Chapter Two
Wade
I have better things to do than to annoy my best friend’s little sister. I can’t think of more fun things to do, but I should be spending my time on other things.
I walk down the hallway of The Serendipity that leads from the basement stairs out past the courtyard and back to the main entrance. I wave at the lady who let me in—she’s standing in an alcove that holds the mailboxes.She’s somewhere in her fifties and still firmly believes in bright colors. Her orange sweater is bright against her neon-yellow shirt. It’s almost like looking at a candy corn.
“Were you able to find Scarlett?” she asks me.
I stop to answer her as the elevator dings and a man wearing a suit exits, then leaves the building. “I did. Thanks for letting me in.”
“Are you two dating?” she asks with raised eyebrows.
I feel the back of my neck heat up at the question. “Er, no. I’m best friends with Scarlett’s brother. I was only dropping by to say hi.”
“What a shame,” she tsks. “I’m Gloria, by the way. ”
“Wade Hendrix,” I say as I step forward to shake her hand that has several gold rings and a bright yellow bracelet.
“I do hope we’ll see more of you around The Serendipity.”
Thinking about the fact that Scarlett’s alone here in town…means she probably will. “I’ll be back,” I promise as I turn to go.
“Better be careful!”
I stop at that ominous warning. “Why is that?”
“The Serendipity has a way of bringing people together,” Gloria tells me with a wink.
Like a potluck? “What do you mean?”
“People in loooove.” She drags out the word in a hushed whisper. “If you spend any amount of time here, you’re bound to find the love of your life,” Gloria says with a straight face.
I wait a beat for her to break out in laughter, but when she doesn’t, I summon up a semblance of a smile. “Thanks for telling me.”
“Of course. You’ve probably heard all the rumors anyway,” she says with a laugh.
“Rumors?” I regret my question when a chaotic smile spreads across her face.
“The rumors,” she whispers, “are that this building is active in the matchmaking. Keys that go to their neighbors doors. Mail in the wrong mailbox. The elevator malfunctions, and two people come out—in love. Doors lock until people admit they love each other. It’s magic .”
Actually, that sounds like a lot of code violations . But I paste a shaky smile as I back away.
Good grief, the woman is a menace to society. Letting strange men in here and thinking that spending time in a building will make you fall in love?
Nodding as politely as I can, I walk away from the strange encounter.
This building is not what I was picturing. I’ll even admit it’s actually not too bad. When Phoenix told me his sister had moved into a dilapidated old building, I got a little worried. But now, after seeing it, it’s not nearly as bad as the image he painted.
It’s a lot bigger than I imagined. And the fact that the front door is locked all the time makes me feel better about Scarlett living here. Now someone just needs to have a safety talk with that Gloria about not letting people in unless she knows them.
After I head outside, I make my way over to the parking garage, past a man walking a Boston Terrier. The dog looks at me and barks fiercely. Definitely scary enough to terrify a mouse or maybe even a squirrel.
I glance back over my shoulder and look at The Serendipity once more.
Scarlett has talked about living here for as long as I can remember. For the life of me, I can’t understand why she would want the basement apartment. I heard there were some updates happening under the new owner—including the possibility of a penthouse suite. It would make more sense for her to try to rent somewhere like that.
Scarlett can afford it just fine. She should stay somewhere nice. But Scarlett likes to keep all of us on our toes.
And so what does she do? She decides to rent the small one-bedroom basement apartment of an old building. It makes no sense.
When Phoenix left for that job in Boston, he asked me to keep an eye on his sister. And it wasn’t like a hey, keep an eye on my little sis offhand comment. It was a you are going to protect my sister with your life type of speech. I’ve always known Phoenix and Scarlett are close—obviously. He’s my best friend. But I never quite realized how seriously he takes his role as Scarlett’s protector.
And the worst part is the secret I’ve been keeping .
The part where I’ve realized that Scarlett is attractive. Yeah, that little secret. It’s not the kind of stuff you tell your best friend, the overprotective grizzly bear. I’m not quite sure how Phoenix would feel if I told him I’m tempted to date his sister. He might love the idea—or pull out a shovel to dig a hole for my body.
Unfortunately for me, I did promise Phoenix I’d keep an eye on her.
I tried to tell him no. We even argued about it before he left. But he had some convincing points. I guess he’ll make a decent assistant district attorney after all.
