Once Upon a Date - Susan Hatler Page 0,7

to go to apparently . . .”

“For your information, I was at a charity fundraiser for the homeless, which is how you’re going to end up if you don’t pull yourself together.”

He rolled his eyes. “You sound just like your mom.”

I walked to the door, turning before I opened it. “Yeah? Well you know what, Phillip? She has a roof over her head and savings in the bank. You should follow her good example instead of criticizing her.”

He remained silent, but the muscle throbbing on his temple told me he’d heard me.

“Good night, Phillip.”

He nodded. “Good night, sis.”

I went outside and started to call a cab. Then I thought better of it and started walking in my pinching heels since I didn’t have enough money left on me to pay for my cab ride home.

****

After a morning run with my roommate, Missy Peters, I dropped her at her boutique clothing store, Fashionably Late, and went for coffee at Courtney Carmichael’s Coffee Cart. Usually Missy would’ve joined me, but she was running late for a morning meeting.

“Good morning, Michelle!” Courtney Carmichael’s face lit up when she saw me. Courtney was an ex-attorney and had been highly successful in her career, but she’d been a workaholic. Eventually her husband left her due to neglect (or, so that was the reason he gave her).

Realizing she’d been missing life while fighting battles in the courtroom, she decided to give up that fast-paced world and start over again with her coffee cart. Her coffee was delicious and she was practically a Sacramento icon. Everyone I knew came here.

She seemed to have an ever-expanding collection of bright, flamboyant shirts, which she said she wore to remind herself that life is fun but fleeting. Today’s tee said “Smile while you still have teeth” and featured a sequined pair of red lips with teeth made up of tiny seed pearls. It almost made me smile. Almost.

“Is it a good morning, Courtney?” I asked. I had woken up this morning in a mixed mood after last night. On the one hand, I was still annoyed with Phillip’s irresponsible behavior, but on the other hand, I couldn’t stop thinking about my “accidental date” with Prince Charming (aka: Rumpel). On the “other” other hand (I needed to borrow an “other” after the chaos I’d been through), I felt worried sick about finding the money to pay for Phillip’s rent catch-up.

Although I had told my stepbrother it was his responsibility, he knew as well as I did that as a co-signer, it was legally my responsibility to pay that rent. The advance on my book would’ve covered his debt, but now that Prince & Company had rejected my manuscript I was back to square one, and in desperate need of another publisher.

And coffee. I was in desperate need of coffee.

“Oh, dear, bad night?” Courtney asked.

“You could say I had a bad night but you’d have to multiply that by ten, thanks to my stepbrother.” I accepted my cup of coffee and leaned against Courtney’s cart.

“Phillip? What’s he done now?”

“Oh, you know, money and stuff. Actually, I’m more concerned about my laptop. I went to a charity ball at the Geoffries hotel last night—”

“Fancy.” Courtney nodded in approval.

“Definitely. But I left my laptop there. I called the concierge, but nobody had handed it in, so now I have no way of finding it.”

Courtney frowned. “I know how much your laptop means to you, but I won’t even ask why you had your laptop at a charity ball. I take it you didn’t install the tracker we’d talked about after your mom gave you the laptop for Christmas?”

My mouth dropped open. Now I remembered! I’d installed the software right away, but I’d forgotten all about it. I took out my phone and searched through my apps to find it. Courtney peered over my shoulder as we waited for the map to spring into life. Sure enough, there was a little red dot, blinking as it made its way slowly along a downtown street.

“Your laptop is moving,” she said, looking up at me. “Hey, that address is only a few blocks from here!”

“You’re a genius.” I grabbed a lid for my coffee and kissed Courtney on the cheek. “Thank you. I’ll let you know what happens.”

“Good luck!” she called out, before helping the next customer in line.

I watched the dot moving as I followed the map, keeping one eye out for lampposts as I walked, head down. Hope filled my heart, not only at the