Getting Dumped (4 page)

Lori rolled her eyes. “Don’t say that in front of JJ. With her overactive imagination, she’ll be calling at midnight to see if I’ve been attacked by killer spores with fangs and talons.”

“Hey, Macy,” I said, ignoring my sister. “Back from Jamaica?”

“Tahiti,” she replied happily as she bent down to tuck the wallets behind the counter and then stood up with a red silk pouch in one hand. “Jamaica was last month. I flew to Tahiti the day after you got canned, remember? Here, I brought you something.”

She opened the silk pouch and pulled out a gorgeous black pearl bracelet. Before I could protest the extravagance, she’d clipped it on my wrist.

“That’s a great color on you,” she said. “I almost went for the cream-colored one, but then I saw this one and thought
that’s totally JJ
.”

“Wow,” I said, a little awestruck. “It’s gorgeous.”

“She brought me one, too,” Lori said, holding up her wrist so I could admire it. “Pink Tahitian pearls.”

“You’re so sweet to always think of us on your trips,” I said, looking at my wrist with more than a little awe. “Thanks, Macy. Good to have you back. How’s your family?”

Macy’s expression darkened a little, but her smile didn’t waver. “I haven’t actually talked to them since I got back. Busy, you know? Hey, Lori – I’m going to grab a sandwich. Need anything?”

“I’m good. Thanks again for the bracelet.”

She gave us a parting wave and then sashayed out the door.

I turned back to Lori. “That was nice of her.”

“Totally.”

“Very sweet.”

“Yup.”

“Think you’ll see her again this month?”

Lori sighed. “Sometimes she takes a couple weeks off between trips.”

“True, but the last time she went out for a sandwich, you got a postcard from Paris.”

“She did bring me the sandwich two months later.”

I shrugged and draped my handbag over the back of the stylish leather barstool beside my sister. Lori had taken Macy on two years earlier when Macy had declared it her life’s ambition to learn about handbags from her favorite designer. Kooky as Macy was, I knew Lori enjoyed the novelty of having an intern – even one whose tutelage was hampered by her frequent globetrotting. We had learned to tread carefully around the subject of Macy’s family, particularly Uncle Sophronia who owned a Portland shipping company with a questionable reputation. Though Uncle Sophronia had raised Macy after her parents died when she was twelve, Macy wasn’t close to the man, and got tense when someone speculated about the family’s mob ties.

“So tell me about your first day,” Lori chirped. She patted the chair in invitation, beaming at me with undisguised eagerness. A good three inches shorter and a whole lot cuter than me, my younger sister possessed an elfin charm I had envied from the moment I first peered over the edge of her crib.

Lori, on the other hand, liked to braid my long hair, covet my height, and grouse that she’d rather be elegant than cute.

I hoisted myself onto the seat and grinned. “You’re this excited about the dump? Must’ve been a slow day.”

“Come on, don’t leave anything out.”

I laughed and began to tell her about Burt and Ernie, about Pete and Collin and the other people I’d met, and about my proposal to slow things down a bit with Daniel.

“So you’re splitting up?” she asked.

“Not exactly. Just cooling things off.”

“Haven’t you done this before?”

“A few times.”

“Right. Kinda hard to actually break up when you haven’t been allowed to acknowledge you’re together in the first place.” She shrugged. “Whatever. I like Daniel just fine. At least you get to keep having the amazing tonsil-hockey sessions you’re always telling me about, plus the added bonus of knocking boots with your new co-workers.”

I smacked her on the shoulder. “I’m not planning to—”

“Oh, please. You have that look.” She laughed. “So
Bionic Cyber Cops in Monster Trucks
, huh? Is it some sort of D-movie?”

“Probably a little further down the alphabet.”

“Must be a guy thing,” she said with a little shrug. “So you really like it there.”

“I really like it there. Way better than a desk job. And the people are great. I’m actually meeting them at Goomba’s for drinks in a few minutes. You should come.”

“Sorry, can’t. I’ve got that photo shoot for the
Harper’s Bazaar
piece on the nation’s hottest handbag designers. And I have to make six more of those little animal zipper pulls for a trade show next week. I’m thinking of doing a zebra and a lion. What else?”

“Have you done a wildebeest?”

“Do women want wildebeests on their designer handbags?”

I shrugged. “You’re the expert. You only make one of each animal, right?”

“Right.”

