Page 42 of Ruled By Fate

They both jumped and turned to see Sherry standing a few feet away, resisting the urge to snap a picture while openly grinning from ear to ear.

“Brianna Weldon, did you secure alternate transportation home and forget to tell me?”

Brie grinned as they both rose to their feet. “Nope. I found this stray wandering around in the parking lot. Can we keep him?”

Cameron glanced between them in confusion. “A stray—”

“Aw, honey, did you take a cab here just to surprise our girl?” Sherry cooed. “You are makin’ everybody else look bad, mister.” Her eyes swept over him, and she couldn’t help but add, “In more ways than one. Come on, I’ll give you both a lift. Cam, you’re in the back.”

They piled into the car together, Cameron in the back seat next to the sparkling blue box containing Brie’s replacement dress, as promised. “Don’t let her forget that,” Sherry said, pointing. “Trust me, you’ll thank me later.” She winked at him and threw the car into gear with a sigh. “It’s too bad he doesn’t have a chronic illness or something, Brie. Then we could see him all the time.”

“Sher, he can hear you.”

“He doesn’t mind.”

“I don’t mind,” he echoed from the back seat.

“Did Brie tell you all about her first day?” Sherry asked. “She had a bit of a rough one.”

Brie glanced back at him. “He’s aware of the situation.”

“Well, we have to do it all over again tomorrow, so you know what I think?”

“Sher, I wanted to talk to you about that. Are you sure—”

“We’d better make the most of tonight.” Sherry beamed at her exhausted friend, then blithely continued, “I’ve been looking forward to introducing you to Mike for weeks, Ms. Weldon. You will not postpone my night of jubilee. We are celebrating your move, we are celebrating your first day, we are celebrating your bizarrely good-looking new boyfriend, and we are celebrating the blue satin dress with the corset top I’ve been dying to wear for two weeks.” She winked at Cameron in the rearview mirror. “A neckline to slay the souls of men.”

His face paled slightly. “I have seen such a neckline before.”

The girls shared a look.

“Have you now,” Sherry said, raising an eyebrow.

He looked out the window and shuddered. “I understand it is now widely believed that it was Helen of Troy’s face that launched a thousand ships, but I can assure you on behalf of all who gave their lives in the bloodshed that followed — not one of those poor soldiers ever once looked at her face.”

Sherry narrowed her eyes at him in the mirror before looking at Brie. “His sense of humor is a bit of a high-wire act, isn’t it?”

Brie sighed and looked out the window. “You have no idea.”

? ? ?

“Brianna,” Cameron called up the stairs. “Tell me again?”

“Cam, I’ve told you twice already.”

“Yes, but is it not better to be over-prepared in this situation? Sherry impressed upon me the importance of this dinner several times after you went upstairs. She was… compelling.”

Brie’s musical laughter chimed through the house. “Yeah, that sounds like her.”

“Brianna—”

“Weather, sports, hobbies, job. Art if you’re stuck.”

The angel paced the living room, muttering her words to himself on a loop. “Weather, sports, hobbies, job. Weather, sports, hobbies, job. Art if I’m stuck.”

He paused, staring at Brie’s woebegone Ficus “tree” for a moment. He looked to the top of the stairs, then out the window towards the heavens before quickly, even sneakily, stroking one of its bedraggled leaves with his hand. He casually walked away and didn’t even wait to watch it magically grow into a lush, verdant version of itself, three times its original size.

“Weather, sports, hobbies, job. Art if I’m stuck.”

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