happened with the guy?” Bree said. “Besides, of course, trying to get me fired after you left.”
Cassie’s brows shot up, both shoulders and knees pinched together from being compressed between the group and wall. “He talked with Louis?”
Bree gave a flippant wave. “Oh, you know how he is. Louis fiddled with his whistle while your guy rambled on. But then your guy turned on me and started to get in my face about it, and you should’ve seen Louis. Went all Hulk on the guy. I ended up pulling him back and calming him down.” She smiled as if at a fond memory. “Good ol’ Louis.”
Cassie grimaced. Bree’s supervisor, Louis, was not the kind of man who’d spent his prime years scuba diving in Bermuda and off the coast of Peru, in much more adventurous places than Ripley’s Aquarium. He was not the type who’d purposefully shaved his head to achieve a Bruce Willis look. No, Louis, poor Louis, was a kindly middle-aged man ten years Bree’s senior. He was fond of whistles—some would say oddly so. He liked the twelve African black-footed penguins that made their residence there. Rumor had it he sang to them with squid-and-fish cake on their birthdays. Last, but certainly not least, Louis was head over off-brand Keds for the woman with enough spice to flavor a ten-gallon pot of chili.
Bree.
Louis’s happiness was a crucial piece of the perfect escape plan.
“Don’t worry, Cass. I took him to the café to cool off. He practically passed out when I let him pay for my chili cheese fries.” Bree picked up one of the many misplaced fidget spinners from Cassie’s desk and began spinning.
Cassie stared at her cup for one long moment, then looked to Bree, the girls, the computer.
It was time to call it.
“Well, on the bright side, I don’t think we have to worry about this happening again. I think I just had my last blind date.”
Bree halted the spinning spinner. “That bad?”
“Somewhere between the guy who shoplifted the stuffed dolphin and the one who ate through a pack of gum in five minutes and stuck every piece on the walls—”
Bree’s eyes widened. “No, Cass. Not Gum Man.”
“He was married.” Cassie set her cup down on the only available inch of table space in front of her. “The charming youth volunteer who stated loyalty was the biggest characteristic he was looking for . . . was married.” She shrugged. “So, I’m done. I think we can all agree I gave online dating more than a decent shot.”
Star and the others looked to Bree, who gave them a resolute, don’t-worry-I-got-this nod. “Let me see for myself. I’m hearing you, Cass, but let’s take a look before we try to cut the one cord that’s been sending men your way—mad as a March hare or otherwise.”
Cassie pushed the keyboard her way. “Be my guest. Username is ‘Cass0312.’”
Bree started typing.
“Password is ‘mrjeeves.’ No caps.”
Bree’s fingers typed the letters and then froze. She removed one hand from the keyboard and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Cass. Please don’t tell me you created a password out of your cat. Please tell me I misheard you.”
But sure enough, the pop-up disappeared, and a dozen male faces filled the screen. Cassie pushed herself up and slid over the desk, mulberry skirt and all. If she was going to be humiliated, she might as well get a little distance. While the girls scrolled, she moved to the window, taking her coffee cup with her. Across the street a fireman in full gear stood with his back to one of the trucks, talking to a group of kids.
“This guy seems nice.”
Cassie flicked her head back to see Star pointing to a message titled “READY FOR LOVE WITH SOMEONE LIKE YOU.”
“It’s spam.”
Star read aloud anyway:
HEY LADY,
READ ABOUT YOU LAST NIGHT. CAN’T STOP THNKNG ABOUT YOU. WANDERING IF THERE KOULD BE SOMETHING SPECIAL ABOUT US, SPARKS TURNING TO FIRE. MSGE ME BACK. CAN’T WAIT.
Cassie returned her attention to the fireman, now holding up his ax in demonstration. “Told you.”
Star pointed to the screen. “What about that one? He likes cats too.”
“Yes,” Bree began in an instructive voice, “but let us all remember there is a line between having a cat and wearing a cat on your head in your profile picture. Not a big line.” Bree threw Cassie a hard look. “But still, a line. And the goal here is to keep our girl from wandering entirely over to the other side.”