Page 26 of Conspiracies and Chemistry

“I’m so sorry,” Carly said. “I never cook?—”

“It’s true,” Andrew interjected as he loosened the camera from the tripod.

She glared at him. “I didn’t realize how flammable the hairspray was. Are you okay?”

“I’m sure it’s fine,” Savannah said.

“Yeah, no,” Lucie said through a bite of the apple she’d taken from the fruit bowl. “It’s definitely not fine.”

“Not helpful,” Carly growled. “I’ll run home for my hair cutting kit, and we’ll trim it.”

“Trim?” Savannah ran her hand along her hair and winced when her fingers met the crispy part.

“It’ll look great. I promise. And if not, I know the best wig shop.”

Savannah’s mouth dropped open. “Wig?”

“Don’t worry, it won’t come to that,” Carly said.

“This is why we have rules about pulling hair back in the lab.” My friends’ heads all turned toward me, and I froze when I realized the words had come out of my mouth. “I, um—sorry.”

“I thought you hated those ridiculous rules,” Bridget said.

“I…I…” But I couldn’t say,I do.“They make sense, considering what’s happened here.”

Andrew smirked. “I’m totally telling Oliver.”

“You do and you’ll never play my collector’s edition ofWar of the Ringagain.” I folded my arms.

He set down the tripod he’d been folding up. “You wouldn’t.”

“I’m dead serious,” I said.

“This isn’t about the silly lab rules,” Lucie said. “I think you like this guy. Is something going on?”

“Absolutely not.” I glared first at her, then at Andrew. “We’re coworkers. We don’t even like each other.”

Andrew snorted but said nothing.

“Said every heroine in any Hallmark movie ever.” Lucie always had something to say.

“This is real life,” I said. “I’ve been there, done that, got tricked into selling my company by someone I cared about. Never. Again.”

Lucie looked like she wanted to poke at my past again, but Savannah, always the peacemaker, said, “We believe you, hon.”

Thankful for the reminder that today wasn’t about me, I said, “Andrew, why don’t you go get Carly’s kit, and Carly can show Savannah some pixie cuts.”

Savannah wailed, and everyone seemed to forget what Lucie had said about Oliver and me.

Everyone except me.

The next day, Sunday, Savannah’s sigh made me look up from my laptop. In my living room, she sat across the coffee table from me in one of the club chairs and tugged at her hair for the fiftieth time like that would make it grow out.

Carly had to trim a lot to remove the parts that had ignited when Savannah slid her tray of crackers into the oven. And then a lot more to shape it. It wasn’t quite a pixie cut, but it was clearly the shortest hairstyle Savannah’d ever had.

“Stop,” I said. “Your hair looks great.”

“No, it doesn’t. Carly did the best she could, but it looks weird with my body.” She gestured down at herself, encompassing Kat, who was curled up on her lap.

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