Page 41 of Fall for Me

“That’s great, Mia!” I knew how badly Mia had been trying to get work—she’d been fired from her last job, and if anyone called her old employer, the manager there would give them an earful about how Mia had lost them a major account due to her sloppiness. She denied it was true, but I knew from the guilty look she’d given me when she told me about it that she’d made some kind of mistake. I felt bad for my friend. She had no family here—she’d moved to Quince Valley because of a guy who’d promptly dumped her, but her life had already been going kind of nowhere and she didn’t know where else to go. Something traumatic had happened in her past, I knew that much. She never talked about her childhood, and I didn’t press her. It was the perfect surface-level relationship. But now I felt a pang of guilt. I hadn’t said or done anything but enable her as she hopped around from one job—and one guy—to the next, seeming to fail everywhere she went. And unlike me, she didn’t have a family business—or the support network of a family. As overbearing as they could be, I loved them. And I was grateful they were there to catch me when I fell.

My voice was maybe too cheery for her mood, but I was genuinely happy for her.

“Yeah, well, it’s this office downtown on Arbutus Street, and they need to interview urgently.”

She gave me the address. Arbutus was the street the hospital was on, but the address she gave me was right by where it intersected Indigo Street.

I heard the words in Seamus’s voice, that rolling gravel sound. While we’d been talking over dishes, he’d told me he and his dad had moved offices recently, since he’d expanded the business and was meeting more clients.

Indigo was a quieter street downtown that I never had much occasion to go down. But if I was on that side of town anyway with Lola, I could see where it was. Maybe, if Seamus was there, he’d see me, out the window…

I had no reason for seeing Seamus again. I didn’t even have his number, though if I really wanted to, I could get it. Not from Eli, because he’d grill me on why. But Cass had it too—she’d been doing business with him. I’d tried not to think about it, but the thought of seeing Seamus again sent a trailing warmth down my neck. I pressed my hand there as if he’d spoken, so close I could feel his breath.

Then I jerked my hand down, feeling foolish, even though no one was there to see it.

Mia’s frantic voice brought me back down to earth. “Chels, the interview is in half an hour! And if I leave this dog at my place… she’s going to destroy it! She already peed on my couch and carpet multiple times, tore up my favorite shoes, and has basically destroyed my chance at getting my damage deposit back.”

“Okay,” I said. “So… you need me to look after Lola?”

“God yes, please, could you?”

“Of course,” I said. “It’s a beautiful day for a dog walk.” It was, too. Out the window of my bedroom the sun shone, the hills an explosion of fall colors and the sky crisp and blue overhead. I’d thought of Lola a few times over the last few days. Plus, it wasn’t like I had anything else to do. Except meet up with Jude to hear about his room 114 developments, and that could wait.

Now Mia did cry. “Oh, thank you Chelsea. Thank you so much.”

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