Shannon had boxed only a few sentimental favorites to bring back with her to New York. Among them were all of the paintings she’d done for her parents over the years.

Those, she couldn’t part with.

Though her supervisor had offered her the rest of the week off, she’d come back to work the day after returning from Columbus. She’d been certain it would help, that work was the answer she needed.

The new account needed to be dealt with. She’d hardly begun to work on it when she’d been called away. She’d barely had two weeks to become used to her promotion, the new responsibilities and position.

She’d worked most of her adult life for that position, for those responsibilities. She was moving up the ladder now, at the brisk and steady pace she’d planned for herself. The corner office was hers, her week-at-a-glance was tidily filled with meetings and presentations. The CEO himself knew her name, respected her work, and, she knew, had an eye on her for bigger things.

It was everything she’d always wanted, needed, planned for.

How could she have known that nothing in her office seemed to matter. Nothing about it mattered in the least.

Not her drafting table, her tools. Not the major account she’d snagged on the very day she’d received the call from Columbus, and had been forced to turn over to an associate. It simply didn’t matter. The promotion she’d broken her back to secure seemed so removed from her just then. Just as the life she’d led, with all its tidiness and careful planning, seemed to have belonged to someone else all along.

She found herself staring at the painting of her father sleeping in the garden. It was still propped against the wall rather than hung. For reasons she couldn’t understand, she simply didn’t want it in her office after all.

“Shannon?” The woman who poked her head in the door was attractive, dressed impeccably. Lily was her assistant, a casual friend among what Shannon was beginning to realize was a lifetime of casual friends. “I thought you might want a break.”

“I haven’t been doing anything I need a break from.”

“Hey.” Lily stepped in, crossing over to her desk to give Shannon’s shoulders a brisk rub. “Give yourself a little time. You’ve only been back a few days.”

“I shouldn’t have bothered.” In an irritable move she pushed back from the desk. “I’m not producing anything.”

“You’re going through a rough patch.”

“Yeah.”

“Why don’t I cancel your afternoon meetings?”

“I have to get back to work sometime.” She stared out the window, at the view of New York she’d dreamed would one day be hers. “But cancel the lunch with Tod. I’m not in the mood to be social.”

Lily pursed her lips and made a note of it. “Trouble in paradise?”

“Let’s just say I’m thinking that relationship isn’t productive, either—and there’s too much backlog for lunch dates.”

“Your call.”

“Yes, it is.” Shannon turned back. “I haven’t really thanked you for handling so much of my work while I was gone. I’ve looked some things over and wanted to tell you that you did a terrific job.”