was most definitely not a cocktail kind of a day. My mouth watered at the thought of the promise of a crisp cold beer that’d soon be hitting my taste buds. It had been a rough journey home to Newton. The traffic had been insane as I had crossed the border between Rhode Island and Massachusetts, the usual hour-and-a-half trip taking closer to three hours, and after three all-nighters and two weeks of manic days at the office, I was beat.
My second year as a summer intern at the DA’s office in Providence was proving to be a real eye opener. As an assistant to the Assistant District Attorney I was the lowest of the low, but the experience would look great on my CV. I’d always wanted to be a lawyer, a public defender in fact. I think everyone has the right to a fair trial, and a good defense.
I was picking up a lot about how to build a solid case, and though I was currently on the “wrong” side, I was learning how to make things tough for your opponents, but it was damn hard work! The office often dealt with some pretty heinous crimes, and we were currently trying to get a guy put behind bars where he belonged after he had brutally attacked a convenience store owner and taken every penny he had. He had a great attorney though, and his minions were making things tough for us, trying to bury us with all kinds of motions and wads of paper a mile high. Coming home on the weekends when I could and being with my family helped me unwind, though it always felt like something, someone, was missing.
“Cole, will you take me to the zoo tomorrow, please?” Morgan announced. My adorable half-sister emerged from the pool, dripping wet in a bright red bathing suit with an open-mouthed Elmo emblazoned across the front of it. She held her arms up to me, wanting me to pick her up and swing her around.
“Sure, but don’t you want Mommy and Daddy to take you?”
She shook her tight curly head at me. “You’re more fun, and you always buy me ice cream,” she said thinking about her answer seriously.
I couldn’t help but laugh. I hadn’t been sure that I was ready for a new sister at seventeen, but I adored her even though she reminded me so much of her other half-sibling growing up. The same auburn hair, the bubbly personality, the huge, deep green eyes. It was like we still had a little bit of Lucy here with us. The gap could never be filled, but it sure helped having the munchkin around to keep us all busy.
I picked her up and twirled her round as she giggled maniacally.
“I’d better go and get changed. I’ll be back in a moment,” I explained as I set her down and her cute Cupid’s bow mouth began to pout. I ruffled her wet hair, and gave her a quick kiss. “I won’t be long.”
“Promise?” she asked.
“Cross my heart and hope to die,” I replied without hesitation and stuck out my pinky finger. Morgan quickly shot out her own pinky and wrapped it around mine.
“Deal,” she said and smiled from ear to ear, revealing her dimples once more and then sprinted as fast as she could back into the pool.
“Hey Cole,” Mom said warmly as she emerged with a tray filled with iced drinks.
“They look good,” I said salivating at the sight of the long-necked beer bottles covered in condensation. Mom laughed.
“How long are you staying this time honey?”
“Why, do you want to get rid of me already?” I teased her, knowing she would have been happy for all of us to live at home until the day we died.
“Never, but I know you. You’ll want your space again soon.”
I had to admit that once Morgan had arrived, as much as I loved her, it had gotten a lot noisier and harder to pay attention to my studies and get anything done at home. When the opportunity came to go to UCLA and then to law school at Roger Williams University on full scholarships, I had jumped at them. UCLA, in particular, had been a long way from home and it had been tough being so far away, but it had meant that while Tom had scoured the East Coast schools for Lucy, I had used my weekends to do the same on the West Coast.
When I graduated in the top five of my class, I had won a place at Harvard Law which had been a little closer to home, but the fees had been out of my reach, and with all the competition there had been no financial aid. Roger Williams was a bit farther away and obviously hadn’t got anywhere near as good a reputation, but the scholarship and the money I got from the work from Callie and Jake’s company, Glitch, meant I could afford a nice little apartment to myself. It also helped that I wasn’t too far from where they’d set up their offices in Providence. Having my two best buddies nearby, after two years where the entire continent had separated us for most of the year, was definitely a plus point for Rhode Island.
Jake thought Rhode Island was the best place in the world, and had missed it while we had all been at UCLA together. He couldn’t wait to get home and when his and Callie’s first collaboration started to make them serious money he jumped at the chance to drop out and head back. It suddenly hit me that Callie must truly love him, otherwise why would the sexy Californian not have insisted that she return to her beachfront home on the West Coast?
No, she hadn’t even stopped to think about it, had just upped and left to work with him back east. How had I been so blind? Maybe a bit of that vanity again, like Jake I had always assumed that if she had a crush on anyone that it was probably me. Well, I would do a bit of matchmaking when I got back and push the idiots into each other’s arms where they belonged. Looking back over the years of our friendship, I wondered why I hadn’t picked up on it before - there were just so many clues!
“Just tonight, sadly Mom. I have to get back to the office by Sunday afternoon. We’re having a final strategy meeting before the trial starts on Monday.”
“Then we had best make the most of you. Go and get changed, you must be sweltering. I’m going to try and tear your sister away from the pool and get her to bed. I only let her stay up this long because she knew you were coming. There was no point in even trying, she would have been escaping every five minutes to see if you were here yet! So, if you hear any screams it’s probably me,” she said.
“Well don’t make a liar out of me. I promised Morgan I’d be back to play,” I replied.
“Oh, fine then,” she laughed and rolled her eyes. “She can stay up a while longer. Go get your trunks on.”
I nodded and ran up the stairs and dove into the shower to rinse the accumulation of travel sweat off me.
The shower was cool, and I felt refreshed when I emerged. I pulled on some swimming shorts, and picked up my cell. I remembered the email and quickly pulled it up. It was a notification of a new member who would like to chat. I sighed heavily and clicked on the link to go to the site, not expecting much but figuring this could maybe be my final date requirement and then this hell would all be over.
I was not prepared for the shock I got when I saw the profile picture of the woman who wanted to maybe hook up with me and was forced to sit down on the end of the bed.
In a swirl of conflicting emotions, my spirits soared and my heart sank as I studied the face before me on the screen.
On the one hand, I realized that this candidate could never be my final date to end the bet. No, I’d still need to keep looking for her. I sighed with mild frustration at the prospect of another evening in the company of the lost and unwanted of Rhode Island.
But on the other, as I gazed into the depths of the emerald eyes of this enquirer,
