Phin had lied about having another appointment because he’d needed to get Emily out of his office. She presented too much of a temptation to him, which bothered him immensely. He wasn’t the type of guy who was easily tempted. He kept to himself, and it had worked for twenty-eight years of his life.When he sat down heavily in his office chair, he stared at nothing for a long moment. Until a voice broke through his disordered thoughts.“Who’s the new client?” Katherine, Phin’s coworker and only real friend within the office, sat down on the edge of his desk with a smile. Happily married with kids, Katherine was somehow convinced that everyone else needed the same things in life to be happy.Phin, however, had so far resisted her best efforts to pair him up with one of her girlfriends.“Sixteen-year-old brother arrested for aiding and abetting a robbery,” he replied.Katherine whistled. “Damn. That’s serious. You gonna do a plea?”“Most likely. I’m not sure we have any other option
Emily stared at the words in her GED textbook and her head started pounding within moments. Squinting, she forced herself to concentrate, sounding out the words, only to realize that it had taken her over fifteen minutes to go through one page.How was she going to get her GED at this rate when she could scarcely read the study materials?Humiliation made her cheeks scarlet. This was why she studied at home, and this was the one instance where she was glad Josh wasn’t here to see her struggle.Oh God, I’m so selfish to think that! My little brother is in a detention center and I’m happy he’s not here.She rubbed her eyes, like it would somehow make the letters behave. It wasn’t the longer words that tripped her up—sometimes it was the shorter ones, the ones that could be any number of words, likewonornow.She hated homophones in particular: there, their, and they’re were her mortal enemies. And when she was especially tired or anxious, her dyslexia seemed to
Early as always, Phin waited outside the detention center and decided to call his brother Ash to waste time. He told himself he wasn’t loitering outside so he could run into Emily, but it was a big, fat lie.“Phin! I thought you were dead. Thanks for finally calling me back,” said Ash with a laugh. “How’s it going?”Ash had called Phin three times in the last week to talk about getting Phin fitted for his tuxedo, but between three different clients and Katherine haunting his office with offhand comments about going on dates with various women she knew, Phin had completely forgotten to call his older brother back.“Not dead,” answered Phin dryly, “although I feel like I should be.”“Don’t die before my wedding, because then we’ll have an uneven number of bridesmaids to groomsmen and Violet will have a fit.”When Phin was younger, he would’ve taken Ash’s comment at face value. It was only as he’d gotten older that he realized that most people tended to say the opposite of what they
For the first time in a while, Emily had been glad that the diner was busy. A football game had ended in victory, and it seemed like the entire city had emptied out of their homes into every bar available to celebrate. Now that it was edging toward midnight, people were drunk and hungry, which made Emily’s place of work the perfect place for rowdy football fans.Emily had already been pinched, asked out, and had her breasts stared at, but she was used to it. If she acted like a dimwit, usually the guys left her alone. If some guy got too handsy, Lawrence would take care of him.And if not Lawrence, then Jenson would. Burly and taciturn, Jenson had worked as the cook at The Dine in Five for probably longer than Emily had been alive. Covered in tattoos, Emily had heard he’d been in jail for years, but she still didn’t know why he’d been put behind bars.“I need onions on this one,” she said, pointing to the burger under the warmer.Jenson grunted, lifting up the bun and slapping some
Phin stared at Emily before he realized that her question made sense, objectively, and that she seemed tipsy. How much had she had to drink?She clapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh God, I’m sorry. That was so rude.”“It’s a valid question, all things considered,” he said, trying not to smile.He wasn’t exactly a bar hopper, but sometimes when he couldn’t sleep, he’d come to Jackson’s and have a drink, maybe play some darts. He liked to watch the people coming and going, watch the men play pool while their girlfriends tried to distract them. Phin could sit at a booth in the corner, no one caring how long he sat there as long as he bought a few beers. The noise and the movement kept his mind from obsessing about whatever it wanted to obsess about that day: his clients, his family. His own loneliness.“I didn’t think you knew what a bar was,” said Emily. She blinked up at him. “Do you even drink?”Yes, she’s definitely tipsy,thought Phin. “Yes, I drink.” He gestured to the barst
That weekend, Emily showed up at Landon’s studio and posed for the nude photos. They were all tasteful, as Landon had promised, but Emily couldn’t help feeling like she’d sold herself out.She posed behind a sheet that just barely covered her breasts. She couldn’t help but think of the modeling jobs she used to get.She’d gotten lucky in the beginning, snagging the attention of a famous photographer who was able to get her into major magazines for a variety of fashion spreads. Emily remembered how shocked she’d been when she’d seen the luxurious couture garments hanging on the racks, wondering if she’d be thrown out the door if anyone realized who she was.Emily had loved modeling, but that world had almost destroyed her. She’d gotten dangerously thin, to the point that she’d gotten pneumonia one winter. After that scare, she’d had to cut all ties with the industry, no matter how well it paid. It wasn’t worth killing herself.“Good, good,” said Landon as he clicked his camera. “Loo
Phin set down his office phone receiver with a gratified sigh. Apparently Josh Lassiter had finally posted bail and been released.When he’d contacted Violet about giving Emily a job, he hadn’t told her any specifics. Violet, despite her intense curiosity, had agreed to look into it. So, Violet must have hired Emily for a job, and Phin couldn’t help but be glad that he’d found a way to help her.Of course, he had no intention of telling her of his connection to Violet. There was no reason Emily needed to know. Just knowing he helped her was enough for him, and now, her brother was out of the detention center.And if he were honest, he’d admit that he hadn’t stopped thinking about that damn kiss since he’d dropped Emily off at her apartment. He’d dreamt of it, over and over again. In some of the dreams, he’d picked Emily up in his arms and taken her inside before the kiss had turned into something much more interesting.He gritted his teeth, telling his body to calm down. He already
Two weeks after Josh had gotten out of the detention center, Emily almost wished she hadn’t paid his bail. He was sulky, angry, and he didn’t care about anything. He’d been frustrating before he’d been arrested, but Emily didn’t recognize this Josh at all. When she pressed him about what had happened during his stay at the center, he got this tight-lipped look on his face and refused to answer the question.That morning during her shift at the diner, she dreamed of going home early and taking a nap. Or sleeping for twelve hours. She’d lain awake all last night, tossing and turning, worrying herself to death about her brother.And then when her thoughts decided they needed something new to agonize over, she thought of Phin Younger, and how stupid she’d felt leaving his office that afternoon.Had he figured out that she couldn’t read? That when he’d told her to sign that line that saidlegal guardian, she’d frozen like a rabbit in front of the barrel of a gun? She’d sat in his ch