Page 40 of Sweetheart

"Well, my dad is," he said proudly. "And I plan to be six foot three just like my big brother."

"What if you stop growing before then?" I asked.

"I never thought of that.Man, that would suck."

I shrugged. "Only if you wanted to play basketball."

"I do," he exclaimed."That's in my top10 favorite jobs."

"Oh. Well, you've still got time."

He gave me a dubious look. "When did you stop growing?"

"At about 15—unfortunately. But I'm still hoping for a couple more inches.They say yoga might help. Too badI'm terrible at it."

"Well, that sucks," he said. "About the yoga."

Before I could answer, the small door on the right opened and a new voice joined in, "Stop saying suck so much, Bennet. It's not nice."

"Relax, Betty." The boy rolled his eyes at the girl who took a seat on the stool beside him. "Mom and Dad aren't here, so I can say whatever I want."

"Not in front of customers," the girl said back then gave me a brilliant smile. "Hello. What can we do for you?"

"Um…"

I stared at the two kids who were obviously twins. The little girl's hair may have been longerand set in two long braids. But other than that, they were mirror images of each other down to the rounded cheeks and mischievous eyes.

"Are you here for pick up?" she asked.

Nodding, I said, "Yes, I am. My car broke down the other night, so I had to get a tow."

"Were you by yourself?"

"Yes."

Shegave me a sympathetic look. "That sucks."

I nearly laughed as her brother rolled his eyes; his sister's blatant use of the word she'd just told him not to say wasn'tlost on any of us. But I was starting to wonder if any adults actually worked here.

"Which car's yours?" the boy asked.

"The blue Mazda," I said.

The girlmade a few clicks on the computer. "Scarlett Kent?" she asked.

"That's me."

"I love your name. It's so pretty."

"Thank you," I said. "Iloveyours too. Betty has always been one of my favorites, especially Betty White."

She blushed prettily at the compliment. "Thanks, I was named after my mom'soldest friend."

"That's awesome."

"Yeah, she's 99 now."

I blinked in surprise.

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