Page 77 of Enchanted to Meet You

“On that note,” Jessica said. “Good night, Losers.”

They were strolling arm in arm toward the door when Derrick’s gaze fell upon Rosalie. She was gathering up her family, too. The son was resisting, whining that he still had money left on his game card, but the daughter was coming along willingly enough. Billy was waving farewell to the other Veuve Clique Ohs like he didn’t have a care in the world. Rosalie was giving a very good imitation of the same... until her gaze happened to fall upon Derrick. Then she looked quickly away.

But he didn’t miss how the smile on her face went from looking genuine to fixed, like a mannequin’s.

He wasn’t the only one who’d noticed.

“What’s up with Rosalie?” Jessica asked him. “I’ve never seen her smile so fake. Do you think she knows we’re on to her about the muffins?”

“Oh,” Derrick said, taking her hand. “I think she knows.”

“Is that why the weather’s turned? Is she trying to punish us?”

“No,” Derrick said. “This weather is courtesy of someone else.”

“Who?”

He smiled and squeezed her hand. “Mother Nature.”

Jessica

Grow basil in a pot inside thy home to promote prosperity and keep thy lover true. Use its leaves to thicken pottage stew.

Goody Fletcher,Book of Useful Household Tips

I did, in fact, go home and bone Derrick’s brains out. Or at least I tried to. When I woke up the next morning, his side of my bed was empty.

If he was able to put his clothes back on and leave, he probably still had some brain cells left.

Plus I saw that the clothes he’d put on were his running gear. If he was out exercising, I definitely hadn’t fulfilled my duties.

But that was the least of my problems, it turned out. The reason I woke up was the insistentbeep beep beepof a truck reversing in front of my house.

I live on a small street, so it’s not like we get that much traffic.

And having lived there most of my life, I of course knew everything about my neighbors. So I knew it was highly unusual for any of them to get a delivery they hadn’t told me about in advance.

So of course I leaped from the bed—disturbing Pye, who was curled at the end of it—and ran to the window.

I don’t think I could describe my shock at seeing a bright blue Mini Cooper Electric Hardtop being unloaded from an open car hauler that had the Hopkins Motors logo written across the side. There was a large white bow on the roof of the car.

“What the—”

Billy had promised me a loaner. But he’d never said he was delivering it. He’d said I should stop by to pick it up.

Flinging on a robe and a pair of boots, I hurried downstairs and threw open the front door just as a man with a clipboard in his hand was about to knock on it.

“Oh, hey, there,” he said, affably. “You Jessica Gold?”

“Yes.”

I could see that behind him, my neighbors were already gathering at the edge of their yards, some brandishing rakes to make it look as if they had a reason to be outside at such an early hour on such a chilly October morning. But most hadn’t bothered, and were simply holding mugs of steaming coffee in their hands, enjoying the show.

“Car for you.” The man handed me the clipboard and a pen. “You need to sign for it.”

“I think there’s been a mistake.” But there it was: a bill of sale signed by William Walker, CFO of Hopkins Motors, listing the car as having been paid in full. “I was supposed to come to the lot and borrow a car—”

“This ain’t a loaner,” the man said with a chuckle. “It’s for you to keep, soon as you sign for it.” He indicated where my signature was needed, down at the bottom, beneath Billy’s. Like someone in a dream, I signed. “That’s good. And on the next page, too.”