Page 9 of Saber Stalked


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I shrug. “I don’t know. I don’t guard the President.”

He turns, and I get wetter as the umbrella pulls away from covering me. “I thought you worked with the Secret Service?”

“I do. My job is stopping counterfeiters.”

Wendell makes a face like I just told him I didn’t believe in anesthesia, then he pulls out his phone and looks at the screen. “Oh, shoot. I’m getting called into the hospital.”

“What?”

“I gotta’ go,” Wendell hops into his car. “I’ll call you.”

Before I can even register the words, he peels out of the parking lot, leaving me standing in the rain.

What the fuck just happened?

???

Twenty minutes later, I’m back home, drying my hair on a towel and hollering out the back door for Inigo Montoya to come home.

It’s not like him to be out in the rain. As you know, cats hate water. I have no idea how Mandy Patinkin feels about it.

But Inigo is a badass cat. He probably knocked out a dog to take over its doghouse when the rain started. The thought of Inigo getting into a knockdown, drag-out catfight puts a smile on my face.

My stomach rumbles, and I realize I haven’t had dinner.

Shit. I should have taken my raw steak to go. Then I could have microwaved it along with a baked potato.

I pick up the phone to order food when Celia’s face fills the screen. I connect the call and sigh. “What’s up, sis?”

“How did the date go?”

I shake my head. “It’s 7:30, and I’m answering your phone call, so how do you think it went?”

Celia chuckles. “Not good then?”

I roll my eyes. “Understatement. Here’s theCliff’s Notesversion: it started raining. He had an umbrella. I got wet.”

“Sugar! Honey! Iced! Tea!” Celia’s clean way of sayingshitalways made me laugh. “That mother ducker! I hope you blocked his phone number!”

“I mean, he said he’d call,” I hate the desperation I hear in my voice.

Celia’s voice drops as she closes a door. “Listen, honey. You are better than this.”

“Am I?”

“Yes. You are. That butthead didn’t deserve you. But I promise, there is someone out there who does deserve you.”

“What if I don’t deservehim?”

Celia let out a pained sigh. She was always the practical and smart one. I think it came with having kids so young - especially my hellion twin nephews. They kept Celia on her toes until she put an abrupt stop to it a few months ago. They’re 22. Better late than never, I guess.

“Carolina, you have to stop worrying ifyou’regood enough for some man,” Celia orders. “You protect the country from counterfeiters. You are a great sister and afantabulousaunt. You even take stray cats off the street when no one else wants them.”

“Cat,” I correct. “Not cats. There’s only one cat. And I didn’t take him off the street. He kind of adopted me.”

Celia laughs. “Not to mention your sense of humor.”

“Is there a point to the ‘This Is Your Life’ moment?”