Epilogue
Kayla
I dust off my hands as we move the last box of stuff into my new room at Willow Inn. It’s been three weeks since Daren and I found my father’s hidden money, and in that time I accepted Ellen’s job offer as a waitress at Willow Inn, while Daren accepted her offer as her new cook.
He was able to quit his other jobs so he now works full-time in the kitchen with Mable, and I swear he smiles all day long. He can’t stop talking about how he wants to open his own restaurant someday.
The girl who was the prep cook before me, Pixie, now lives in Tempe where she’s going to Arizona State University. And because Pixie knows a lot of people at ASU, she’s going to introduce me to some friends of hers that are currently in the nursing program. Which will be great since I start classes at ASU this spring.
Ellen let me stay at the inn as a guest while she had Pixie’s room repainted. The guy who lived next to Pixie, Levi, moved down to Phoenix as well, so Ellen had both rooms painted yellow.
I also bought a working car so I could travel back and forth from Willow Inn to Copper Springs to visit Daren, whom I’ve decided I completely and forever love.
Daren put his share of the money to fast use, paying off all the medical bills he wanted to take care of and buying a new car for himself as well. As much as he missed Monique, he thought it would be silly to spend so much money on a car. So he bought a truck instead. Overall, things have just fallen into place for us and I couldn’t be happier.
Daren enters my room with a giant box in one hand and a bag of cookies in the other.
“Ooh, I love you, I love you, I love you.” I smile at the cookies.
“Easy, tiger.” He sets down the box and pulls two cookies from the bag.
I look him over with a smile. “You know, I read the book Holes last week.”
He lifts a brow. “You did?”
I nod and eye him closely. “And at the end, the boy who had to dig all those holes finds a lost treasure and all his bad luck goes away. Pretty fitting, don’t you think?”
A slow grin pulls up his face. “I knew I liked that book for a reason.” He looks around my room. “So what do you think of your new home?”
I grin at the bright yellow walls and the new blue bedding I bought for my bed. “I love it.”
He hands me a cookie. “And you know the best part about your room?”
I eye him. “What’s that?”
He grins. “That it’s right next door to an empty room that will soon be mine.”
“Are you being serious?” I smile so widely my face hurts.
He nods. “We’re going to be neighbors—if that’s okay with you.”
“That is more than okay,” I say. “That’s incredible!”
“Then here’s to being neighbors.” He holds up his cookie and grins. “And to handcuffs.”
I tap my cookie to his with a smile. “Here’s to handcuffs.”
About the Author
Chelsea lives in Phoenix, Arizona, where she spends most of her time writing stories, painting murals, and avoiding housework at all costs. She’s ridiculously bad at doing dishes and claims to be allergic to laundry. Her obsessions include: superheroes, coffee, sleeping in, and crazy socks. She lives with her husband and two children, who graciously tolerate her inability to resist teenage drama on TV and her complete lack of skill in the kitchen.
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Learn more at: ChelseaFineBooks.com Twitter, @ChelseaFine Facebook.com/ChelseaFineBooks
Please turn the page for a preview of the next book in Chelsea Fine’s sexy new adult Finding Fates series
RIGHT KIND OF WRONG
Available September 2014
1
Jenna
“Look at you. Being all in love like a grown-up. I’m so proud,” I say, smiling at my best friend, Pixie, as we carry boxes into our joint dorm room. “And Levi”—I turn to address Pixie’s hot new piece of arm candy—“you’re welcome.”
He sets a box down. “Am I now?”
I nod. “If it weren’t for me telling Pixie to suck up her fears and just let herself love you, you’d still be a miserable handyman.”
“I’m still a handyman.”
“Yes, but you’re no longer a miserable one.” I grin. “Thanks to me.”
He pulls Pixie into his arms and kisses her temple. “Then I guess I should thank you.”
As they start kissing, my phone rings and I’m relieved for an excuse to leave them to all their lovebirding.
I slip out into the hall and close the door before answering my cell.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Jenna.” The sound of my mom’s voice makes me smile. “How’s my baby?”
“I’m good,” I say. “Pixie and I are almost all moved in. She came down here with her boyfriend tonight so we were able to get mostly unpacked. I just have a few more boxes left at the apartment but I’m going to pick those up later. How are you?”