It should have been simple, but he’ll only be satisfied I’m following through if I check on her every day. I figured just keeping an eye on her social media would be enough. Like, a keep an eye on her if she has a flat tire and needs to call someone for help kind of deal.
But no, according to Phoenix, this seems to be more of a stick to my sister like glue to keep her out of trouble situation.
The problem is that I don’t know if I can survive so much time with her.
For one, she’s going to catch on. And if there’s one thing Scarlett doesn’t like, it’s being managed. I might be putting my life on the line if I show up at her apartment every day.
The second problem is that I might not like what I see if I hang around.
Phoenix’s big concern is the men she dates.
And what am I supposed to say if she goes on a date with someone I don’t like?
Yeah, next time I talk to Phoenix, I’ll tell him exactly what I think of his horrible plan.
Three days after visiting Scarlett at The Serendipity, I pull into the driveway after work in front of my Cape Cod-style home. The driveway is narrow and short, just big enough for one car.
My housemate Jack and I swap on who gets to park there and who has to park on the street. And by swapping, it’s more of a race to see who can get to the driveway first. On garbage day, we run the risk of losing a mirror if our cars are parked on the street.
My phone rings as I park my 4Runner in the driveway. I just finished running errands and picking up groceries at Spring Foods—an event I always dread. But at least it’s done. Jack says I’m an ingredient guy. I only buy things that have to be made into something. He’s not wrong.
I wonder if Scarlett is eating cereal for dinner. I also wonder what would happen if Phoenix knew how much I actually think about Scarlett. Forget a quick burial in the backyard—he’d probably drag out my murder for the fun of it.
Glancing down at my ringing phone, I laugh. Think of the devil, and he will call. “Hello. What do you want?” I say in greeting to Phoenix as I climb out of the car and walk up the sidewalk to the house.
“I’m just calling to see how it’s going.” In Phoenix’s language, this means, “I want something.” He’s not much of a shoot-the-breeze kind of guy. If he’s calling, it’s because he has a question or something important to tell me. It’s not because he wants to talk about the Boston weather, which is somehow always worse than Serendipity Springs. “Why do you think I want something?”
“Because you’ve texted me three times asking if I’ve seen your sister today.” I laugh as I unlock the front door and carry my two bags of groceries inside.
“She hasn’t answered my texts. What was I supposed to do?” I can hear a whirring sound in the background, and I wonder if he’s grinding coffee beans for his late afternoon cup. The guy is truly a coffee addict. He’d probably be disqualified from donating blood since his veins run with pure caffeine.
“You realize it’s regular business hours, right? She’s probably busy in court.” As if Phoenix doesn’t realize this. Before they retired, his mom was a judge, and his dad was a prosecutor. It’s in the Fernsby blood to work in the judicial system.
“She should have a lunch break, right? She could’ve answered me then. It’s been a long time. I’m a little worried something has happened to her.” His voice has taken on a harder edge.
“You need to calm down.” I tell him the words every man thinks will fix the problem. Saying the words ‘calm down’ hasn’t worked for me yet, so I’ll keep trying until it does. “Your sister is a grown woman. She can take care of herself,” I reassure him. But now that I think about it, it is a little strange that she hasn’t responded to his texts all day. Maybe I should check on her. “You’re just being a nervous Nellie, and you need to tone it down. She’s fine.”
But I’ll just check to make sure.
“I would feel a lot better if I had some proof of life,” Phoenix mutters, and I hear some clanking. He must be getting out his French press. Maybe if he cut back on his coffee consumption, his anxiety levels wouldn’t be so high.
“Your level of worry about her is through the roof.”
“You know I have my reasons,” he says quietly. “She was quiet the day of the wreck.”
“I know,” I sigh as I put away my groceries. When Scarlett was sixteen, she was involved in a car wreck that nearly took her life. The Fernsbys have been extremely protective of her ever since .
To top it off, the things Phoenix sees in his work every day has simply made him more worried for the people he loves.
Phoenix is a phenomenal prosecutor, just like his father was back in his day. But Phoenix’s specialty is organized crime. He’s been working his way up the ranks pretty quickly. A lot of the things he sees in the crimes he deals with would make anyone nervous about their loved ones.
