurance policy to pay off medical debts.

After his death, her mother had been forced to sell their childhood home, and they had moved into the tiny apartment, with Rebecca and Lindsey sharing the bedroom and their mother sleeping on a futon in the living room.

Now Lindsey had the bedroom to herself, despite trying to convince their mother to switch with her. Irene Owens had insisted that her daughter remain in the bedroom, as she would need a quiet place to study.

Rebecca had moved to the San Jose area four years ago, hoping to get a better-paying job in order to help her mother out more. For a while, it’d worked. She’d landed a good job as an administrative assistant at a medical supplies company that paid a decent salary and had fairly good benefits.

She’d managed to send a little extra to her mother every month – not a lot, but enough to pay a bill or two and make it so her mother didn’t have to worry as much. Now she couldn’t even do that. Her mother had been so sweet and understanding about it, despite the fact that the extra money had been a blessing to her.

Rebecca hadn’t told her family about Blaze’s actions, so they didn’t realize the extent of her financial worries. But if she moved back, they’d have to know.

The other problem was the cost of moving back. She didn’t own a car – too expensive and impractical in San Jose – and neither did her mother or sister. Her mother’s apartment was close enough to her work for her to walk, and Lindsey rode her bicycle to and from college, or took public transportation if the weather was poor.

Renting a car to move back was too expensive. Even a Greyhound ticket was too much at the moment. It was lucky that she barely owned more than her clothes, toiletries, and her laptop.

She’d had to sell or give away her furniture, kitchenware, and most of her beloved books after Blaze had left and she’d downsized from a small apartment to one room in a three-bedroom house to save money. Her landlady, Mrs. Tiedeman, rented out the bedrooms in her house to earn extra income. She was a sweet lady, but she couldn’t afford to float the rent.

With a glance at her phone, Rebecca yelped. She’d let her mind wander too much. She had barely thirty minutes to get ready for her appointment at yet another temp employment agency this afternoon. She’d sent out dozens upon dozens of resumes, but she was hoping to find some temporary employment to keep her afloat as she searched for something permanent.

Thankfully she’d already showered earlier. She threw her curly blonde hair into a chignon to save the effort of straightening it, slapped on some makeup, and wiggled into a subdued navy blue dress, navy-and-gray heels, and a gray blazer.

She had no jewelry, not anymore. Blaze had taken it all, even her cheap costume baubles. Not that she’d had a lot of nice pieces, but still. She missed wearing her grandmother’s pearls that her mother had gifted her when she graduated from high school.

“Good enough,” she muttered after a quick glance in the mirror, and, grabbing her gray leather purse, rushed out to catch the bus.