Page 2 of Fool Me

“Phew!” Rick said as he made a motion of mopping sweat from his brow.

Monique glowered at Ginny. “It’s because getting married would mean you have to start adulting. You have no home that we’ve ever seen. You wouldn’t have employment either if my firm didn’t send you posh cleaning jobs.”

Sadie giggled at the truth of it, but reached over and squeezed Ginny’s hand in case Monique’s jab had stung. Ginny only stuck her tongue out as far as it would go at Monique while using the back of her spoon to dunk at the ice bobbing in her coffee.

Monique shifted her intense, dark brown eyes toward Sadie next, causing Sadie to half-regret her sympathetic gesture toward Ginny. Monique’s gaze alone could be a blunt force object. “Don’t you laugh, Miss Sadie Heppner. You’re the one I’m most worried about.”

“Me? I can wait a measly six years, no problem.” To add a nonchalant confidence to her words, she ran a hand through her hair, stretching and releasing her strawberry blonde springs.

“You dated half the boys in high school!” Ginny said, giving Sadie a mischievous wink before picking up her now tepid coffee and downing half of it in a single gulp.

“Only the cute half,” Sadie said, “and that was high school. I haven’t dated at all since…then.”

Ginny tilted her head as she scrunched her lips all to one side. “That’s true, and what gives? Out of us three, you were always the popular one. Seems like you don’t even hang out with friends much.”

Trails of steam rose from Sadie’s mug like emergency smoke signals. How many times had she mused about this very question? Her friends’ texts and pleas to hang out were gradually dwindling while she did nothing about it. “I don’t know. They’re all partying and dating and…I’m just not into that right now. I’m concentrating on my career, and I’m not messing that up for any guy.”

Monique arched a dubious eyebrow at her. “Concentrating on your acting career while delivering sandwiches to real actors? Are you sure what happened with Charlie in that summer production of Romeo and Juliet didn’t sour you on acting for good?”

“Not at all. I’m working at the studio lot deli while I do auditions. I need to get discovered, and if one thing doesn’t do the trick, maybe the other thing will.” She sat up straighter in the booth seat. “As for Charlie,youtry kissing your cheating ex in front of sold-out audiences night after night while the girl he’s cheating with watches from stage left.” An angry breath escaped her lips. “At least Romeo died violently in the end.”

“But so did Juliet,” Ginny pointed out. She imitated stabbing herself in the heart with her spoon.

Rick rocked back on his heels, chuckling. “Shakespeare should’ve spent more time with Great Aunt Lydia.”

“They probably went to high school together,” Monique said, eliciting laughs. Monique apparently didn’t find her own joke funny. Her fingers drummed a rhythm on the table. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad you’re working on your career, but I still find it hard to believe you won’t end up walking down an aisle in a poofy white dress sometime in the next six years.”

Possibly as a thank you for coming to her aid earlier, Ginny spun the spotlight onto Monique. “And how about you?” she demanded. “You’ve been hunting your own personal billionaire since middle school, complete with timelines and charts and a vision board.”

“A vision board?” Rick said.

Monique sipped daintily at her coffee. “It’s like an inspirational collage. Ginny’s mad about it because she doesn’t have any future plans.” She looked at Ginny. “Don't you worry—my billionaireisout there. In the meantime, we each need to get our inheritances. Fortunately, I’ve got a plan.”

Monique has a plan. How many times had Sadie heard that during her twenty-four years on this earth? Monique’s plans weren’t always terrible, but they always involved marching orders for Ginny and Sadie. They groaned as one as they leaned into each other for a solidarity shoulder bump.

Ignoring them, Monique reached back to tighten her already painfully tight-looking pony. Her straight, auburn hair had a mirror shine. “Like I said, I’m getting my money on my thirtieth birthday. Since I don’t want to feel obligated to share any with you, I'm making sure you get yours, too. Great Aunt Lydia may have been a bit harsh on the opposite sex, but those XY’ersdohave a way of turning XX brains to mush. So, at our regular Sunday brunches, you will both give a dating update, and the answer each time had better bezero dates. The same goes for me. None of us will so much as share a bus seat with a tall, dark, and handsome till we’re twenty-nine and eleven months. Got it?”

Ginny leaned forward over the booth top. “Oooh, are we making a spinster pact? Cause I’m so in.”

“Yes,” Monique said. “A sister spinster pact.” She pointed at Sadie. “And you?”

Sadie nodded sharply. “Hundred percent.” This spinster pact could be just the thing she needed—reduce distractions from her acting careerandget closer to her generous and unexpected inheritance at the same time? Done and done.

For the first time since they sat down, Monique’s posture loosened a notch. “Then, we’re decided. Rick here is our witness.”

Rick’s wide grimace had a frog-like effect on his face. “I don’t know why y’all have to go and complicate your lives like this, but…” He sighed. “Should be interesting.”

Monique nudged her coffee out of the way and slapped her perfect, French-tip manicured hand onto the center of the table. Ginny plopped her unmanicured hand over Monique’s, and Sadie lightly rested her pink, acrylic-tipped one on the top of the pile. “A million dollars each from Great Aunt Lydia, the Manhater—let’s do this!” Monique said.

Rick’s mouth dropped open. “Million-dollarspinsters?”

“Million-dollar spinsters,” the sisters said in unison.

2

Arriving at the StarMont Studio Lot deli, Sadie attacked the snaps of her Kelly-green coverall. “I don’t understand. These sandwiches should have been delivered twenty minutes ago.”

Dana, her co-worker who’d had the morning shift, leisurely unsnapped her coverall to leave for the day. “Whatever. I didn’t see the order. It’ll be fine.”

---