police.”
***
Two days later, Corey was gone, and our joint bank account was drained. I stared at the computer screen readout in disbelief. All zeros where there should’ve been a nice chunk of money.
“ Bastard.” I blew a dark blonde curl out of my brown eyes and crumpled the empty paper coffee cup next to me. While I did so, I pretended it was Corey’s head.
He’d drained every last penny we had. Phone calls to his parents and our friends turned up nothing. The guy had skipped town, or people were lying to me. Emma had also disappeared.
Big surprise.
The mortgage on our condo was due, and I’d just received a call that morning telling me my furniture would soon be repossessed. Thank universe I had a small personal account with only my name on it. But there wasn’t enough in it to pay all the bills, and while I had a great job as a corporate consultant who streamlined businesses for efficiency, it would take a few great paying gigs to get me back on my feet.
So I called my guardian angel AKA my grandmother. She was a wealthy woman who’d made her money in real estate, and she’d also raised me after my parents left me, quite literally, on her doorstep.
Gran Margie’s cell phone message informed me she was on one of her “extended vacations.”
“ Crap cakes!” I punched the END button.
“ Extended vacation” meant Gran had sold off everything and moved again. I’d get a call from her in about three months to give me her new address, ask how I was doing, and invite me to stay.
Until then, there was only one other person I could turn to for help. My true, old best friend--Kerry McIntyre. She was a geek girl like me, but, unlike me, she never bowed to peer pressure. She walked her own line, and I felt like crap for falling out of touch with her over the last few years. Hopefully, she wouldn’t tell me to screw off when I phoned.
***
“ Holy crap! You’ve hit the big time, Kerry!”
My eyes went wide as I took in the sprawling mansion. It was modern in design, with clean, bright white everywhere. I loved the parquet floor in the great room.
She laughed at my exclamation as she handed me a cocktail and led me to a marble topped bar with leather covered stools. “It isn’t my place. I’m just staying here, for now. The house belongs to my brother.”
And at the mention of Butch McIntyre, I nearly choked on my green olive. “Wow, what’s Butch up to these days?” I tried to sound casual about it, but my voice squeaked.
“ He was modeling, and he got married.”
Modeling, married? My head spun with curiosity.
Butch McIntyre had been a scabby-kneed skateboarder the last time I saw him. He was a lanky kid with a shock of black hair and the most amazing aquamarine eyes I’d ever seen. A quiet, awkward teen, he’d loved horror movies, his skateboard, and video games. He was two years younger than Kerry and I.
I tried to picture that lanky, shy geek boy transformed into a male model. Then I thought about him being married, and my heart sank with disappointment.
“ So, he’s married?”
His sister’s face saddened. “Was married. She died. Car accident.” Kerry’s eyes glimmered when she looked into her martini glass. “She was the president of the agency that represented Butch, and she left her fortune to him.”
“ Oh…I’m so sorry.” I reached out and wrapped an arm around Kerry’s shoulder, gave her a comforting squeeze. “Geez, I’m a bitch.” I shook my head at myself. “I’ve missed so much that’s happened to you, and I come running to you as soon as shit hits the fan in my life, but you never said a word about Butch.”
She hugged me. “Don’t worry about it, hon. That was Butch’s story, not mine.”
I nodded, thankful for her forgiveness. Then I bit my lip as I thought of Butch, our past, again. “Will he mind me staying here? I mean … we weren’t exactly friends back in high school.”
She shook her head and grinned. “Don’t worry about it.
***
Two days later, Corey was gone, and our joint bank account was drained. I stared at the computer screen readout in disbelief. All zeros where there should’ve been a nice chunk of money.
“ Bastard.” I blew a dark blonde curl out of my brown eyes and crumpled the empty paper coffee cup next to me. While I did so, I pretended it was Corey’s head.
He’d drained every last penny we had. Phone calls to his parents and our friends turned up nothing. The guy had skipped town, or people were lying to me. Emma had also disappeared.
Big surprise.
The mortgage on our condo was due, and I’d just received a call that morning telling me my furniture would soon be repossessed. Thank universe I had a small personal account with only my name on it. But there wasn’t enough in it to pay all the bills, and while I had a great job as a corporate consultant who streamlined businesses for efficiency, it would take a few great paying gigs to get me back on my feet.
So I called my guardian angel AKA my grandmother. She was a wealthy woman who’d made her money in real estate, and she’d also raised me after my parents left me, quite literally, on her doorstep.
Gran Margie’s cell phone message informed me she was on one of her “extended vacations.”
“ Crap cakes!” I punched the END button.
“ Extended vacation” meant Gran had sold off everything and moved again. I’d get a call from her in about three months to give me her new address, ask how I was doing, and invite me to stay.
Until then, there was only one other person I could turn to for help. My true, old best friend--Kerry McIntyre. She was a geek girl like me, but, unlike me, she never bowed to peer pressure. She walked her own line, and I felt like crap for falling out of touch with her over the last few years. Hopefully, she wouldn’t tell me to screw off when I phoned.
***
“ Holy crap! You’ve hit the big time, Kerry!”
My eyes went wide as I took in the sprawling mansion. It was modern in design, with clean, bright white everywhere. I loved the parquet floor in the great room.
She laughed at my exclamation as she handed me a cocktail and led me to a marble topped bar with leather covered stools. “It isn’t my place. I’m just staying here, for now. The house belongs to my brother.”
And at the mention of Butch McIntyre, I nearly choked on my green olive. “Wow, what’s Butch up to these days?” I tried to sound casual about it, but my voice squeaked.
“ He was modeling, and he got married.”
Modeling, married? My head spun with curiosity.
Butch McIntyre had been a scabby-kneed skateboarder the last time I saw him. He was a lanky kid with a shock of black hair and the most amazing aquamarine eyes I’d ever seen. A quiet, awkward teen, he’d loved horror movies, his skateboard, and video games. He was two years younger than Kerry and I.
I tried to picture that lanky, shy geek boy transformed into a male model. Then I thought about him being married, and my heart sank with disappointment.
“ So, he’s married?”
His sister’s face saddened. “Was married. She died. Car accident.” Kerry’s eyes glimmered when she looked into her martini glass. “She was the president of the agency that represented Butch, and she left her fortune to him.”
“ Oh…I’m so sorry.” I reached out and wrapped an arm around Kerry’s shoulder, gave her a comforting squeeze. “Geez, I’m a bitch.” I shook my head at myself. “I’ve missed so much that’s happened to you, and I come running to you as soon as shit hits the fan in my life, but you never said a word about Butch.”
She hugged me. “Don’t worry about it, hon. That was Butch’s story, not mine.”
I nodded, thankful for her forgiveness. Then I bit my lip as I thought of Butch, our past, again. “Will he mind me staying here? I mean … we weren’t exactly friends back in high school.”
She shook her head and grinned. “Don’t worry about it.
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