Page 145 of Of Heartbreak and Harmony
“She’s a little devil child,” I whisper to myself. “She’s completely unhinged.”
Torren laughs, and I look up at him with wide eyes.
“Don’t let her get around Sav and Mabel. I don’t think the world could handle it.”
“Did you hear what she did?”
“Every word.” He laughs again and shakes his head. “I’m not mad about it, though. I kind of feel like I should thank her too.”
“Oh god, no. It will go straight to her head. She’s already off her rocker. We don’t need her ego inflated, too.”
He drops his hand over my shoulder and leads me to the elevator. “Baby, I’m afraid that ship has sailed.”
“Thanks for getting them tickets to the shows,” I say, leaning into him as the elevator carries us down to the lobby. “She’s really excited.”
“Yeah, of course. Since your mom only has PT on Tuesday, maybe she and Glory can come up early on Wednesday and hang out.”
I squint up at him like he’s just offered to lie in a tank of spiders just for funzies. This trip to LA is a quick turnaround, playing shows Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights to make up for the ones they had to cancel a few months ago when everyone caught the flu. Then they have to get back on the jet and fly to North Carolina so they can resume the regular tour. Torren will be exhausted. The last thing he should want is to spend time with my mom and bonkers little sister.
“Are you high?” I ask, only half joking, and he laughs.
“I’m serious. I know you miss them, and I’d like a second chancewith Glory. You know, since last time she more or less threatened my life.”
He’s got me there. And I’ll admit, it will be fun to see how he handles her. Or rather, how she handles him. No one handles Glory. It’s something I’ve come to terms with since I moved back home.
“I’ll ask her,” I say as the elevator door opens and we step into the lobby. “But I just need to warn you, Glory is a lo?—”
“Miss James.”
Torren and I turn toward the voice, a hotel bellhop. He’s young, maybe early twenties, and I open my mouth to greet him, but nothing comes out as my eyes fall on the object in his arms.
“Someone left these for you. I was about to deliver them, but the front desk said you were checking out.”
The boy holds the bouquet of calla lilies out to me, but I don’t reach for it. Instead, I take a step back and look at Torren. He’s frowning at the bouquet.
“Where did you get those?”
The boy’s smile falters at the tone of Torren’s voice, and he stammers when he responds.
“Uh...someone...just...just dropped it off. A, uh, delivery person. But we don’t allow delivery people past the lobby. Only ho-hotel staff, so it was given to me. Sir. Mr. King, sir.”
Craig and Damon step up beside the boy, and the poor thing jumps. I try to give him a reassuring smile, but I’m too busy panic-spiraling about another bouquet. The first one was weird. But this one? This one feels ominous, and I can tell from the looks on Craig and Damon’s faces that they think so, too.
Without asking, Craig takes the bouquet from the boy while Damon goes straight to the front desk. Torren turns back to the bellhop.
“Did you happen to see or talk to the delivery person?”
The boy shakes his head. “No. The desk manager just flagged me over and told me to bring them up. She’s the one who talked to the delivery guy.”
Torren looks to the desk. Damon is speaking with a blonde woman who is wearing a pencil skirt and blouse.
“That the desk manager?” I ask, and the boy nods.
“Okay, thanks.” Torren gives the bellhop one flat smile, then stalks to the desk.
“Thank you,” I say, trying to make my smile friendlier than Torren’s. The boy just frowns at me and nods again, so I follow Torren to the desk where he’s already speaking with Damon.
“She’s going to get permission to pull security footage for me.”
