Page 60 of Happily Never After

“Hang on,” Claire said as they approached.

“Do we have to do the thing?” Mindy groaned.

“I have strict instructions from Jack.”

Claire laid a scarf on the ground and dropped to her knees to peer underneath the car. No chloroform-toting stalkers today at least. No rusty nails or other debris hiding behind the tires either. She rose and pressed herself against the backseatwindow. It was empty. Next, she surveyed the cars on either side of them. Also empty.

“We’re good,” she said, pulling on the passenger side handle.

“I could have told you that five minutes ago.” Mindy climbed into the driver’s seat with a dirty look.

Claire glared at her. “I’m sorry, who bought me a GPS watch because I was abducted?”

“Sorry. Thank you for being safe,” Mindy said, but she was totally rolling her eyes behind her sunglasses as she reversed out of the parking spot. “I think I’m just hangry. Where do you want to go to lunch?”

“Let me see what’s around,” Claire said, pulling up an app that listed restaurants nearby. “Oh, this one sounds good. Karma. It has four-and-a-half stars.”

“Sounds good,” Mindy said as Claire pulled up the directions and mounted her phone to the dash.

When they got there ten minutes later, they frowned at the sign.

“Legalize marinara?” Claire read as she squinted.

“Ten bucks says this is a vegan joint.” Mindy pulled into a parking spot.

Claire clicked on the restaurant’s website and scrolled. “Damn it. I owe you a ten. Do we eat some tofu or do we go somewhere else?”

“I feel like after that meeting with Brad we deserve a margarita. Mexican?”

“Perfect. Let me look.” Claire found another promising sounding restaurant. Mama Casa couldn’t be a vegan. Or could she?

They pulled up eight minutes later.

“God damn it.” Mindy stabbed a manicured finger at the sign. Kale salad with cilantro avocado balsamic reduction was the advertised special. “We are in Southern California. There’ssupposed to be great Mexican food here. I want queso, not some hokey-ass kale salad with black beans on it. So help me I will drive to Tijuana if I have to.”

Claire closed the app. If she didn’t act fast, Mindy would have a hangry meltdown. She Googled instead and found a restaurant that explicitly mentioned carnitas. “Third try’s the charm.”

Mindy’s stomach growled as she pulled back out onto the highway. “If this is another vegan restaurant, I’m dumping you out on the sidewalk and driving back home.”

“Luke’s house or like…Pennsylvania home?”

Mindy glared at her. Claire hadn’t seen her this angry since a twenty-four-hour charity relay in college where the power went out and all the hotdog stands had to shut down.

Thirty minutes and one margarita later, Mindy’s mood had improved significantly. “Okay, email to the stables sent,” she said through a mouthful of queso.

“Great. I contacted the a cappella leader and asked about the medley. The songs aren’t even in the same key and they’ll need to rehearse.” Claire grabbed a fistful of hair and pushed her half-eaten taco platter out of the way. The stress was messing with her normally voracious appetite. “I might actually murder Brad when this is over.”

“Where do we find a violinist? Craigslist?” Mindy asked.

“That sounds like a great way to get Brad and Karen murdered,” Claire muttered. “I’ll ask Luke. Maybe he knows someone from the studio.” She fired off a quick text to him and hoped that he wouldn’t be too upset from the morning’s events to answer.

“Any word from the insurance company?” Mindy asked hesitantly.

Claire shook her head. “It’ll be weeks before we hear anything.” A dark cloud settled over her. “I still can’t believe they burned the freaking warehouse down. Five years of work, up inflames. Which reminds me, I need to check on the progress of Karen’s saddle.”

Mindy sighed and crunched on another tortilla chip. Her expression darkened. “We have to bring those fuckers down. Let’s do some research tonight after our safety meeting. I’m looking forward to learning about the dangers of pollution.”

“Done. Ready to attempt the run-through?” Claire carefully stacked their plates on top of each other.

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