"The ghost wanted it to happen."
"It was fate," Morticia said matter-of-factly.
"And we get free rent and use of the carriage house forever until the end of time," Lilith told me.
"They literally made me write that in the contract," Hunter explained.
"Oh. I need to sit down."
"You can have your job back, obviously," Garrett said, pulling out a chair for me.
"I don’t know," I said. "I did technically screw up, and besides, I was hired through a temp agency."
Evan cleared his throat.
"They're having a moment here, Evan," Archer said.
"Penny, while I’m sure being a temp for these guys is exciting, I have a better proposition."
"No," Garrett said, shaking his head. "I don’t want to lose you again. I need everything I love within a twenty-foot radius of me at all times for the foreseeable future."
"Great," Archer said. "We’re all going to go snowboarding, and you can babysit if that’s how you feel. They can sleep in your room."
"Okay, fine. That was an overreaction."
"It’s sweet that you care," I said, hugging him.
"Penny, I want you to come run the digital marketing department for theVanity Rag," Evan stated.
"I’m not qualified!" I protested.
"Your ASMR baking videos are amazing, you have an active fan base online, and you understand digital marketing. I was thinking about what you said, about the magazine being a branding loss leader. I think its brilliant and the kind of disruptive thinking my investment firm likes."
"Oh, but what about the advertisers?" I asked.
"Yes, that’s going to be a problem, but we cannot run the article. Fear of a lawsuit aside, I’m not going to drag people through the mud like that, especially not kids."
"We appreciate that," Garrett told him.
"I can still do the clown suit and storm Buckingham Palace," I offered.
"I think I have a better idea," Garrett said.
80
Garrett
Icouldn’t believe Penny was back. I had wished she was there, then she just appeared on the doorstep. I hadn’t realized how horribly dark everything had been when I thought we were done until she showed up.
I had been willing to just throw Evan out with a stern warning of a lawsuit, but Penny seemed worried about the workers. I realized that this might be a good opportunity to have Evan owe us a favor. Besides, I already had this plan in motion, just in case. As soon as Hunter had told me Evan had called him about canceling the article, I had started scheming. I knew we couldn’t be too careful. After what had happened with Penny, my new rule was that every plan was going to have nested contingencies.
"Gunnar," I said. My older brother looked up. "The Great Christmas Bake-Offis still beginning filming after Thanksgiving, correct?"
He gave me a grin and a thumbs-up. "You bet!"
"Evan, would theVanity Ragbe interested in special access toThe Great Christmas Bake-Off? The Svenssons are providing space in one of our towers for filming and hosting the contestants. You would have as much access as you wanted."
"We are?" Greg interjected. "It better not be in the Svensson Investment building."