Unfortunately for Scarlett, this translates into a very overprotective Phoenix. Poor Scarlett doesn’t stand a chance when it comes to concerned relatives. They mean well, but I can see how it could feel smothering.
Right now, the elder Fernsbys are in Florida with Scarlett’s grandma. I honestly have no clue whose parent she is. I’m just used to Phoenix and Scarlett calling her Grandma. She had hip replacement surgery, and Gina and Hank went to stay with her while she heals. It’s their first long trip since they’ve retired.
“Are you in the middle of a big case?” I ask as I put the steak on the top shelf of the fridge. Maybe I should write my name on it so Jack doesn’t steal it.
“Yep. And it’s the kind that makes you concerned about a sister who hasn’t answered your text,” he replies quietly.
“Gotcha.” And I do. There are some things that you can’t just push past. You need the reassurance that everyone is fine. “If she doesn’t answer my text, I’ll go find her myself.”
“Thanks, Wade.” The relief is obvious in his voice. “You’re helping me sleep at night.”
“Right, that’s what they call me: the lullaby singer.”
“Hang up and go find my sister. Please.” Phoenix takes a slurp of something and then sighs. “I just made really good coffee, by the way. Maybe you should grab a cup for Scarlett when you go see her.”
“I hope you realize I do have a life beyond babysitting your sister.” I stare at my open refrigerator, already full of food and decide we need to cut back on the amount of beverages we have stored in there. I need to fit the rest of my groceries.
“Whatever you do, don’t tell Scarlett why you’re there or why you’re texting her. If she finds out that I’m asking you to keep an eye on her, she’ll murder me herself. But she’ll probably kill you first,” he says cheerfully. He’s always had a sick sense of humor.
“She’s going to know something is suspicious. I haven’t seen her in months, and now I’ll be showing up twice in a week,” I muse.
“Well, would you rather tell her that you’re there to watch over her?” Phoenix laughs diabolically. “She’d make you regret that.”
“Good point. I’ll keep my mouth shut. Snitches get stitches.” And in this case, I don’t want Scarlett painting a target on my back for revenge. She’s very creative with that. One time when she was a freshman in high school, we teased her about having a crush on someone who was in our class. Phoenix made the mistake of telling her the guy wouldn’t notice her since she was a freshman. She got even by going to the senior prom as his date—at fourteen years old.
“Oh, and in case she wants to start dating again…see if you can figure out who she’s got her eye on. She has horrible taste in men.” Phoenix makes a disgusted sound.
“Have you considered just confiscating her phone and grounding her to her apartment? Or…you could actually build a tower and leave her in it. I saw a movie about that once. The girl lived in the tower. She just grew her hair really long. That could be Scarlett.” I grab a sparkling water and shove the butter in the empty spot. Fridge Tetris complete.
“You’re the worst,” Phoenix chuckles.
“I just showed up at Scarlett’s house unannounced three days ago. She’s going to start thinking it’s fishy that I’m texting her.” I crack open a sparkling water.
“The problem is that I’m not close enough for her to come annoy me. If she gets mad, she’s going to take it out on you. I don’t like that she can ignore me now that I’m gone. I’m too far away.”
“That does make it more difficult to be an obnoxious brother, doesn’t it?” I reply before I take a sip of my water.
“Do you know what would make this easier?” Phoenix asks, his tone changing to hopeful. “Is if you just dated her, then married her. It would put my mind at ease.”
The sparkling water goes down the wrong tube, and I have to cough a few times before I can answer him.
“Of course. Let me get right on that. I’ll marry your sister real quick, just to help you sleep at night,” I reply dryly. Of course, Phoenix would crack a joke like this. As if we don’t have anything better to do. Just joke about me dating his wildly attractive sister. Sure, why not? Like it’s not something that’s crossed my mind in the last couple months.
But he doesn’t let up. “No, I’m serious, Wade. You guys would be great for each other. She’d be the calm one in your relationship, and you would keep things fun for her. And I know you would never do anything to hurt her.”
Well this sucks. My entire reason for trying to not think about Scarlett…is because it felt like a betrayal of my friendship with Phoenix. But if he thinks a Scarlett-Wade relationship is a good idea, then what’s my reason for staying away?
What would our relationship name be? Warlett? Scade?
“Wade—why are you so quiet?” Phoenix asks.
