Page 6 of Clean Out of Luck

“You realize it’s regular business hours, right? She’s probably busy in court.” As if Phoenix doesn’t realize this. Before they retired, his mom was a judge, and his dad was a prosecutor. It’s in the Fernsby blood to work in the judicial system.

“She should have a lunch break, right? She could’ve answered me then. It’s been a long time. I’m a little worried something has happened to her.” His voice has taken on a harder edge.

“You need to calm down.” I tell him the words every man thinks will fix the problem. Saying the words ‘calm down’ hasn’t worked for me yet, so I’ll keep trying until it does. “Your sister is a grown woman. She can take care of herself,” I reassure him. But now that I think about it, itisa little strange that she hasn’t responded to his texts all day. Maybe Ishouldcheck on her. “You’re just being a nervous Nellie, and you need to tone it down. She’s fine.”

But I’ll just check to make sure.

“I would feel a lot better if I had some proof of life,” Phoenix mutters, and I hear some clanking. He must be getting out his French press. Maybe if he cut back on his coffee consumption, his anxiety levels wouldn’t be so high.

“Your level of worry about her is through the roof.”

“You know I have my reasons,” he says quietly. “She was quiet the day of the wreck.”

“I know,” I sigh as I put away my groceries. When Scarlett was sixteen, she was involved in a car wreck that nearly took her life. The Fernsbys have been extremely protective of her ever since.

To top it off, the things Phoenix sees in his work every day has simply made him more worried for the people he loves.

Phoenix is a phenomenal prosecutor, just like his father was back in his day. But Phoenix’s specialty is organized crime. He’s been working his way up the ranks pretty quickly. A lot of the things he sees in the crimes he deals with would make anyone nervous about their loved ones.

Unfortunately for Scarlett, this translates into a very overprotective Phoenix. Poor Scarlett doesn’t stand a chance when it comes to concerned relatives. They mean well, but I can see how it could feel smothering.

Right now, the elder Fernsbys are in Florida with Scarlett’s grandma. I honestly have no clue whose parent she is. I’m just used to Phoenix and Scarlett calling her Grandma. She had hip replacement surgery, and Gina and Hank went to stay with her while she heals. It’s their first long trip since they’ve retired.

“Are you in the middle of a big case?” I ask as I put the steak on the top shelf of the fridge. Maybe I should write my name on it so Jack doesn’t steal it.

“Yep. And it’s the kind that makes you concerned about a sister who hasn’t answered your text,” he replies quietly.

“Gotcha.” And I do. There are some things that you can’t just push past. You need the reassurance that everyone is fine. “If she doesn’t answer my text, I’ll go find her myself.”

“Thanks, Wade.” The relief is obvious in his voice. “You’re helping me sleep at night.”

“Right, that’s what they call me: the lullaby singer.”

“Hang up and go find my sister. Please.” Phoenix takes a slurp of something and then sighs. “I just made really good coffee, by the way. Maybe you should grab a cup for Scarlett when you go see her.”

“I hope you realize I do have a life beyond babysitting your sister.” I stare at my open refrigerator, already full offood and decide we need to cut back on the amount of beverages we have stored in there. I need to fit the rest of my groceries.

“Whatever you do, don’t tell Scarlett why you’re there or why you’re texting her. If she finds out that I’m asking you to keep an eye on her, she’ll murder me herself. But she’ll probably kill you first,” he says cheerfully. He’s always had a sick sense of humor.

“She’s going to know something is suspicious. I haven’t seen her in months, and now I’ll be showing up twice in a week,” I muse.

“Well, would you rather tell her that you’re there to watch over her?” Phoenix laughs diabolically. “She’d make you regret that.”

“Good point. I’ll keep my mouth shut. Snitches get stitches.” And in this case, I don’t want Scarlett painting a target on my back for revenge. She’s very creative with that. One time when she was a freshman in high school, we teased her about having a crush on someone who was in our class. Phoenix made the mistake of telling her the guy wouldn’t notice her since she was a freshman. She got even by going to the senior prom as his date—at fourteen years old.

“Oh, and in case she wants to start dating again…see if you can figure out who she’s got her eye on. She has horrible taste in men.” Phoenix makes a disgusted sound.

“Have you considered just confiscating her phone and grounding her to her apartment? Or…you could actually build a tower and leave her in it. I saw a movie about that once. The girl lived in the tower. She just grew her hair really long. That could be Scarlett.” I grab a sparkling water and shove the butter in the empty spot. Fridge Tetris complete.

“You’re the worst,” Phoenix chuckles.

“I just showed up at Scarlett’s house unannounced threedays ago. She’s going to start thinking it’s fishy that I’m texting her.” I crack open a sparkling water.

“The problem is that I’m not close enough for her to come annoy me. If she gets mad, she’s going to take it out on you. I don’t like that she can ignore me now that I’m gone. I’m too far away.”

“That does make it more difficult to be an obnoxious brother, doesn’t it?” I reply before I take a sip of my water.

“Do you know what would make this easier?” Phoenix asks, his tone changing to hopeful. “Is if you just dated her, then married her. It would put my mind at ease.”

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