Chapter Twenty-Three
Scarlett
Phoenix leaves a voicemail on my phone, which I don’t have a chance to listen to, but then he also sends two texts.
The second I finish sending files to an attorney, I look at my phone. It must be an emergency if he’s trying this hard to get a hold of me. I hope nothing’s happened with Grandma. Or that Mom hasn’t fallen into the swamp again.
PHOENIX
Why aren’t you answering Wade’s calls?
Wade is worried about you, so now I’m worried about you. Do I need to come home?
I stare at the empty coffee cup on my desk. I wonder if I were to scream inside it, if it would mute the sound of my frustration. Picking it up, I stare at the last few drops in the bottom. I’d better not risk it. It might amplify the sound of my misery.
My brother is threatening to come home because I won’t talk to his best friend about my feelings. Okay. Obviously, Phoenix doesn’t know that. This means Wade is playing completely unfair, getting my brother involved in something he doesn’t even understand.
I glance at Claire across the room and see that she’s watching me.
“What are you doing?” she asks.
“Debating on if I should start in on something else or clock out at a reasonable time.”
She straightens the pens on her desk, placing them in a perfectly straight line to the left of her computer. “I printed those files for you the other day.”
I glance up sharply. “What?”
“Yes, they’re on the shelf over there.” She gestures behind me. “Don’t say I never did something for you.”
We have a very old-fashioned system in the Serendipity Springs Courthouse. While we still file everything electronically, we’re also required to print and file a physical copy of each court transcript. And sometimes it takes forever. Even worse? The lawyers and attorneys are allowed to request physical copies as well.
“Claire. You can’t. You’ve just totally ruined my perception of you. You can’t change up on me now and start being nice. That would be unusually cruel.”
She smirks as she taps a stack of papers to straighten them. “It’s called psychological warfare, Scarlett. It’s my favorite.”
I stand up and grab the court document that’s ready for the lawyer who requested it. I can’t believe she actually printed it for me. That was rather sweet of her.
Weird.
There are too many things that aren’t adding up.
Too many things aren’t making sense.
On girls’ night I wished that Claire would be nice to me. I wanted her to do just one nice thing for me, so I knew she was human. Maybe the mop is magic .
I had wished Wade would kiss me—while holding the mop. And he did. That was definitely the wildest thing….but it seems strange that all of my wishes have come true. And how ridiculous do I sound, thinking that my mop is something that can magically grant my wishes?
I’ve heard the rumors that Serendipity Springs is magical. The Serendipity itself…now that building has lore out the wazoo. And what’s strange is that my wishes are just passing moments, not things I’ve given a lot of thought to.
“Why are you still staring at the papers?” Claire asks.
“I was wondering if you laced them with some undetectable poison—or worse, a laxative.”
“Please, anything I do would be a lot more sophisticated than that,” Claire says as she packs up her purse. “I’m going home. You should go back to your lair, too. There’s not enough time in the day for a new project.”
I have another missed call from Wade. It’s the fourth one.
I should just ignore him, but Phoenix texts again. Threatening to come home.
Well, today I’m going to go confront Wade. Tell him to…to…actually, I’m not sure what I need to tell him. Do I want to tell him off for kissing me?
Well, that would just be weird since I asked him to do it.
Tell him to do it again? No, not that. That sounds desperate and needy. And while I might be both of those things, I don’t want to come across that way.
But then again, he’s called me several times, and Phoenix is threatening me if I don’t answer him.
“I need to stop by the fire station,” I mutter more to myself than Claire.
“Did you go out with Jack?” she asks slowly.
“No, he never really followed up.”
“Good. Then he’s fair game.”
I look at her, stunned. First of all, I’m shocked she would even bother to make sure I’m not interested. Second, I never realized she was capable of any range of human emotion besides contempt. “You like him?”
“Don’t look so surprised. He seemed sweet.”
“I thought you might eat someone like that for breakfast.”
“Or maybe we’ll end up being just right for each other.” She smiles genuinely for the first time since I’ve known her. I didn’t know she was capable of that, either. It’s impressive.
Apparently, she does have a range of emotions beyond snark and annoyance.
I’ve seen a few flares of pettiness but never genuine happiness. This is strange and unusual behavior for her.
“Jack, huh?” I just stare at her.
“He reminds me of a beagle.”
“I don’t know how a man reminding you of a dog is the way to your heart, but whatever floats your boat.”
“Thanks. I need his number from you. Oh, and I found a misplaced comma in the email you sent this morning to Higgin’s law office.” Now Claire’s petty smile is back.
I grab my small backpack from under the desk, stuff my purse inside it, and march out the office door. I do not need to listen to her criticisms. We’re notorious for our comma disagreements.
Before I head home, I’m going to take a quick detour.
One that involves stopping by Station 7 and giving Wade Hendrix the dressing-down of his life. How dare he talk to my brother? That low-handed, sneaky…
I pedal my bike as fast as I can. I have someone to chew out about life.
Now, if only I could avoid asking him to kiss me again.