Page 22 of No Such Thing as Serendipity
Jesus.Was she planning on telling everyone?
He studied me as if he were trying to determine if I had a condition that prohibited me from making my own choices.
“She’s relinquished all control to me for the next four weeks.”
Wow.Will she tell him I got let go from my job, too?
He laughed and met my gaze. “Brave woman. I’d never let my brother decide for me.”
“How’d you know she’s my sister?” I asked.
“Seriously? Aren’t you twins?”
Emma wiggled her shoulders and bumped her hip into mine. “Hear that, little sister? He thinks I’m your age.” She fluffed her shoulder-length hair.
I rolled my eyes and shook my head when I met the man’s gaze. “She’s only a year and a half older.” I turned to Emma. “Not a monumental accomplishment, so you can stop gloating.”
She gave me a mischievous smile and then put her finger down on the laminated sheet. “We’ll take this one.”
My eyes widened. “That’s a truck.”
“A pickup, to be more specific.” Emma smiled at the cashier. “Do you have a Dodge Ram? I’ve always thought they were badass.”
He smiled. “Yes, ma’am. We’ve got a red or black one.”
“Black.” If I had to drive a pickup, at least black was inconspicuous.
“We’ll take the red one,” Emma said and shot me a smile.
The man chuckled. “One red Dodge Ram coming up.”
I wouldn’t give Emma the satisfaction of telling her that driving the truck wasn’t so bad. Sitting up high and owning the road was a rush, a definite departure from hugging the ground in my Porsche.
I drove west from the airport and in short order came upon Lake Mendota. I suggested we make a loop around the lake before going to the resort.
When Emma pulled it up on the GPS, she said, “It’ll take over three hours. We don’t want to waste that much time.” She waved her phone. “It looks like State Street is the heart of the city. Why don’t we drive through it?”
“How far is downtown?” I’d kinda hoped we’d be able to stick around Lake Mendota. Water was the one thing that calmed me. With our agreement, I knew I had no say.
“It looks like a couple of blocks.”
Great.I was captive in a podunk town for four weeks. “A metropolis.” My voice dripped with sarcasm.
“What are you prattling on about?” She pointed at the upcoming street. “Turn there. We’ll be downtown in a couple minutes.”
I glanced at her. “Downtown is that close to the lake?”
“Weren’t you listening? I said a couple of blocks.”
“I thought you meant it was only a couple blocks long.”
When we pulled to a stop at the stoplight, she thrust out her phone. “We’re here. And that’s Lake Mendota.”
I stared down at the map. Two large, bright blue splotches sandwiched a thin strip of land. Only eight to ten blocks lay between them. “Lake Mendota curves around downtown?”
“No.” She pointed to the smaller blue spot. “That’s Lake Monona.”
“Well, I’ll be damned.” I looked away from her phone when the light turned.
