Page 14 of Whispers and Wildfire
Why? Why did she keep popping into my head like that? So she’d almost hit my car. I’d avoided the collision. There was nothing else to think about. I didn’t need to keep wondering why she was in town. Her family lived in Tilikum, that was explanation enough. I didn’t need to keep thinking about her.
Or her mouth and the curve of her hips.
What I needed to do was figure out why Stephanie wasn’t at work.
I found Stephanie’s number and called. It rang a few times, and I thought I was about to get her voicemail when she answered.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Stephanie, it’s Luke.”
“Hi, Luke.” Her tone was cheerful.
That was odd. Did she not realize she was supposed to be at work?
“So, are you coming in today, or…”
“Oh, about that. I’m not.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t want to.”
I hesitated, not sure how to respond to that. “You don’t want to?”
“My best friend from high school just got back into town. We’re getting mani-pedis and then probably going shopping.”
“But you’re supposed to be here.”
“You can’t expect me to blow off my friend. She’s my bestie.”
I shook my head in frustration. “I can expect you not to blow off work.”
“That reminds me. I won’t be able to come in tomorrow either.”
“I think maybe there was a miscommunication. I hired you to come in regularly, not just when you feel like it.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. That’s how jobs work.”
“Well, that’s definitely not going to work for me. I have too much going on.”
“Okay, if you have too much going on to come in to work, I’ll have to find someone else.”
“So should I come in next week?”
I blinked a couple times before answering. “No.”
“Really? Oh well. I guess it wasn’t meant to be.”
“I… guess not.”
I didn’t bother saying goodbye. Just ended the call.
Pinching the bridge of my nose again, I let out a frustrated breath. When I’d interviewed Stephanie, she’d given me the impression that she might be a little flighty, but I’d hoped she just needed a chance. Bad call on my part.
The door opened, and I looked up to find my older brother Garrett in his sheriff’s deputy uniform and a pair of slightly cliché, but admittedly very cool, aviators. He swiped the sunglasses off his face as the door shut behind him.
