Page 100 of Wild Ever After
“Oh, you’re the best.” I take it from her and then enjoy a long drink.
“I know.” She leans against my desk. “So? Did he say it again?”
My face grows warm. “No. I’m pretty sure I dreamt it.”
“You did not dream it.” Scarlett shakes her head and laughs. “He is in love with you. Everyone can see that.”
“Then why hasn’t he said it? It’s been weeks since that night.” I was almost asleep. It’s possible I didn’t hear him right.
“I’m not sure,” she says. “Maybe he knows you heard him and he’s waiting for you to bring it up.”
My skin feels tight, and the back of my neck gets hot. There is no way I’m bringing it up.
Changing the subject, I ask my best friend, “Did you read the interviews I sent you earlier this week?”
“Yeah.” Her face lights up. “I can’t get enough. Leo, too. Who is it? Someone we know?”
“I can’t tell. It’s anonymous.” I started reaching out to friends of friends, old colleagues, and classmates to see if any would be willing to answer questions about their marriage. I’ve received a wide variety of responses. A few that have been married less than five years, several in the five-to-ten range, and one couple that’s celebrating their twentieth anniversary this year. I don’t know what it all means or where it’s going, but it’s been fascinating to read their love stories.
“Ugh. I want to know! They are so sweet. I hope Leo and I are like that in twenty years. When do we get to read more?”
“That’s all I have back. I’m waiting on five more to respond, but who knows if or when they’ll get it to me. And I still have to figure out how to use the individual interviews from divorced couples.”
She pouts.
“You’ll be the first to know when I get more. Promise.”
“I love it. You’re turning into a total romantic. Who would have thought?”
“It isn’t about romance. It’s figuring out why some people make it work and others don’t.”
“It’s a little about romance.”
Melody’s office door opens. Scarlett straightens and we both look over to see our boss standing three feet away.
“Jade, can I have a minute?” She smiles, but I still get an uneasy feeling low in my stomach.
“Of course.” I stand on wobbly legs.
Melody disappears back in her office and I shoot Scarlett a nervous glance.
“Lunch?” she asks.
“If I still work here,” I whisper back. “No, I take that back. Lunch either way. But if I get fired, I’m drinking my lunch.”
“She wouldn’t,” Scarlett says, then adds, “she better not.”
I take several deep breaths and smooth out the invisible wrinkles on my skirt on the short walk to Melody’s office.
As I take a step into her space, she glances up and says, “Shut the door, please.”
My pulse quickens as I close us in and then take a seat in front of her desk.
She’s smiling at me again, and for some reason that has me even more nervous than if she were frowning.
“I got an interesting call this morning,” she starts, leaning back in her chair.
My first thought is that someone has figured out the truth about Sam calling off the engagement and me marrying Declan to save face (and my job). But why would she be smiling about that?
