Page 39 of Jimmy

Sarah shrugged. “We had another fire last night.”

“We did,” Mandy said. “But when you tossed his name in, I tossed one in, too.”

“Mine?” Jimmy asked.

“Another guy,” Mandy said and blushed. “And the first one did connect with me.”

“But?” Karey asked. “Is he the one that didn’t work out?”

“Yes. I thought he could be the one, but he wasn’t. I’m worried that the magic isn’t true. What if this doesn’t work? What if it only worked for you?” Mandy asked. “I don’t want to put faith in this only to be let down again.”

Karey glanced over at Jimmy. “If I learned anything, it’s that you have to go on faith. Put yourself out there. It’s all you’ve got. When I wrote his name on the scroll, I had no idea he’d end up finding me, but it worked. You have to trust that this person you’ve chosen is worthy of you.”

Jimmy kissed Karey’s temple. “Give yourself the faith that you’re choosing someone good enough for you. Trust your judgment.”

“That’s it.” Karey nodded. “I never thought it’d happen -- us -- but it did. The magic was the nudge to get it started, but we had to finish it off.”

“See?” Mandy elbowed Sarah. “I told you.”

“It probably should be organic,” Karey said. “Don’t force it.”

“And don’t knock it when it does happen because it’s not the person you expect,” Jimmy added.

“Right.” Mandy nodded. “I need to go. I have to meet someone. See you.”

Sarah groaned again as Mandy left. “I’m still not convinced this all works. I think you got lucky.”

“We did,” Jimmy said. “Lucky she walked down my street, lucky she noticed my art, lucky I looked out the window, lucky she loves me…”

“Barf.” Sarah rolled her eyes. “I can’t quantify this.”

“Why do you need to? Let Mandy be happy and enjoy the win.” Karey shrugged. “Honestly, you should find your guy, too.”

“Get yourself a bad boy. We look bad, but we’re not,” Jimmy said. “We’re teddy bears.”

Sarah gagged, then shook her head. “Maybe the bad boy I want is terrible for me, and it’ll never work. I’ve got to go.” She left the table and hurried out of the restaurant.

“Gee. You’d think she’d see Kurt has a thing for her almost as strong as the one she has for him,” Jimmy said. “He’d give his left nut for her.”

“Whatever he did that annoyed her must’ve really done a number on her, and I’m guessing it’ll take an act of God to fix it.” Besides, Karey didn’t want to see anyone give their left nut for anything.

“God or magic.”

She laughed. “It did help us.”

“It did.” Jimmy snorted. “Speaking of helping, I forgot to tell you about Brett. He got some serious help.”

She lost her joy in an instant. The mention of Brett’s name sent a chill through her. “What happened?”

“Brett hadn’t paid the rent on the bookstore and the building owner, Joe Lordes, pulled his lease. He then offered the business lease to the workers and a guy named Scott Dennison is heading up the store now,” Jimmy said. “Since Scott’s the head and Joe can’t stand Brett, Brett is gone.”

She paused. Holy shit. “Gone? As in forever?”

“You guessed it. Run right out of town.” Jimmy polished off the last pickle spear. “He was embarrassed that people found out he’d been cheating the business for the last two years, and both Joe and Scott called him on it. He’s history.”

Relief washed over her. Gone. The man who’d tormented her was completely gone. Good. “I like that -- not that he’d been cheating, but that he’s out of here. Scott will be good for the store.” And not having to run into Brett was a load off her mind.

“I know.” He faced her in the booth. “One more thing. I wanted to show you something when they were gone.” He rolled his sleeve up. “It’s been a bitch to hide this from you, but I’ve had your name inked onto my wrist so you’re always with me.”

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