“Great! Like I said, help yourself to whatever! I gotta go, babe, the passengers are boarding. Love love Lovey!”
I hang up as she finishes the goodbye she’s always given me, lean over, and grab the fake rock. This thing is literally the most obvious hide-a-key I’ve seen. I swear, she’s gonna get murdered one day. I shake my head and go back to the door, sliding the key in.
Score.
Wait.
I pull the key out, slide it back in, and turn it.
It doesn’t budge.
“Oookay,” I say, pulling it out for a third time and examining it, even trying it upside down.
No luck.
“Fucking hell, Brynn,” I curse. I pull out my phone and aggressively text her, hoping to catch her before she turns hers off for the flight.
Key doesn’t work????
Oh shit. I changed the locks after I broke up with the Great Gaslighting Grayson.
Sigh. I’ll head to town and get a hotel.
Absolutely not. I’ll call Beckett. He will come and open it for you.
DO NOT.
It’s done.
DO NOT SEND YOUR GRUMPY ASS BROTHER TO SAVE ME!
Too late. Said he will be there in 15. Gotta go, babes. The stage is calling, and these oxygen masks aren’t gonna show themselves. LLL.
The horrors persist.
Great. Now, Beckett Hollis, the guy who’s hated me since we were kids and also holds the title of grumpiest man I’ve ever known, is being inconvenienced at 9 at night because of a series of no-good, very bad events that have happened to me.
I plop down on Brynn’s sidewalk and accept the hand that the fates have dealt me.
I don’t even like gambling. I don’t wanna play anymore.
I’m laughing uncontrollably when the big charcoal-colored truck pulls in the driveway.
Because, of course, it started raining.
BECKETT
“Please, Beckett? She’s gone through a lot lately. I just need you to get her in the door.”
My little sister genuinely sounds desperate. I’m torn between being smug about it and holding it over her head in the future, or just flat out saying no.
“I know it’s a bad time of night to ask, I get it. I wouldn’t ask if she had any other option. We can’t let her stay at the motel in town. Did you know it got resprayed for bed bugs last week? Howie said it’s the third time in two months. Wild.”
“I remember seeing a lot of exterminator trucks there when I went to the feed store, now that you mention it.”
“It’ll be so quick, Beck. You gotta hop out, open the door, and your good deed for the year is done.”
I groan, knowing she’s right. It won’t actually take long, and it won’t throw off the nightly routine much.
