Page 39 of You'll Be the Death of Me

“Well, excuse me for taking charge.” Dell folded her arms over her chest in annoyance.

Cole moved his knee away from hers, and she instantly missed it. His voice came back calm. “I’m just saying, if we’re working on learning a lesson here, maybe that’s part of it.”

A retort waited spring-loaded on Dell’s tongue, but her lips kept it in her mouth.

Am I a steamroller?

Certainly, she was passionateand determinedand got things done, but that was just part of who she was. If she’d been any lessambitious there’d be no way to accomplish all the things on her list. But she could admit she got a little... pushy sometimes.

She folded her arms and sourly frowned, doubtingbe less awesomewas a lesson she needed to learn but wondering if maybe there was something there worth considering.

She didn’t have much time to dwell on it because a door at the end of the hall opened, and Mr. Sterling came marching out. He’d changed into a suit and was still tying the tie around his neck.

Dell and Cole popped up from the bench like a pair of prairie dogs, ready to follow. When he passed them, Mr. Sterling smelled like expensive cologne and shampoo. His hair was only half dried and his cheeks still rosy from what must have been a quick and hot shower. He swiped a key card at the door’s side and pulled it open once it beeped. Dell and Cole hurried in behind him, and Dell was soon standing exactly where she’d been impatiently pacing the afternoon before.

“Nice office,” Cole commented, and nodded at the view of the Bay Bridge out the yawning window.

“Yeah, well, we pay this guy like $1,500 an hour, so it better be nice,” Dell said, and followed Mr. Sterling like a shadow as he walked to sit in his fancy leather chair.

“Heck of a lot nicer than my office...” Cole muttered, and gazed around at the dark paneled walls.

“You have an office?” Dell asked, keeping one eye on Mr. Sterling wiggling his mouse to bring his computer to life.

“Yes,” Cole said. “The administration is very corporate.”

Dell tried to picture what an afterlife break room might look like.

Mr. Sterling’s phone rang and cut her thoughts short. Notably, it was his cell phone buried in his pocket and not his desk phone. He pulled it out and squinted at the caller’s name. When he sawit, he instantly sat up straighter and cleared his throat. “Madam Mayor,” he answered.

Dell swapped a glance with Cole, both of them on alert.

“Yes, I’m in the office now. I—” Mr. Sterling went to say more, but Evelyn must have cut him off. He listened, and Dell felt the sensation of a racing heart without actually feeling her nonexistent pulse quicken. “Yes, I have Mr. Moratto and Ms. Rodgers’s prenuptial agreement right in front of me.” As he said it, he sprung from his chair and walked to one of the bookcases lining the walls. He pulled out a leather binder and hurried back to his desk.

“Yes, I understand this is sensitive,” he said. “No, I’m the only one here, as requested.”

Dell chewed her lip and waited out whatever Evelyn was saying on the other end of the line. She wished she could snatch the document off the desk and read it herself, but Mr. Sterling had his hand over the closed cover of the binder.

“Mm-hmm. I see,” Mr. Sterling said, and opened the binder. “Yes, I do recall the addition to section three, clauseC.” He flipped pages of the document, and Dell leaned in close enough she saw his skin break out in goose bumps. He rubbed his neck and looked over his shoulder, as if a breeze had drifted in through the closed window.

Dell expected Cole to scold her for standing so close, but he was doing the same thing on the other side of Mr. Sterling. They both leaned in, peering at the document as Mr. Sterling turned pages, looking for section three, clauseC. When he finally found it, he stopped and tapped his finger on the little paragraph.

Dell nearly climbed on the desk to see over his shoulder.

In the complicated tangle of legalese, she spotted the wordsIn the event of death...

“Destroy it?” Mr. Sterling asked, and suddenly sat back in his chair.

Dell jerked back on reflex, as if he might bump into her and not just pass through her ghostly body.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, I was just making sure I heard you correctly. You want me to destroy the prenuptial agreement?” Mr. Sterling asked.

Dell leaned forward again, trying to get a look at the page. “Did you see it?” she asked Cole, desperate for Mr. Sterling to remove the hand he’d placed on top of the document.

“Not enough to know what it said,” Cole answered, sounding equally as frustrated.

“Yes, ma’am. I understand,” Mr. Sterling said after listening some more. “Has the wedding been called off?” He scooted his chair back and rolled sideways to—to Dell’s horror—turn on a paper shredder.

“No!” Dell yelped, and shot a desperate look at Cole. “He’s going to shred it. What do we do?”