From the Heart (A Valentine's Day Anthology) (5 page)

THE END

A Note from the Authors:

You may have noticed that this story has neither a prologue nor an epilogue, and we have a reason for this.

Not all stories need a build up and to be tied up in a pretty bow, and Roll of the Dice is one of them. It is about a specific moment in time and the immediate build up of how the characters get there.

We haven’t left it this way just to ‘wind you up’, or to ‘leave you wanting more’; we just feel that the story included is the story that needed to be told at this moment in time. That’s not to say, once the anthology is shelved we will
not
revisit this story and extend it. We may well decide to extend it to encompass the beginning and end to Maisie and Thomas’ relationship. We may even include more detail about their family and friends.

Who knows? Because at this moment in time, we don’t, not completely
.

Changing Hearts

Beverley Hollowed

Acknowledgements

Thanks to my awesome husband Brian, and my gorgeous sons, thank you for you continued support xx.

Thanks to Beverly Brantley as always for not letting me give up when I wanted to the most xx.

Thanks to Sally Orchard for editing my book and making it shine xx

Thanks to all the ladies who I am honoured to share this Anthology with, you are all truly talented people xx.

Finally, thank you Jane A Heron for pulling this all together, you are one of life’s true angels’ xx.

Copyright © Beverley Hollowed

All rights reserved.

Changing Hearts©

Beverley Hollowed has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

For Further information contact the author on

[email protected]

As Logan sat there and watched Ella, he thought she looked like she could have just been sleeping. Once you looked past all the tubes and wires, she looked so peaceful, as if she hadn’t a care in the world, but the paleness of her skin and the tiniest hint of blue on her lips revealed just how sick she was.

He watched as her chest kept time with the rhythm of the ventilator. The only sounds in the room came from the different machines that were working together to keep her alive.

He held her hand while he prayed to God not to take her from him. She was his world and he couldn’t live without her. He reached his hand up and softly touched her hair. He could smell the coconut shampoo she always used and it made him smile.

“Stay with me, Ella,” he whispered into her ear. “Just open your eyes and tell me that everything is going to be okay.”

It had only been three days since she had slipped into a coma, but it already felt like a life time. The doctor’s said that he shouldn’t give up hope that a donor could be found any moment, but Logan knew that Ella was running out of time.

As he watched her, he remembered the first day he met her. The first day that Ella Graham burst in to his life.

It was the last day of auditions and until now, they had been going terribly. It was just one singer after another, murdering song after song.

Or if they could sing, they couldn’t dance. By lunch time, Logan thought if he heard the song, My Heart Will Go On, one more time that day, he was going to scream.

“Tell me Jenna,” he asked his assistant as he slumped back into his seat. “Did the audition poster say we were putting on a production of Titanic?”

“No Logan, why?” she replied, giving him a strange look.

“Then why has every single person that has stepped on the stage today, either sang that song or sounded like they are drowning” he sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to relieve the tension in his head. “I think it’s time for a break.”

“I will let the rest know we are stopping for lunch,” Jenna said as she stood up and headed towards the back of the stage. She stopped and turned. “What time will I tell them we will be starting back at?”

“It’s almost noon,” Logan said as he looked at his watch. “Let’s say one o’clock,” He stood up and made his way out of the auditorium.

As he headed down to the coffee shop on the corner, he wondered what the hell he was doing this for. He had been happy teaching drama in high school, but now he was producing and directing his own show in New York. Something he swore he would never do.

Logan Bryce had grown up in New York. He was the son of a lawyer and a doctor. His father, Andrew Bryce was a lawyer, who had his own successful firm. He had great plans for               Logan. He thought his son would follow in his footsteps and one day take over the practise. He was horrified when he found out that Logan wanted to study music and drama and become a drama teacher. He was an only child and his father wanted more for him than that.

His mother was a different story. She had been forced into medicine by her father, and although she loved her work, she didn’t want to do the same to Logan. She thought he should make his own way in life and follow his own heart.

Logan ended up working in a high school in Boston after college. He went home from time to time, but every time he went home, he and his father would argue or there would be this tension between them. He went home less and less. If it hadn’t have been for his mother he probably would have never gone home at all.

