Page 5 of In the Line of Ire

I undidthe ribbon and lifted the lid, then peeled back the tissue paper.Nestled inside was a purse that I'd been coveting for months. Ipulled it out, more than delighted, and turned it over in my hands."This is so generous of you," I said, becoming more thrilled as Iexamined it closer.

"Do youlike it?"

"Like it? I lo—" I stopped, frowning as I began peering closer. That couldn'tbe right.

"What isit? You don't like the color?"

"Thecolor is fine," I said, growing more distracted.

"It isthe right size?"

"Definitely."

"If youdon't like it, say so; it's okay," said Solomon.

"No, it's not that, it's—" My face burned. This wasmortifying. "Where did you buy it?" I asked.

"Heavenly Handbags. They have a store in the mall.Why?"

"Youwent down there and bought it?"

"Earliertoday. Lexi, what's wrong?" Solomon stood straighter, turning me bythe shoulders to face him. I looked up at him, still holding thebag in my hands while a sick feeling filled my stomach.

"It's afake," I said.

"What doyou mean?"

"Itlooks like a designer bag. Actually, it's very good, but it's afake."

"Fake?As in counterfeit? Are you kidding me?"

I shookmy head. "It's a very good fake but it's definitely a knockoff.Solomon, I'm so sorry but you've been duped."

Hestilled in disbelief. "Are you absolutely sure?"

Inodded. "Unfortunately, yes. See the pattern logo?" I said,pointing to the seam. "A real one would never cut the logo in halfwith the seam and the hardware isn't heavy enough either. I'm sureif I looked even closer, I could find other details that are wrongtoo. Anyone could be fooled by it. John, you need to return this atonce and insist on getting your money back."

"I am soembarrassed," said Solomon. "I thought I got a nice gift for mywife."

"You didin your mind and I'm thrilled you thought of doing something solovely," I said. I dumped the purse back in the box and reachedaround his neck, kissing him but he didn't respond. "I'm not mad atyou. I'm mad that someone sold you this as if it were an original;and worse still, coming from a high-end store like HeavenlyHandbags!"

Solomonwrapped his arms around my waist. "I'll take it back tomorrow," hetold me, "and I’ll be sure you get a real one."

"Youknow I have everything I want already," I told him. "Purse or nopurse, I have you."

"'Tildeath do us part," said Solomon. He paused and I wondered if he wasconsidering all those close calls I’d had. Then he confirmed thatby adding, "But let's try to make that later rather thansooner."

ChapterTwo

"Ninety-three thousand views," I groaned. "Why do peoplewatch that stuff? Don’t they have anything better to do with theirlives than to gawk at a grown woman wearing a beer costume rollingon the ground?"

"Youwatched it seven times," said Lily. We stood in her kitchen, twodelicious, freshly-made, fruit smoothies in front of us. They werea pleasant change from the revolting, green smoothies she tried toconvince me to drink before my wedding.

I rolledmy eyes, closed YouTube and set my cellphone on the table. "That'snot the point."

"Itisthepoint," Lily argued. "It means fourteen thousand people watched itsix times each. Fourteen thousand individuals are better thanninety-three thousand although I’d prefer ninety-three thousand toknow about my bar. Someone is still making a lot ofmoney."

"Makingmoney? How?"

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