Page 10 of No Headlines Please

But me? I knew better.

And yet, as she disappeared back into the elevator, I discovered I was smiling.

What was that about?

4

The Notice

Delaney

Thank God for the key.

Tessa had given it to me ages ago, when she'd first moved in. It was actually kind of flattering, especially because I knew for a fact that Tessa had flat-out refused to give any key to Mom.

Of course, Tessa had always been the smart one. But me? Once again, I'd had to learn things the hard way.

No sharing with Mom.

No keys.

No embarrassing stories.

And certainly no bank accounts.

I shoved a hand through my hair and tried to tamp down the panic I'd been feeling ever since that fiasco at the hotel.

There was nothing I could do about it now. The bank – a small local branch I'd been using for years – was closed until Monday morning. And yes, this included their telephone help line.

Considering it was barely Saturday evening, I would be seriously strapped for nearly two days – maybe longer.

Why, oh why, hadn't I changed accounts?

If I knew my sister, she'd changed her childhood account ages ago, probably long before she'd moved into this apartment.

I stilled for a moment, suddenly aware of how quiet her place was. Was I violating her trust by barging in when she wasn't home?

And stealing her cleaning supplies?

No. Not stealing. Borrowing.

This was only my second time inside Tessa's apartment. The first had been barely ten minutes ago, when I'd dashed in only long enough to grab the supplies and rush out to fix my mess – and in front of an audience, too.

An annoyingly attractive audience.

Whose name I still didn't know.

And why?

Because I'd felt too awkward to ask while in the middle of janitor duty.

With that duty officially done, I could finally decompress. In the privacy of Tessa's apartment, I took a long look around, feeling a new wave of guilt for keeping my distance for so long. During the past couple of weeks, I'd called Tessa maybe a dozen times, leaving only two messages.

She hadn't called me back.

But could I really blame her?

After all, she'd called me repeatedly during the past year, and I hadn't returned a single call. Sure, I'd had a good reason, but now, as I stood in Tessa's quiet space, the reason felt slightly ridiculous.