Blitz (Blast Brothers #3) - Sabrina Stark Page 0,14

my life.

He thought I was a liar.

He hadn't bothered to hide it either.

Too bad for him I'd been telling the truth. And I could prove it, too.

Soon, he'd be eating his words along with a big ol' helping of humble pie, assuming that Chase Blastoviak had a humble bone in his rock-hard body.

I gave a silent scoff. Him? Humble?

Not likely.

Still, I felt an evil smile tug at my lips as I imagined him apologizing for misjudging me. And just maybe, he'd feel like an ass for demanding proof.

Hey, a girl could dream, right?

I was still trying to enjoy this little fantasy when my cell phone buzzed in my hand. I glanced down and saw a text from my mom, asking, "Can you talk?"

Nope. Not a chance.

Normally, I loved talking to my mom, but with only a few more minutes until my meeting, I couldn't afford to take any chances. Plus, the lobby was nearly empty, and Gretchen was watching me with far too much interest, even as she pretended to be engrossed in her computer.

I knew she was pretending because every time I happened to glance in her direction, our eyes would meet for the briefest instant before she'd look back to her monitor, as if to prove she'd been studying it all along.

By now, I knew better. One time might be a coincidence. But half a dozen times? Not likely.

As far as the text from my mom, I was just getting ready to reply that I'd call her in an hour when another text arrived, also from my mom. This one said, "It's kind of an emergency."

I felt the blood drain from my face. The last time I'd gotten such a text, my dad had fallen of the roof of our smallest barn. He'd broken both of his legs, along with a wrist, too.

With my heart in my throat, I hit the call button, even as I turned away from Gretchen in hopes of maintaining my privacy.

When my mom answered, I asked, "What's wrong? It isn't Dad, is it?"

"Your dad?" she said. "No. It's Ginger."

I hesitated. "Ginger Hawthorne?" Even though I wasn't a huge fan of the woman, I'd still be sad if she fell off our barn. Okay, I knew this wasn't likely the case, but my mom wasn't the type of person to use the word "emergency" lightly, so I knew this had to be serious.

I asked, "Is she okay? Did something happen to her?"

"Something's gonna happen to her," my mom said. "I can promise you that."

I smiled with relief. Dad was okay. And apparently so was Ginger. For now, anyway.

I asked, "So, what's going on?"

"I'll tell you what," my mom said. "That harpy has been spreading the most outrageous rumors."

This wasn't exactly a surprise. Last year, Ginger had gone around telling everyone that my mom had gotten a boob job. My mom hadn't, and no one would've blamed her if she had.

But the truth was, she'd gone on a huge fitness kick for my brother's wedding. She'd lost nearly twenty pounds. With my mom's slight frame, her "boobs" had looked just a little bit bigger in comparison – no surgical help needed.

If my grandmother were still alive, she would have called the whole thing a tempest in a teapot. The teapot had come to a full boil during last year's Tomato Festival, when Mom and Ginger had gotten into a huge argument on the Ferris Wheel.

This happened more often than you'd think.

But I had no time to think about it now. As my mom muttered something about Ginger needing swift kick in the pants, I pulled the phone away from my ear and snuck a quick glance at the screen. The time was 3:54, only six minutes until my meeting.

I put the phone back to my ear and said, "Sorry Mom, but I'm heading into a meeting. Can I call you when I'm done?"

"Sure," my mom said with a bitter laugh, "as long as you don't mind that the rumors are about you."

I blinked. "Me?"

"Yes. You." She gave a little huff. "When you call back, I'll tell you all about it."

My mom was a smart woman. And she knew me all too well. There was no way on Earth I could hang up now. "So…what's she saying?"

"Are you sure you have time to hear it?"

"Not really," I admitted. "But can you make it quick?"

"Alright. You remember the other night when I ran into her at the restaurant?"

I did remember. At the restaurant, my mom, along with