“You’re making this into a bigger deal than it actually is.” Ella folded the pillowcase she’d just finished and moseyed over to add it to the stack. There were fifty-seven children in that hospital ward. Fifty-seven kids who had to spend Christmas in the hospital, and she wasn’t about to let a single one of them down just so she could make an exquisite gown that might not even be anywhere near suitable for the caliber of this ball.
No, she didn’t need to go. It was one more thing to add to her to-do list. The thought of him unhinged her enough as it was. She didn’t need the complete derailing seeing him again would bring, let alone dancing with him.
She’d just have to push aside all thoughts of Hawk Danielson—and his indigo eyes, amazing hair, and stimulating consideration of her—aside.
CHAPTER FIVE
Hawk stared at the list. HR finally emailed him the lineup of employees in each of Ever After Sweet Shoppe’s departments, including each person’s mugshot. He didn’t care if Cynthia down in Staffing thought it was an odd request—the only way he could connect a face to a name was with a picture. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about that woman since their chance encounter in the elevator. And he hoped a single headshot would be enough to jog his memory.
She’d been so calm, so kind and patient as she tried to distract him and keep him from hyperventilating. He scrolled through screen after screen. Marketing, Accounting, Sales, Human Resources, Production; he browsed through each quickly, eagerly, anxious for the woman he’d met to jump out at him.
Several times a brunette woman with brown eyes caught his attention, but something held him back every time. One was too old. One had a mole near her upper lip. One woman had audacious bangs and a prominent nose. None of them completely fit the image from the woman he’d spent a handful of minutes in an elevator with. None of them matched the face he continued seeing even in his eyelids.
Who was she? She’d implied several times she worked in his building. The nametag she’d stuffed into her bag implied that she did, anyway. Her talk about working Christmas Day still threw him. None of his departments would be open. Which one did she work in?
He had had a complete breakdown right along with the elevator. Maybe she’d mentioned the department during his minor panic attack, and he’d missed it. Who could she be?
He sent a text to Deanna.
Did the emails get sent out?
They did, sir. Your entire staff has been invited.
The entire staff; that was a relief. Hawk supposed he could skim over the line of recipients, but that was a little too obsessive for his liking. Besides, what good would it do if he didn’t know her name?
The invitations had been extended. Hopefully, the mysterious woman would be attending the ball. It would be completely normal for him to seek her out then, to ask for a dance, wouldn’t it?
***
Ella dragged her feet. Three-thirty a.m. came too soon on a summer day, but add snow, below-zero temperatures, and wind chill? With her apartment’s radiator on the fritz in the early morning hours, she was just plain cold.
She blew warm air onto her hands, keeping as quiet as she could to avoid waking Chloe. The two had shared an apartment since starting Stitches for Sierra. Chloe was such a heavy sleeper, she usually didn’t notice the floor creaks or the accidental cupboard door slams as Ella attempted to retrieve her usual Clif bar and banana breakfast.
Solitude in these early morning hours was a catalyst for deep thinking and personal reflection. Maybe it was the darkness. Maybe it was the stillness of being alone; maybe it was the lonely ache in her heart, but for whatever reason Ella thought about Hawk Danielson.
A man like that would probably never think twice about a woman like her. What did she care? Still, it made her feel the slightest bit of shame for her chosen employment.
A custodial company was the perfect job for someone like Stina Malus. Stina liked to be the boss, to make others clean up messes, to give orders, have someone else do the work and then reap the benefits herself. Knowing Stina’s stuffy, controlling personality—and seeing the way she kept her own house so completely pristine where not even dust dared to descend—a custodial company seemed below her as well. Stina always wore it like some kind of brand, however, like something that was owed to her.
Then again, that was how Stina treated everyone and everything. Why should her company be any different? It brought in the bacon, and that was all Stina cared about.
As for Ella, Stina had offered her a position after she’d graduated high school—and after she’d basically booted Ella out of the house. It’d been an incentive, to soothe the impact of being uninvited from her home. With the prospect of paying rent, Ella had been forced to find a job and decided to save herself the hassle of interviewing somewhere else.
Ella had intended on going to college at the time, and custodial had been the best job she could find that would help her be able to juggle both school and work, seeing as how her custodial hours started so much earlier than her classes would have. But reality had hit with the force of a sledgehammer. Working such early, long hours left her too exhausted for classes. Survival mode kicked in, and she’d had to drop out.
Like always, Ella had done her best to find the positive in the situation. Postponing school was for the best, she told herself. She needed time to build her portfolio before applying for the fashion design program at Garson’s School of Fashion Design in New York. Sure, custodial meant having zero social life because of how prematurely she had to go to bed, but
