“You must be the animal whisperer. Babbity seems happier today too.”
“She likes it here now,” Greta said. “And my vote is no running club because I’m not allowed to go. Marianne says it’s for adults only.”
“Adults only? What sort of club is this?”
“See!” Elinor pointed at him. “If he thinks it’s something dirty, I am definitely not doing this.”
Marianne studied the fliers in her lap. “Okay, maybe I could have worded it better. I wanted it to sound fun. Plus, I was in a hurry and writing in Sharpie. We can cross out anything you object to.”
“I’d like to cross out all of it. What were you thinking?”
Edward held his hand out. “Do I get to see, or are you going to rip it out of my hands again?”
With a shrug, Elinor grabbed the flier from the top of the stack and handed it to him. “Marianne has always lived by the motto, ask for forgiveness rather than permission. As you can tell, since my phone number is at the bottom of this atrocity.”
“My number’s there too,” Marianne pointed out. “And you are totally reading things into it that aren’t there.”
Looking for a good time?
Work up a sweat with us at the new
Midnight Running Club
Adults Only
It will be fun. We promise.
Call Elinor or Marianne for a special invitation.
Edward looked up from reading. “I’ll pay for new fliers.”
“See!” Elinor gripped her hair.
“Stop saying that.” Marianne stared down at the fliers, wrinkling her nose. “You really think…”
“Yes.” Edward wanted to take them out of her hands for safekeeping and throw them in a fireplace immediately. He didn’t have a fireplace, but he’d just make a bonfire right here. The thought of either of them getting calls…
He reached for the stack, and Marianne reluctantly gave them to him. “What should we do with these?” he asked Greta
She tapped her lips. “Paper airplanes?”
“I was thinking more along the lines of paper confetti… and then lighting it all on fire.”
“Heck yes. I’m in.”
Elinor’s phone rang and she pulled it out, looking at the front screen. “I don’t know this number, but it could be one of the places where I put in a job application.”
Marianne’s face held a trace of panic before she hid it, and that was all the prompting Edward needed to reach across and grab Elinor’s phone before she answered.
He answered instead. “Hello?”
“Is Elinor there? I am definitely looking for a good time.”
“You have the wrong number. Don’t call again.” He closed the phone with a snap.
Elinor’s jaw dropped. “Did you just refuse a job on my behalf? That is a neighborly and boss-ly over-reach and you—”
Marianne’s phone began to ring, and Elinor paused mid-sentence before turning to stare at her sister in horror. “You put up some of the fliers already, didn’t you?”