“There’s bound to be someone who wants a wildebeest.”

I gave her a swat on the butt as I left the shop and headed out into the drizzly evening, walking the two soggy blocks to Goomba’s. By the time I got there, the whole team was already clustered around a table with several crew members I hadn’t met yet.

Ernie spotted me first and waved me over, practically vibrating with joy. “JJ, you made it!” she called. “Sit down right here, I saved you a spot.”

The spot was conveniently located right beside Pete and right across from Collin. Pete did that charming half-stand men do when they aren’t quite certain whether etiquette requires them to rise when a lady is seated.

Being the lady in question, I used the opportunity to check out his ass.

Collin stayed seated and intently focused on a bucket of peanuts in the center of the table.

“You look very nice,” Pete said.

“Mmph,” Collin said, and eyed me with something that looked an awful lot like suspicion. Then again, he was looking at his beer the same way.

“Thank you,” I said to Pete. “My cat enjoyed rolling on my landfill clothes.”

“The benefits of your career change keep accumulating,” Collin said dryly. “I’m sure there are plenty more you aren’t sharing just yet.”

I was about to ask him what his problem was when Ernie interrupted.

“Looks like we’re the only girls here tonight, JJ,” Ernie said with a grin. “Green Barbie had a tanning appointment.”

“That’s too bad,” I said, as I scanned the testosterone-fueled figures clustered at the table.

“We were just getting ready to order appetizers,” Burt said, holding up the menu. “You want to share nachos?”

I eyed Burt’s hands, which still bore remnants from the crate of rancid papaya we’d demolished three hours earlier. And a smear of something brown.

“Actually, I think I want a cup of their French onion soup,” I said, setting the menu down. “It’s my favorite.”

“Mine too,” Pete said. “The bowl is only a dollar more. Might as well splurge.”

“Good idea.”

“Fancy a beer?” Collin asked, holding the pitcher.

He wasn’t smiling, and part of me wanted to ask if he’d just spit in it. Instead, I held my tongue and held up my glass. Collin moved down the table, refilling glasses for everyone, and I watched to see if any of them dropped dead after taking a sip.

It’s possible my sister had a point about my overactive imagination.

“Burt was explaining you worked in the PR department,” Collin said. “This is quite a peculiar switch for you. Strange, really.”

“Strange, yes,” I said, taking a sip of beer. “I’m open to change though. And this seems like a very nice department.”

A door swung open behind Ernie, and someone tall, dark and disturbingly familiar strode through it.

“Hey, Aunt Ernie,” he said, stooping to kiss her on the cheek as he pressed a set of keys into her palm. “We replaced both sets of brakes, plus two CV boots. Don’t wait so long next time, okay?”

“Thank you, honey,” Ernie said, beaming up at him before turning to look at me. “Adam, this is JJ Shultz. She’s the new heavy equipment operator.”

Adam’s face went from happy to dumbstruck awe. I saw his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed. “JJ Shultz?”

“Hello, Adam,” I said, pasting a smile on my face to greet my sister’s long-lost high school sweetheart.

The bastard.

“Long time no see,” I added.

“JJ,” he repeated, still looking stunned. “My God, you look great. And Lori. How is she? I just got back into town a few days ago and I’ve called her three or four times hoping maybe we can reconnect.”

“Right,” I said. “You might not want to hold your breath on that one.”

Ernie’s eyes flew wide as she looked from me to Adam and back to me again. “You’re Lori Shultz’s sister? Oh my, I didn’t realize! What a little angel she was, always so friendly and just the most creative little thing with—”

“Lori’s fine,” I interrupted, smiling sweetly at both aunt and nephew as I fought the urge to hug one and kick the other. I focused my attention on Adam and tried not to scowl. “After graduation when you broke her heart to smithereens and told her she’d never amount to anything if she didn’t go to college like you, she went on to become a wildly successful handbag designer with her own boutique.”

I expected Adam to frown or blush, or maybe even flee the building. Instead, he shook his head sadly.

“God, I was such an asshole.”

I was taken aback. “Well—”

“Really, I was such a snob. You know what I’m doing now?”

“Um—”

“I’m a grease monkey,” he said. “That’s what I’m doing with that fabulously expensive college degree.”

“Oh,” I said, trying not to feel smug. I’d have to remember to tell Lori that. As much as she liked to pretend she was completely over her high school romance, I knew she still had mixed feelings. Part of her still cared about Adam. Part of her wanted to hear he’d been killed in a freak blender accident.

