Page 31 of Not Exactly a Small-Town Romance

Jester leaps from his chair. “Finally! Love will prevail! Do you have roses? Champagne? She likes—”

“Perrier-Jouët Belle Époque Brut.”

Jester claps. “Of course you know.”

“But no, I’m not doing any of that. I just want to keep her safe. She’s not thinking clearly.” When Jester raises an eyebrow, I add, “You know she’s not for me.”

Jester sits back down. “If you say so.” He fiddles with the piece of the mug that contains the whorl of Charlie Brown’s hair.

“I don’t want anyone taking advantage of her. So, if Desdemona calls—”

“I know. I’ll cover. But I don’t expect to hear a peep until after Cannes.”

I stand at the door. “Do all of us finish each other’s sentences here?”

The cell phone goes quiet, and Jester punches the mute button and says, “I agree with you, honey.” Then mutes it again. “Not Desdemona. She doesn’t care enough.”

He’s got that right. “I’ll be in touch,” I tell him. “Hold down the fort.”

Jester salutes me, then clicks a button on the office line. “I told you it would come to this.” The voice continues its monotonous drone.

I hop in my Jag and take off for whatever’s next.

I’m sitting in traffic on the interstate when Kelsey finally writes me back.

Kelsey:I stopped at the Pitchfork Lodge in Arizona. Had a meet-cute!

My stomach drops. Already.

The cars aren’t moving, so I write her back.

Me:A good prospect?

Kelsey.God, no. But good practice.

I unknot a little.

I pull up the map and search for Pitchfork. With traffic, it will take seven hours to get to this lodge. That will be eleven p.m. Not too bad.

Now for the next problem.

Do I tell her I’m coming or not?

My phone buzzes with a call from her. I tuck an earbud in my ear to minimize the traffic noise. Even so, she instantly knows.

“You’re in your car?”

“Stuck in traffic.”

“Going someplace fun? Do you have a Desdemona date tonight?”

“No.” Time to deflect. “I just left Jester. He was on two phone calls.”

“He does that. Mostly the actors want to hear their own voices.”

Funny how often Kelsey forgets I used to be one of them.

“Tell me about your meet-cute.”

---