However when his mother became ill, he moved back to New York. He wanted to be there for her and it broke his heart to see her so frail and in so much pain. After she died, Logan and his dad put their differences behind them and became closer. Logan stayed in New York and got a job in a local high school, where he had been happy. That was until a friend of his had talked him into doing this show.

When he got to the coffee shop he ordered his usual, coffee, black, one sugar and two chocolate muffins.

He picked up his coffee and headed out side when suddenly, bang.

“I’m sorry…” he began to say to the girl, who seemed to come out of nowhere, that was now covered in his coffee.

“Oh that’s fine!” She said in a sarcastic tone of voice before she launched into a rant. “Why wouldn’t you throw your coffee over me? It’s just another crappy thing that has happened to me today, first my apartment has no electricity this morning, and then this rude bus driver ignores me ringing the bell for two stops. I am late for an appointment which after today, I really shouldn’t bother. So it fine that you should not watch where you’re going and cover me in hot coffee”.

Before he could respond, she picked up her belongings and stormed off, leaving him standing there with the audience they had created, feeling stunned, but all he could think of was she was the most beautiful, all be it angry, girl he had ever seen.

As he walked back to the theatre he laughed to himself as he thought about what had just happened. She might have just made a show of him, but she had definitely put his bad day in perspective.

When he got back to the theatre, he laughed as he told the others what had happened. When he restarted the auditions, he was in a much better mood than he had left them. Even though the singers didn’t seem to be getting any better, he wasn’t getting as stressed out as earlier. He just kept thinking of the poor girl standing there, covered in his coffee looking like she was going to explode, and every time it made him smile.

“There is just one more to go, Logan,” Steve, the choreographer said as he popped his head around the curtain.

Jenna handed him the girl’s résumé and sat down beside him. “Her names Ella Graham, she hasn’t much experience.”

Ben looked up at the stage and there she was, the coffee girl, coffee stains and everything.

Logan tried his best not to react but he couldn’t stop himself from smiling.

At first she didn’t even notice him as she stood there.

“I am sorry I look a mess,” she said as she stepped to the front of the stage. “I haven’t had a great morning and…” she trailed off as she spotted Logan and realised who he was. For a moment she just stood there.

“I am just going to go,” she sighed as she turned and picked up her things.

“Hang on,” Logan replied as he quickly jumped to his feet and walked over to the stage. All the others just sat there, looking confused.

“I am not going to waste my time,” she said sounding like she wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole.

“And how do you know you’re going to waste your time?” Logan replied with a smile. “After all, if I can forgive you for yelling at me in the street, you should be able to forgive me for pouring coffee over you.”

“How do I know you’re not just going to let me sing and then tell me to get out?” She asked as she nervously bit her lip.

“Are you any good?” He asked, surprising her.

“I’m not bad,” she replied, modestly.

“Well if you can sing, why would I tell you to get out?” he asked and gave her a warm smile. “Trust me.”

“Okay” she replied, still sounding unsure. She walked over to the piano, sat down and began to play. When she began to sing, she was breath-taking. Logan just sat there, speechless. She was what he had been waiting for. She was like an angel, poised there at the piano. There was a passion in her voice that no one else had come close to touching, but there was more to her then this incredible voice. He knew it the minute he saw her. 

When she finished the song, for a moment no one said a word. Ella just sat there at the piano, holding her breath as she waited for someone to speak.

“Wow!” Jenna sighed, as she finally broke the silence. “What do you think, Logan? We should definitely call her back right.”

“No!” Logan exclaimed as he got up and walked back over to the stage. “The job is hers.”

“Really?” Ella asked as she tried hard to contain her excitement. She looked a little bit stunned.

“Yes,” he replied with a bright smile. “If you want the part, that is. I think you are just what we were looking for. In fact, if I am honest, you are better than I had hoped for.”

“Thank you” Ella replied as she blushed. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you will take the part,” Logan laughed.

“Yes, of course,” she replied, excitedly.

“Let’s call it a day then shall we” he announced.