Page 63 of Red Flag, Green Light

“Oh?”

“It is twenty-four paragraphs long.”

The paragraphs, I can tell from here, aredense. “Is she…okay?”

“Mentally? No. Physically? Yeah.” Ceres takes another bite of her sandwich. “She spends the first few paragraphs pitifully apologizing to Brian for sending an email instead of a letter because she doesn’t have my address. Then she devolves into why she wanted to send a letter instead of call. And I’m in the middle of her explaining that she needs physical reasons, in print, for why she’s not happy in her current situation, so she won’t forget them during the moments when things are less terrible than they are right now.” Ceres’s eyes glint. “I’m so freaking hopeful that this means she’s ready to move forward on making her life what she wants it to be.”

“So, she’s going to marry Brian and become his housewife?”

Ceres turns her chair to face me. “If that’s what she wants, Brian would be lucky to have her.”

“I bet if she sent him a love letter, he’d send her a filled marriage form.”

Her eyes roll. “Very funny.”

“I’m not joking.” Biting into my sandwich, I chew and swallow. “Amelia never confessed to Brian. He could like her.”

“She’s not subtle, for one thing, and for another Brian strikes me as the type of guy who would have told the girl he liked that he liked her.”

“Brian strikes me as the type of guy who doesn’t know that he likes a girl until she’s standing before him with a love letter.”

“But, at that point, does he like the girl, or the letter?”

I hum. “Point taken.”

“Regardless of what happens with Brian, who doesn’t even live in this state, Amelia isn’t happy. Her parents are…a situation, and she still lives with them. Walmart isn’t the greatest place to work since they’re the type that hires one person for ten jobs, then gives you weird hours so you don’t qualify for benefits. She needs security and independence rightnow. She can work on the love story later.”

“Or she could work on it all at once.”

“What do you mean?”

“Brian has a good, high-paying job…and a guest bedroom.”

Ceres faces me again. “Unless you’re suggesting that he kidnap her and put her to work against her will, you’ve exited my genre.”

“I can text him and ask if there are any entry-level positions available for Amelia at Whirlwind Branding, then if there are, I can ask if he’d mind letting an old schoolmate stay with him while she gets on her feet.” Finishing my sandwich, I crumple the napkin I wrapped it in. “Brian’s got connections. I’m sure he’d make it happen. We could have a moving date as soon as Amelia consents, and we both know that she won’t be able to backpedal if it involves Brian.”

Ceres stares at me. Long moments slip by, and a bubble of anxiety floats into my chest. Maybe suggesting a scheme to manipulate her best friendwasn’tthe play here.

“What?” I ask.

“I like the way your brain works.” Her gaze skates over my lips before she turns her attention back on her computer. “We need to phrase things in such a way that we get the text out to Brian before she panics and cancels everything. This plan needs to become irrevocable. The hard thing needs to be something shehasto do, because it’s not going to be something she wants to do for a hot minute. I know. Leaving the familiar comforts, even when they suck, is almost always harder than staying.”

“Speaking from personal experience?”

“Something like that.”

I will dismember anyone who has hurt my Ceres, especially if those people are her parents.

“How close are you with Brian?” she asks.

An excellent question. “I can confirm that we aren’t in ahomosexual relationship.”

Her eyes roll. “Yes, well, I certainly hope you’re not after a lavender marriage with me; although, that would explain why you’re so keen on skipping through the plot.”

“If I suggest that I am after a lavender marriage, would that get you to the courthouse?”

“No. I’m not going to be your beard. Thanks for asking.”

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