Page 25 of Misfortune and Mr. Right

Rhett and I watch Gil drive away, and then we turn and walk inside. I secretly hope I don’t run into Olivia, but by the time I reach my apartment and haven’t seen her, I’ll admit I’m a bit disappointed.

I’m turning the lock when I look down. There on the floor is a cellophane package. It looks like a fortune cookie. Rhett sees it too. He snatches it up and holds it in his mouth.

“Drop it, Rhett,” I command my dog.

He looks up at me with those wide-set expressive eyes of his and smiles. The corners of his mouth actually tip up. But he doesn’t drop his newfound treasure.

“Drop it!” The bird in the apartment next to Olivia’s squawks from across the way. “Drop it!”

Rhett turns his head and tilts it to one side. still keeping the cookie in his mouth.

“Rhett, drop it,” I command again.

The bird echoes my words. “Drop it!” Then it adds, “Drop the cookie!”

Huh. How could that bird know Rhett has a cookie? Did I say cookie? Did his owner put a cookie in front of my door? Maybe it’s a thing. It could be a courtesy in this building where someone goes around putting cookies on doormats, the way some hotels place mints on your pillow. That would be extra.

“Rhett, drop.” I use my most commanding voice. Rhett sits and releases the now slightly crushed cookie from his mouth.

The packaging has his slobber on it, but it didn’t rip, so the cookie isn’t contaminated. I pick up the cookie wrapper with pinched fingers and hold it out in the air ahead of me as I walk into my apartment.

Once I’m inside, I set the cookie in the kitchen sink and let Rhett off his leash. He dashes over to his water bowl. I rinse the wrapper and open it out of curiosity.

I have to read the fortune twice. It’s so spot on, unlike most fortunes I’ve ever read in my life. Usually they are vague enough to apply to anyone who opens them.

Sometimes less is more when it comes to winning a woman’s heart.

“Winning her heart? I’d like to simply win a smile. A little forgiveness. Not her heart. I definitely don’t want to win her heart.”

I’m talking to myself now.

Is that a sign of mental instability?

I toss the remnants of the cookie and the wrapper into the trash, still keeping the slip of paper containing that ominous fortune in my hand.

Did Olivia put this cookie in front of my door?No. She couldn’t have known what it would say. Besides, she’s not interested in me winning her heart … or any other part of her.

Where did it come from?

I set the fortune on my counter and walk over to the front windows. The view here is great.

Less is more.

Less.How do I do less? Today I did less, and things got worse.

Olivia’s heart?

There was a time when I didn’t think Olivia Pennington had a heart.

What was I thinking? That woman is all heart.

I admire the man who could win it.

That man will definitely not be me.

There’s a knock at my door. Rhett barks and runs over. His rear wags. He barks again and runs in a circle around my legs.

My brother, Jacob, pushes past me when I open the door. He’s twenty-six but lives the life of a nineteen-year-old.

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