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“Here, let me.” She bumps me out of the way and opens the drawer wider. “Watch the door.”
I turn my back to shield her—from what I don’t know—one eye focused on the clock and the other locked on the doorknob, praying to God that the knob doesn’t yet start to turn. Ten seconds go by, fifteen, sixty. And that’s when I hear footsteps outside.
“He’s coming.”
“I’ve got it,” Billi says, quickly shutting the drawer and tucking the file inside her bag. She pulls her bag over her shoulder and runs a hand through her hair, quick on the draw with a smile the second the door opens. “Hey, perfect timing,” she says to Joe, her false enthusiasm so well executed that even I wonder if it’s real. “We found everything we needed.”
“You did?” The kid looks nervous like maybe second thoughts are multiplying into one giant sphere of doubt inside his head. Maybe he’ll ask to search Billi’s bag. Maybe he’ll want to know exactly what we were looking for. Maybe he’ll ask for her number, or maybe for a date. Funny enough, all those things add up to the same low score on my likability meter for him.
Meaning I don’t like this kid, and I want him to back off.
Billi puts her fingertips on my arm like she can sense my tension. “We did. Thank you so much for giving us ten minutes.” She squeezes my bicep as if to tell me to keep quiet, so I do. The kid’s got a crush, and I’d do well to remember that as far as playing fields go, I’m on the same one as him.
I seem to have developed a little crush myself.
“You’re welcome, Miss Billi,” Joe says. “Glad I could help. You’ll let me know if you need anything else, won’t you?” The kid is practically begging, hoping for a treat.
Billi moves her hand from my arm to his. “I will absolutely let you know. And remember, let’s keep this between us, alright?”
He hesitates until she smiles. And like the world’s worst cliché, he bows to her full lips. “It stays just between you and me.”
“Well, and him,” she says, gesturing to me.
The kid’s face falls so fast it’s halfway to Houston in two seconds flat.
“Yeah, and me.” I smile, feeling unnecessarily smug. Billi gives me a scathing look, and my smugness joins the kid’s attitude on the highway traveling south.
“Alright, we’ll be back. Thanks, Joe. I’d tell you to say hi to your parents for me, but I suppose that’s a bad idea considering the circumstances.” They both laugh at the inside joke while I open the front door and sulk away. Billi follows me outside, right on my heels.
“Would it kill you to be nicer?” she asks.
“The kid was practically foaming at the mouth. Wanted to jump your bones right there in the office. You know that, right?” I sound like a petulant teenager, but I can’t help it. I don’t like people flirting right in front of me. It isn’t professional. Completely inappropriate. I climb inside the car and slam the door, hating myself for being the jealous outsider.
“Maybe I wanted to jump his too,” she quips, obviously just to irritate me. She slides into the passenger seat. “And so much for manners.”
Manners only matter around hot womenis my first thought.
My mom would smack me over the head if she could witness my behavioris my second.
Instantly, jealousy fades, and loss takes its place. Was my mom even my mother? Is life as I’ve known it for nearly thirty years about to be over? One glance at that file could change everything, and there’s a war brewing inside my chest about whether to acknowledge it or not.
“You’re right. Next time I’ll be nicer.” I chew on a thumbnail and start the car. “Those files. What do you think we’ll find in them?”
Billi seems to sense my change in mood and pats my knee. “I don’t know, but you don’t have to look at them alone if you don’t want to.”
I nod. I want to be alone, and I don’t. I want to peruse the files and set them on fire. Neither emotion outweighs the other. I’m at a loss.
“I don’t know what I want. This might be a good time to consult your Magic 8-Ball and tell me what to do.”
She smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “I will when we get back to the hotel. But first, we have a meeting with Paul, so for now, you don’t need to decide anything.”
Having the decision taken off my hands settles me a bit as I back out of the parking space. “How far to Paul’s house?”
Billi shakes her head. “You’re in Silver Bell, Arkansas, Finn. Nothing is more than five minutes away, no matter where you’re going. Turn right out of here and follow the road.”
I do as I’m told, happy to drive while she leads the way. Thinking that sometimes in life, you need to release the reins and let someone else take over.
I let go completely and focus on the road.
