You don’t leave thirteen-year-old boys to their own devices during their summer break.
I should know.
I went through two of my brothers’ thirteen-year-old stage as their primary parental figure.
Doesn’t matter how sweet and kind and good they might be most of the time, they still have thirteen-year-old-boy brains.
“Boys,” the chief agrees. “Mr. Luckwood has twin teenage boys. And what do teenage boys with too much free time and access to an unlimited credit card like to do?”
“I can answer the first part of that, but my brothers never had access to an unlimited credit card, so they never got a woman thrown in jail for planning a party they didn’t tell me about.” My voice is getting higher and tighter, and I can hear the panic in it.
But Logan is turning an uncomfortable shade of burgundy.
The chief growls at him. “Release her andbe nice. We can’t afford a lawsuit.”
“Neither can she,” Logan points out.
“Do you know who she’s living with again?”
Logan snorts. “Daphne doesn’t have money either.”
“Daphne has connections and a problematically strong sense of justice.Let Ms. Best go and be nice,” the chief repeats.
Relief.
The bathroom is in sight.
And so is fresh air.
“Can I have his last donut on my way out the door?” I ask the chief.
It’s habit to be cheeky, I swear. I’m still too close to a panic attack.
He stares back at me, and it’s not just his cheek twitching now.
But I tell myself the facial contortions are more because Logan is gasping in outrage that I want his second donut and have nothing to do with the cheekiness in my request.
“By all means.” The chief himself unlocks the jail cell door and slides it open. “Anything else?”
Freedom.
Freedom.
I’m nearly out of here. Almost to the bathroom. Almost to fresh air.
But I still manage to look him in the eye and ask for one last thing.
2
WELCOME TO ATHENA’S REST. MAYBE.
Simon Luckwood, aka a British actor and single dad who has no idea an apology is about to turn his world upside down
Well,this is awkward.
One minute, I’ve stopped short in utter delight at the sight of a food truck parked at the end of this street of shops in Athena’s Rest, New York, thinking I’d like to finish my errands with a burger from this unique establishment, and the next, my security man is telling me that I had the owner arrested for trespassing at my estate while I was in the shower this morning.
“Was he on foot, or did he arrive by burger bus?” I inquire of Pinky.
