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Her lips pulled on the moistened tip, and she breathed out the smoke as her eyes caught on the angry orange fire inside the filter, roaring with the fuel her lungs controlled. Casey heaved out a breath and sank in her seat as a fresh wave of tears burned behind her eyelids.
“Do you even miss me? Was any of it real for you?”
But the quiet parking garage held no response—and her fairy godmother didn’t appear.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Austin
Austin pulled out ofthe parking garage beneath City Hall and turned right, averting his gaze from the large sign that readBoyd, Bernstein & Templeton at Lawin big, bold letters. After years of imagining that sign, the only thing it did now was squeeze sorrow from his gut.
His eyes glazed over as he navigated the familiar streets of L.A. in the daily four o’clock traffic jam, his Corvette coming to a standstill in a line of cars. “Great,” he muttered and picked up his phone from the cup holder. Josh’s name lit up the screen as he tappedaccepton the message, reading,I’m here. Usual table by Sandy’s Surf. Please don’t cancel on me this time.
Austin rolled his eyes, and twenty minutes later, stepped from the concrete parking lot onto the sand, his feet shuffling to the dreaded picnic table. “I hate thistruth-inducingtable,” he whispered, eyeing his brother seated alone.
Plopping his butt beside Josh, he dropped his head in his hands and massaged his temples. “Hi,” he murmured.
Josh frowned. “I’d ask if you’re okay, but...” He elbowed him in the gut.
Austin snorted.No, I’m definitely not okay.“What’s up, Josh? What am I here?”
His brother lifted the sunglasses from his face and rammed his hand in his right pocket, squinting at the phone in his hands.
“On call?”
Josh nodded and tapped out a quick reply, pocketing the device again. “Sorry, yeah, for another two hours.” He sighed. “But umm, thanks for coming.” Josh eyed his brother, play-punching him in the arm. “Since you finally showed up this time and I have your attention, I’ve got three things I need to talk to you about.”
A seagull screeched overhead and landed four feet in front of the twins, squawking for the lunch scraps beneath their table.
“Fucking bird!” Austin kicked sand in its direction. “Piss off!” he yelled.
Josh furrowed his brow. “And the first one is your sour mood.”
Austin shrugged and dropped his back against the tabletop with a roll of his eyes. “What’re the other two, Josh?”
He shook his head. “Come on man, you’ve been, just not the same since... Tell me what happened. It’s just you and me here.”
