Page 38 of Call It Serendipity

I stop just steps from the edge of the field and turn to face her. “Every hardened criminal has to start somewhere.”

A light laugh escapes her, and I feel a smile pull across my face in response.

“No one can know about this,” she tells me, leaning forward and poking me square in the chest.

“It’s our little secret.” I feel a thrill that we have a secret. Something that’s just mine and Lucy’s.

She nods. Her hand slowly drifts back down to her side, and I want to reach for it, to keep this closeness going.

“Ready to get out of here?” I ask instead, noticing the fading light around us.

“Yeah, but you go first, just in case.”

I take her hand and step backwards out of the cornfield. After looking either way and noticing no one around, I pull my arm, and Lucy, in towards myself.

She stumbles over a low husk and lands in my arms. Holding my breath, I wait for her to pull away without the privacy of the maze around us. But she doesn’t.

Instead, her hands settle on my abdomen, and she looks up at me with relief in her eyes. “Thanks for getting me out of there, I was starting to worry.”

“I’ve got you, always. We’re partners in crime now,” I assure her, wrapping my arms securely around her waist.

And this time when her mouth quirks into that secretive smile, I’m in on it.

22

“Lucy!”

I hear my name the moment I slip my headphones off and step through the door at Jitters. Scanning the café, I spot Taylor at a round table in the corner. She’s waving to me with an overabundance of effort, as if we’re in a significantly larger crowd. I can’t help but smile at her.

If I’m honest, I somewhat envy the way she is so unapologetically herself.

She smiles back at me, pushing out a chair as I approach. “I’m so glad I ran into you. Jake is busy, and I couldn’t stay in that apartment and listen to his dull business meetings any longer.”

I check my watch as I sit. It’s only 8:00 a.m. What does she mean by meetings—plural?

“How early does he start his day?” I wonder aloud.

“Working for our father, Jake isn’t afforded the luxury of having set hours.” She takes a sip from her mug as her expression darkens. “He claims it was an accident, but I think he left his mobile phone and laptop back in the city on purpose. He was trying to avoid this as long as possible.”

She takes another sip then flits her hand in the air. “But, Dad shipped him new ones, so I guess the vacation is over.”

My body slumps further down in the chair, and my thoughts immediately jump to the worry that he won’t have time to spend with me any longer.

“That sounds like a lot.”

She shrugs and takes a sip of coffee. “He masks it well, that’s Jake.”

Has he been masking it all along? Or will he try to see me less now? It’s a ridiculous concern, because I have no stake in his time management. Not even following his declaration in the cornfield about wanting to know me.

This is what he’s in town for, after all.

Not that I haven’t been plenty busy at the shelter and painting over the last few days. The painting in particular has really taken off again as of late, filling the evening hours when I think of him the most.

My wallowing is interrupted by Jenny’s hand on my shoulder and then a to-go cup appearing before me. “I saw you come in, figured your usual was a safe bet,” she explains.

“You’re the best.” I sigh, scooping up the paper cup and holding it to my face. With a slow inhale, I savor the coffee’s aroma and allow it to start perking me up before I even take a drink.

Taylor gawks at the rest of our interaction with intense curiosity. And when Jenny goes back to her counter, she doesn’t waste any time asking, “Do things like that actually happen around here? Baristas knowing you and your order?”