Tangled Temptations

Chapter 17

Eloise went back to the restaurant, just in time for her turn on the piano.

Landon didn't hassle her, he waited until she was off work, and then found a place to talk about piano lessons.

Blake was a good kid, so Eloise agreed to teach her. The fee Landon offered was generous, and he paid for two months upfront, which improved Eloise's financial situation a bit.

She knew what was up - Landon was helping her out in his own way. She might have refused in the past, but she just couldn't afford to care about her pride right now.

When she got home, Michelle was not there. She called Michelle who said she would be back soon.

About half an hour later, Michelle came back. Eloise was about to prepare some late-night snacks for her but noticed that Michelle's arm was badly swollen.

"What happened to your arm?" Eloise helped Michelle to sit down.

played it down. "I'm getting old, and my arm swells

got a knot in her stomach. She immediately checked Michelle's palm. Her usually

while, tears started to fall. She wiped them off hastily but couldn't control her emotions. She treated Michelle's blisters and gave her some cash

want Michelle to

a lot. When she got up, there were obvious dark circles under her eyes. No amount

Michelle advised her, "It's okay if you can't handle the hard

her, "It will be better after a while,

say anything

her bag, and headed to Crescendo Sound Workshop. As soon as she punched in, a coworker whispered to her, "A Ms. Horigan is looking for you! Eloise, if you don't want to see her, we can

aback, then she saw Orlena

but she also didn't want to deal with her. She had to ask her coworker to make an excuse

seen her. Orlena walked over gracefully, a playful expression on her face. "Eloise, I wonder why you didn't want to

and Max's past. Now, Max's fiancée was asking Eloise