I should crack a joke or distract him, but instead I say exactly what I’m thinking. “I don’t know if you’re joking around or if you’re dead serious when you talk about this—about me dating Scarlett.”
Phoenix clears his throat loudly, then finally says, “I’m serious. Man, I would love it if you fell in love with my sister. Not to be a matchmaker, but I honestly think you two could have fun together.”
I sit down in a chair at my dining room table as I take in his words. “I think I appreciate that sentiment. I’m not gonna lie—I think your sister’s gorgeous. And you know I like her as a person. But I wouldn’t want to mess anything up between us.”
“Between you and me?”
“Nah, I’d tell you to get over it. I mean with Scarlett.”
Phoenix takes a loud sip from his coffee, and I drink from my can of water.
“Ask her out. I know she wants to be with someone. She’s just too nice, and jerks take advantage of her. Ask her out before she ends up with an Aaron.”
Aaron . The senior she broke up with when she was a junior. The same guy that got so mad he purposefully T-boned her in an intersection and sent her to the hospital. He redefined the meaning ‘a real piece of work.’
“I’m not sure yet, though.”
“I know. Besides, it’d just be easier if I were your kids’ uncle. You wouldn’t have to worry about naming me as the godfather,” he says with a laugh.
I don’t know what to say, especially now that I know he’s serious about this. He actually would be happy to see Scarlett and me together.
“Okay, well, I’m not going to date your sister.” Because what if I ruin everything and she never speaks to me again? I think that might be worse.
“Yet,” Phoenix pipes up. “I think it’s only a matter of time. You two are inevitable. Besides, you’re going to be spending a lot of time together.”
“Are you really worried about your sister, or are you trying to play matchmaker here?” I ask .
“Seriously, I need proof of life. But while you’re getting that, just ask her out.” He hangs up the phone before I can refute anything he’s said.
Date his sister. I guess his joke really did start with a grain of truth.
And now, I really should stay away from Scarlett. If Phoenix approves, it’s probably a bad idea. Because while Phoenix thinks his sister has bad taste, it seems to be a family trait. Phoenix has had a long list of odd and uncomfortable dates—like the time he accidentally dated his second cousin.
I finish the rest of the sparkling water and toss the can in my recycling box.
My phone chimes and it’s Phoenix. Good grief, this is starting to become a habit. We’re not the kind of friends that communicate all the time.
PHOENIX
Let me know when you hear from her.
I’d really like to ignore him, but I know Phoenix won’t rest until he’s got proof. So I send off a text to Scarlett.Phoenix probably said something stupid and made her mad and that’s why she’s ignoring his texts.
WADE
Hey, did I leave my hat at your house when I was there the other day? I can’t find it anywhere.
That’s a complete and utter lie. My hat is hanging on the back of the chair at my kitchen table. But it’s the best excuse I can come up with.
SCARLETT
Have you ever considered cleaning your home and doing laundry occasionally? A lot of times you can unearth things there.
I glance around my house. It’s pretty clean right now. Sloppy, college-age Wade finally got his life together and started cleaning every once in a while. Emphasis on once in a while . But I’m at least not a borderline slob anymore. Scarlett wouldn’t know this, though, because she hasn’t been over to my house since I got my own place.
WADE
I mean, I could look around, but I thought it would be easier to ask you.
SCARLETT
That’s because men are lazy when it comes to finding things.
WADE
Pretty please?
It’s a few minutes before she texts back, and I begin to wonder if she’s going to ghost me too.
SCARLETT
I don’t see your hat anywhere here at my place. Maybe you left it at the station and one of the guys took it.
So she’s already home, not still busy at work. She is avoiding Phoenix, then.
WADE
You might be right about that. OK, I’ll look for it.
SCARLETT
Well, let me know when you find it. You have me on the edge of my seat.
She sends an eye roll emoji to let me know she’s joking— as if I’m not well acquainted with her sense of humor. She has that dry sense of humor that can take a person by surprise, or go over some people’s heads.
WADE
Hey now, don’t make fun of someone’s favorite hat. This is sacred territory.
SCARLETT
I would never…
SCARLETT
…miss out on the opportunity to tease you.
Those two texts have me grinning like a fool as I message Phoenix.She’s so sassy.
WADE
She’s at home. I think she’s just avoiding you. If you stop hovering so much, she might actually reach out to you.