She pauses. “Well I’m okay.”
It’s the way she emphasizes the “I’m” that tells me exactly what this phone call is about.
“Grandma?” I say. “Again?”
“I’m afraid so. She says she can feel the end coming close.”
I sigh. “Mom. She’s been saying she’s dying for ten years and she’s never even had a cough.”
“I know, but she seems serious this time,” Mom says.
Every few years or so, my grandmother announces to the family that she’s going to kick the bucket at any given moment.
The first two times it happened, I immediately flew back to New Orleans to be by her side—only to find Granny alive and well without so much as a sniffle. The last time it happened, I took a few days to get organized before flying back to New Orleans, where my “dying” grandmother was singing karaoke at a local bar.
So I’m not falling for her silly shenanigans this time.
“No way,” I say. “I’m not spending my hard-earned money to fly out there again just so Grandma can get on my case about love and fate while singing a verse of ‘Black Velvet.’ Tell her that I’ll come visit when she has a doctor’s note stating that she’s at death’s door.”
“Oh, Jenna. Don’t be so dramatic. I swear you’re just as bad as Grandma.”
“I know,” I say, in mock frustration. “And it’s getting hard to compete for the title of Family Drama Queen with Granny declaring her impending death every two years. Could you tell her to just give it up already and let me be the shining star?”
I can hear the disapproval in my mother’s voice. “That’s not funny, Jenna.”
“Sure it is.” I smile. “And Grandma would agree.”
“Please be serious about this,” she says. “Your grandmother isn’t feeling well and she’d like to see you. Again.” When I don’t say anything she adds, “And wouldn’t you feel horrible if she was right this time and you missed your chance to say good-bye?”
Leave it to my mother to play the guilt card.
“Fine,” I say. “But I’m not shelling out the cash to fly there. I’ll drive this time.”
“All the way from Phoenix to New Orleans?”
“Yes. And I will save big money doing it,” I say. “I’ll get my shifts covered at work and leave in the morning. Sound good?”
“Sounds great. Your grandmother will be so happy to hear it.”
I scoff. “Happy enough for karaoke, no doubt.”
“I’m going to pretend like I didn’t hear that.” She clears her throat. “I will see you in a few days then. Love you.”
“Love you too.” I hang up the phone and head back into the dorm room to find Levi and Pixie making out against the wall.
“God. Seriously you two?” I make a face. “I know you just got together in the middle of the road a few hours ago, but come on. There are other people here.”
Pixie pulls back from Levi with a smile and nods at my phone. “Who was that?”
I exhale. “My mom. Grandma claims she’s dying.”
“Again?”
I nod. “So I’m going to drive out there this week and try to be home before school starts.”
“By yourself?”
“Yep.”
She frowns. “That doesn’t sound like fun. Or very safe.”
“I’ll be fine.” I wave her off and grab my purse. “But I have to run to work and stop by my cousins’ apartment for the last of my boxes. I’ll be gone a while so you two can get back to smooching against the wall or whatever.” I wink at Pixie. “See ya.”
“See ya,” she says, still smiling as I exit the room.
Jumping in my car, I quickly head to the bar, where I work as a bartender. It’s a decent job for a college student. Good hours. Good money.
I let myself inside and head to the bar. It’s just past dinnertime so the place is packed and I have to squeeze through the crowd just to reach the bar. When I get there, I lean in and call out to my coworker.
“Cody!”
He turns around and smiles at me. “What’s happening Jenna? Thought you had the night off.”
“I do. But I need to get some shifts covered this week so I thought I’d come in and sweet-talk my favorite bartender…” I bat my lashes, knowing full well Cody isn’t attracted to me at all. But he’s still a sucker for making money. And more bar shifts means more money.
He grins. “I’m listening…”
I whip out my schedule and show him all the days I’d need him to cover. He agrees like the superhero that he is and heads to the back to make it official in the schedule log.
I wait at the counter, thinking about how long my drive to New Orleans will take. Probably at least twenty hours. Ugh. Pixie was right. It really isn’t going to be any fun.
I glance around the crowd and catch a set of hazel-gray eyes shrouded by tousled black hair in the corner. My body immediately goes on alert.
Jack.