Page 88 of Only Fate

“You.” She starts counting out her answers on her fingers. “Yummy Arrangements delivery person. Amazon. While my brother’s visitors are of the opposite sex—” She stops and holds up her hand. “Well, actually, his opposite-sex visitor always goes by the name of Ava. Mine tend to arrive in USPS or FedEx uniforms.”

“Yummy Arrangements?” I ask.

She nods. “Blue Beech’s version of Edible Arrangements.”

“I’m learning this town has quite a lot of their own versions of things.”

“All things are better when they come with a small-town flair.” She smiles and ruffles her hand through my hair. “You’ll never want to go back once you’re comfortable here.”

“Trust me,” I mutter under my breath, “that’s my plan.”

30

“Congratulations! You’re hired!” I hold out my hand toward Lainey. “Welcome to the team.”

Team of one, but, hey, still a team.

Small teams are the best anyway.

You get to know everyone better.

Lainey is twenty-three and has only had her paralegal degree for a few months, so she’ll need training. But I know she’ll be a great fit. We clicked during her interview. Both of us are obsessed with steamy romances, overpriced coffees, and vampire TV shows. Her mom used to work on the town paper with my aunt Chloe.

Lainey dances in place. “When do I get started? I can now if you need me.”

I smile at her. While I appreciate her offer, I’m about to end my day. We need to start decorating for Callie’s party.

“How’s Monday?” I ask.

“Sounds great.” She adjusts her purple skirt. “That’ll give me time to shop for some cute office clothes. What is the skirt-length rule here?”

I laugh. “You just dress as cute as you want to.”

She drags me in for a hug.

If anyone had tried pulling something like this at Adaway and Williams, they’d have been fired immediately. But I like that Lainey is comfortable with me.

New office—check.

Win first case—check.

Hire paralegal—check.

I’m crushing this attorney thing.

“Thank you for coming,” I tell Adrian as he walks toward me inside Callie’s Bake Shop, right on time, like the responsible man I’ve always known him to be.

Whenever he visited me in college, he was never a minute late.

We love us a punctual man. He even brought a gift.

Foster trails him. Adrian texted me earlier and said Foster was riding with him. I like that he and Foster have become friends. Foster has always been a stand-up guy.

“Who the hell invited him?” River shouts, throwing his arm out toward Foster.

Ava comes up behind him, ruffles her fingers through his hair, and grins. “I did, obvi.”

River crosses his arms and glares at Foster. “Since when are you in our circle of friends?”

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