That second part of her would be pleased to hear how the mighty had fallen.

“He owns the biggest chain of auto repair shops in the Northwest,” Ernie clarified, patting Adam’s hand. “He’s moved all over the region opening a branch in a new city each year. The business degree wasn’t entirely wasted. He just moved back to the area a couple days ago so he can run the branch here.”

Adam shrugged. “I love what I’m doing, don’t get me wrong. But I’ve learned a lot about life and careers and the fact that education doesn’t entitle you to be a dickhead. So you really don’t think Lori’s going to return my calls?”

“Well—” I began, trying to avoid mentioning the fact that
dickhead
was precisely how Lori thought of him most of the time. She’d mentioned the messages from Adam on the phone last night, but neglected to tell me he was back in town.

Or maybe she didn’t know. My baby sister could be awfully quick with the voicemail delete key.

“It’s okay, I don’t blame her if she hates me,” he said, smiling a little. “She’s still in town, right?”

“Right down the street,” I admitted. “Crimson Handbag Boutique.”

“You should stop by and say hello, Adam,” Ernie gushed, looking almost manic in her delight. “She’s probably just been too busy to call you back, but maybe if she sees you in person—”

“I have to run, Aunt Ernie,” Adam said, cutting her off with another peck on the cheek before straightening up to give a friendly nod to the rest of our assembled group. “Great to see everyone again. Especially you, JJ.”

Then he turned and jogged out the door. I sat there stunned for a moment, wondering if I should call and warn my sister.

“More beer?” Collin asked, breaking the silence at last.

“Thank you,” I said, nudging my glass toward Collin as I regarded Ernie thoughtfully. “I grew up determined to go to college so I could have an office job instead of running heavy equipment, and Adam got a degree so he wouldn’t have to run his dad’s auto shop, and now here we both are.”

“Oh, honey, life’s never that simple,” Ernie said, taking a sip of something pink from a frosty glass. “I’ve got a degree in English Lit, and I run a thrift store.”

“BS in Biology,” Burt added, digging a hand in the peanut bucket.

“MBA,” Pete said, reaching over to the empty table beside us and grabbing a fresh bucket of peanuts. “Football scholarship.”

Startled, I looked around the table to see whose educational details I’d missed. “How about you, Collin?”

Collin took a swallow of beer. “PhD in quantum physics. Masters in Chemistry. Uh, a second Masters in Theology. A Bachelors in Chemical Engineering.”

“Wow,” I said. “All that is required for your job?”

“Just the Bachelors. The rest is for fun.”

“Fun,” I repeated, waiting for him to smile. He cracked a peanut and studied the shell.

“Collin is our resident geek,” Ernie said fondly. “We keep trying to get him to go on
Jeopardy
, but he’s camera shy.”

“Oh?” I asked, amused by this for some reason. “I used to do media training with all the county executives. I could do a quick session for you sometime.”

“Thanks,” Collin said, giving me an odd look as he set a peanut shell on a tidy pile beside his coaster. “What department did you say you worked for again?”

“Marketing and public relations,” I replied.

“Really.”

I couldn’t tell if it was a question or a statement, but since we’d discussed my previous department just a few minutes earlier, I had the sense he was trying to trap me somehow. Before I had a chance to find out what the hell he was driving at, Ernie grabbed hold of the conversation – and my arm.

“So JJ, we were just helping Pete decide on a birthday gift for his girlfriend. Maybe Lori’s little boutique would be a good place for him to look?”

“Oh. Sure, absolutely. Does she like handbags?”

Pete looked at me. “Is that the same thing as a purse?”

I smiled. “Pretty much. Lori sells a lot of high-end stuff, plus some of her own designs.”

“Her work is just lovely,” Ernie gushed. “Really, that would make such a nice birthday gift.”

I smiled and looked at Pete. “I hang out at Lori’s shop most evenings after work. We’d be happy to show you a few gift ideas if you want.”

“That’d be great,” Pete said. “Maybe I’ll drop by tomorrow evening after I finish up at the landfill.”

I stole a glance at Collin, who took another sip of beer and didn’t blink. He studied me with an expression that wasn’t the least bit friendly. I stared back, replacing my normal, easy smile with a look I hoped was at least a little intimidating.