Page 93 of Clean Out of Luck

Chapter Thirty

Scarlett

“But I just can’t get thecombination to unlock,” Gloria is telling Wade. She’s waylaid him to help with her mailbox problem. All the mailboxes are in the same alcove at The Serendipity—and they aren’t the usual variety of mailboxes.

Wade and I spent the evening watching movies with Phoenix and hearing about his job, and then I spent the night in my childhood room. It felt nostalgic and happy, but it didn’t feel like home, which was strange. It feels good to be back here at The Serendipity again.

Wade drove me back this morning, which was sweet because it turns out that biking in a chicken suit is actually very difficult. My legs are burning from the workout yesterday.

And when Wade insisted he walk me to my apartment…I, of course, said yes.

Now Gloria has us trapped by the mailboxes and is asking Wade to figure out the combination for her.

“Gloria, these mailboxes are tricky for everyone who lives in The Serendipity, much less someone who’s never seen a combination mailbox before,” I try to explain to her.

Wade gives me a pretend frown. “Oh, please. I think I can figure out a little combination.”

He reaches past Gloria and starts messing with the dial. He turns to smirk at me over his shoulder. “See? Even I can?—”

There’s a cracking sound, and I watch in horror as he straightens and holds up the small knob in his hand. “Er, I, uh, didn’t mean for that to happen.”

Gloria stares at her mailbox—stricken. “How am I going to readThe Serendipity Star? I’ll miss out on all the local news.”

“Yes, today is not a good day for that. I heard there was a chicken outbreak this week.”

Gloria crisply takes the knob back from Wade. “Sometimes things need a woman’s touch.”

She proceeds to reattach the knob and unlock the mailbox, retrieving her mail without a problem. It’s as I’ve always suspected. She’s a very capable person when she wants to be.

Wade looks at me as Gloria marches away in a huff. “I guess you were right.”

“You know, I could probably save you a lot of time. If you just remember from here on out that I’m always right; we’ll never have to waste time on disagreeing with one another.”

Wade rests an arm around my shoulder, pulling me close.

“But if we never argue, we never get to make up,” he says as he leans down to whisper in my ear. “And making up is the best part of disagreeing.”

“We’ll see about that.”

I wrap my arm around his waist and glance back at the mailboxes. “At least she was able to fix it. It’s one less thing to bother Steve with. Sheesh. I didn’t know they would break so easily.”

“I’ve heard you complain about your mailbox. I just didn’t know it was so complicated.”

I shrug as we start walking down the hallway. “They’regetting easier. The more I do it, the more it makes sense. Besides. I’m beginning to think that ‘complicated’ and ‘The Serendipity’ are synonyms in a dictionary somewhere.”

Wade glances out the window that looks out over the courtyard. It’s the first day I’ve seen anyone actually get in the pool—of their own free will. But there are a few people sitting in the chairs around the pool, and I see at least one person swimming laps.

“It’s a good place,” Wade admits. “I’m sorry I made fun of your basement apartment before.”

“You should be sorry. Because I think you hurt its feelings.”

“Please. It’s not like it’s alive.” Wade chuckles as we walk down the stairs and into the basement.

“No, it’s definitely not alive. But it is my home. And I plan on talking nicely to it. It takes care of me, and I’ll take care of it.”

Wade gives me a strange look as we walk down the stairs. “Maybe I spoke too soon, and I should be worried about you here.”

“Yes, well, now you’ll just have to come check on me for the fun of it. You won’t be able to blame my brother for sending you here. It’ll be your own choice to come visit me.”

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