Page 35 of PenPal Hero

“You mean a partner who feels like a sister,” Alice corrected. “My attorney just this afternoon finished drawing up our partnership agreement. I’ll email you a copy this evening so you can start reading through it. I want to make sure it includes everything we want.”

“Thank you! This is so exciting.” Butterflies danced in her stomach as she selected a bag of sourdough dinner rolls from an end cap display. “I hope you don’t mind me admitting I’m a little nervous about it, too.”

“You’ll get used to it.” Alice looked supremely unconcerned about it. “Who knows? Maybe a year from now, we’ll both have our own administrative assistants to boss around.”

She was joking, of course. She’d always treated Bonnie like a valued employee.

The mere thought of having her own assistant made Bonnie shiver. “One step at a time. My main focus right now is passing the brokerage exam.”

“You’ll do great. You already know the business inside and out, thanks to one really cool realtor in town.” Alice gave her a mischievous smile. “You’re welcome.”

Bonnie burst out laughing. “Like you ever made it a secret that you were training me for greater things.”

“I know, right?” Alice nudged her playfully with an elbow. “Subtlety isn’t exactly my forte.” She was a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of gal. It was one of the things Bonnie had always loved about her.

They picked up a few more items —paper plates, napkins, and bottled water. Then they headed for the self-checkout line.

“Divide and conquer.” Alice positioned the cart between two empty and available scanning stations and started ringing up her purchases.

Bonnie did the same. A few short minutes later, they were on their way back to Alice’s shiny red Mustang.

“Oh, my goodness!” Alice abruptly held out the handles of her white plastic shopping bags to Bonnie. “Do you mind taking these? I see a friend from high school I haven’t spoken to in forever. She just moved back to town to marry her longtime boyfriend. And if the rumors are true, they’re in the market for a new house!” She chortled with delight when Bonnie took the bags off her hands. Then she took off across the parking lot.

“Before you get too far...” Bonnie raised her voice so it would carry. “I’m gonna need your keys, boss lady.”

“True.” Pausing her jaunt, Alice dug in her purse and came up with a set of keys. She tossed them to Bonnie, not even waiting to see if Bonnie caught them before she hurried away.

Bonnie managed to catch them, though it wasn’t easy with so many grocery bags looped around her wrists. “Go get ‘em, tiger!” She sincerely hoped Alice was able to serve as her high school friend’s real estate agent. Reaching Alice’s car, she popped the trunk open. “Whoa!” Something about the dark, looming interior of the trunk brought on a wave of dizziness.

Blinking to clear her vision, she leaned over to deposit the grocery bags in the trunk and experienced another wave of the same weird feeling — a woozy, sinking sensation that threw off her equilibrium. If she leaned forward any farther, she felt like she’d fall face-first into the trunk.

What is wrong with me? She frowned at the yawning opening for a few seconds before noticing that her carton of strawberries had come open. “Oh, no!” She leaned over to gather the loose strawberries and return them to the carton.

Her movements threw her off balance again. She had to splay both palms against the bottom of the car trunk to keep from falling in.

She squeezed her eyelids shut against the rush of sights and sounds flooding her senses. Voices. Flashes of color. Flickers of light. Radiating heat that made it harder to breathe. She tasted an icky metallic tang.

Blood?

She rolled her tongue around, wondering if she’d accidentally bitten the inside of her mouth.

She found no cuts or abrasions, and the taste faded. Her eyelids fluttered open, and the blast of sensations receded, making her realize she must have imagined them. Unless…

There was another reason why they might have felt so real, a much more plausible reason.

Confusion shuddered through her. Was some remnant of the missing three days of her memories bleeding through the walls her subconscious had built around them?

Am I finally remembering?

She closed her eyes again, keeping her hands splayed against the bottom of the trunk, and tried to relax. The flood of sensations returned, making her feel things she’d long since forgotten.

Short wool-like fuzz beneath her fingers.

A dark, enclosed cocoon.

The slam of a door.

Movement beneath her.

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