But it would be enough for Maddox to get moving.
Thatwas guaranteed.
49
Karma Cookies
Tessa
From the doorway to the kitchen, Maisie was staring like I'd lost my mind.
Her hair was mussed, her posture was loose, and she was wearing an oversized T-shirt and leggings – in other words, her pajamas.
She said nothing, but her expression said it all.What on Earth are you doing?
Good question.
For hours, I'd been asking myself the same thing. After getting off the phone with my mom, I'd been too rattled to sleep and too wired to even try.
Plus, I'd been obsessing over karma – in Chicago, on the island, and even somewhere in Paris, where my mom was racking up one heck of a debt. And I didn't only mean with money.
Life had given her so much – beauty, brains, and a fortune. But what had she given out in return?
Not a whole lot.
Not even affection for her youngest daughter.
My sister.
Maisie's friend.
Wherewasshe, anyway?
With Maisie, I'd been dropping little hints here and there, praying that she'd eventually give me some clue where Delaney was. But she hadn't, which meant either she didn't know herself or Delaney had asked her to keep quiet.
But maybe – just maybe – now that Maisie and I were friends – sort of – she might be willing to share more than silence.
Not now, apparently.At the doorway, she was still staring like I'd invited a troop of cookie elves into her kitchen.
I glanced around, seeing what she saw in the morning light. The mixing bowl was in the sink with the beaters soaking inside. The kitchen table was littered with baking supplies – flour, two kinds of sugar, and that empty bag of chocolate chips. And then, there were the cookies.
Lots and lots of cookies.
Now that I noticed, they covered every free patch of space, from the counter near the fridge to that shelf beside the sink. Even that bakery box of raisin-slathered bagels had a fresh pile of cookies resting on top.
I bit my lip. Maisie's kitchen wasn't acompletedisaster, but it did give off the vibe of someone spiraling.
That person was me, standing in the middle of the chaos like a baking montage come to life.
I hadn't slept, but Ihadbeen productive. By the time the first rays of sun had filtered through the kitchen window, I'd already brewed a full pot of coffee and had the first batch of cookies cooling on the counter.
I looked back to Maisie and summoned up a smile. "If you're delivering those raisin bombs, you should bring a box of something better to balance the karma."
I meant it, too.The last thing I needed now was more bad luck – and not only for myself. For all I knew, bad karma was contagious, which meant that Maisie and Ryder could be caught in the crosshairs if I wasn't careful.
Or maybe that was just the lack of sleep talking.
Sometime around four in the morning, I'd started wondering if I was the villain in someone else's story – probably my sister's. And then, at five o'clock, I'd gone off on a mental tangent abouthow fast everything had gone off the rails – and who I might be dragging with me.
