Page 4 of The Bitter Heir and the Beauty

Molly, halfway to the door, doubles back. “Speaking of, did you hear about JQ and Lexi?”

I’ve certainly heard things. Will I repeat them? No.

Molly waggles her eyebrows. “The key wasn’t there.”

Roxanne says, “What makes you think there’s a key?”

“A key to what?” I ask mostly to annoy Molly, even though supposedly they found something at the Penny Gamble during their recent renovations.

Molly says, “To the treasure chest.”

I roll my eyes.

She crosses her arms in front of her chest, picking up a long-standing debate among residents of Hogwash Holler. Some insist Hogan Tickle left behind clues that lead to X-marks the spot booty buried in a box in the ground. Others, like myself, are adamantly certain it does not exist.

Molly says, “There is a treasure chest.”

“No, there’s not,” I reply.

“How can you be so sure?”

My mother would’ve found it. Luckie gambled, swindled, and did whatever she could to dishonestly earn money. If there was a bounty to be had, I wouldn’t have been taught to shoplift at the age of five.

“Do you think the new guy will find it?” Roxanne asks with a tremor in her voice, as if nervous about the competition.

“What new guy?” I ask because this is news to me.

Molly starts, “Speaking of fires ...”

Eyes widening, I dash toward the kitchen.

She calls after me, “Not in there.”

Extinguisher in hand, I check to be sure. Hand on my hip, I turn back to Molly. “Do not scare me like that.”

If this place goes up in flames, I won’t collect the insurance money on principle—because everyone will think I did it by association. Yes, my mother is in jail because of arson, among other things.

“I hear he’s a firefighter.” Molly waggles her eyebrows.

“Who isheand if that’s the case, what is he doing here?” We have a volunteer fire department.

“Here?” Molly whirls around as if excited that he just walked in.

Nope. It’s still just the three of us and Mr. Soto.

Eyes big, I blink, concerned that I’m surrounded by fools. “I mean in Hogwash.”

“To save people and houses, obviously.” Molly smiles like there’s more to the story.

Does this town look like it needs saving? Yes.

Do I? Some days are more challenging than others.

Roxanne looks around, then at a whisper, she says, “By houses, Molly means rumor has it he inherited the Tickle Chateau.”

Molly adds, “And that’s not all.”

Still not sure who this mysteriousheis, despite my no-gossip policy, my eyebrows lift in question.

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