Page 30 of Misfortune and Mr. Right

“Rumor has it you and Olivia knew each other in high school.”

“Don’t believe everything you hear.” I smile at Charlie. “But in this case, the rumor is true.”

“She’s amazing. Was she as amazing in high school?”

“She’s always been excellent at everything she does.”

“There’s a story there,” he says.

“Where?”

“Something in your expression. I think you two … did you date?”

I bark out a laugh. “No. Definitely not.”

“Okay. So, not exes. Rivals?”

“You could say that. But it was high school. We’ve moved on. We actually both went to BU.”

“So, you were friends in college.”

I clear my throat. “I don’t know if you’d sayfriends.”

“Mm-hmm. So you never got past the rivalry.”

“I did. But … I’m not sure she did.”

Charlie leans back against the worktable, crossing his arms across his chest as if he’s waiting for me to elaborate.

“I’ve got a mission,” I admit. “Now that I’m back, I want to make peace with her.”

“That shouldn’t be so hard,” Charlie says. “She’s one of the most kind-hearted, forgiving people I know.”

Kind-hearted. Her heart. Nope. Not trying to win it.

“Less is more,” I say absentmindedly.

“What?” Charlie’s face scrunches up.

“Oh, nothing. It’s just a fortune I read. The weirdest thing happened this weekend. I was walking my dog. When I got back to my apartment, there was a random fortune cookie in front of the door. So I picked it up and read it.”

“What did it say?”

“Something about if you want to win a woman’s heart, sometimes less is more.”

“Good advice. But of course, sometimes more is more. There’s no formula when it comes to women. Are you trying to win Olivia’s heart?”

“No. I’m not. At all. I’m just aiming for neutrality, maybe a cordial sort of friendship. Anything but her wishing I would choke on a chicken bone laced with arsenic in my sleep.”

Charlie laughs.

“That cookie was odd, though. Right?” I ask. “It’s not just me. I mean … where did it come from?”

“You know what they say about The Serendipity.”

“I know. The spring that is the fount of good luck in this town feeds that apartment building. Residents are known to have good fortune. Good fortune, mind you. Not good fortune cookies.”

“I don’t know if the hype is merely a legend,” Charlie says.

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