Page 26 of Love Arranged

I’m confused by the vacant spot where my car was parked earlier this afternoon.

“Don’t tell me your car got stolen.” She sounds a bit too excited at the idea.

“I doubt it,” Julian mutters.

“Hey!” I poke him in the shoulder. “I’ll have you know my car made it onto the Top Ten Most Stolen Carslist.”

“In the nineties?”

Dahlia giggles, earning a small smile from Julian. My heart responds with a twinge, followed by the usual sense of yearning.

I want to have a connection like theirs with someone else, but nothing I’ve done has yielded promising results. I tried a running club (loved the cute outfits, hated the actual running part), I signed up for different dating apps (which I swore off after my experience withLaurence), and I agreed to a few blind dates (not all of them sucked, but none of them ended with me meeting the love of my life either).

So here I am, a witness to everyone else’s love story after spending so long wishing for mine.

Dahlia breaks through my pity party and asks, “Should we file a report with the sheriff?”

“I guess?” I have no idea who would go through the effort of stealing my car given its current state, but maybe they wanted the parts.

Five minutes later, I follow Dahlia and Julian into the police station. A few people working the phones look up and wave, while two deputies seated at their desks stare at Dahlia and Julian like they might need their handcuffs.

“I hope you two aren’t here to cause trouble.” The sheriff sizes Julian up.

“No, sir.” Julian turns red, and I enjoy the sheepish look on his face too damn much. After he and Dahlia got arrested last year for public indecency, I’m surprised he agreed to walk inside here.

“We’re only here to report that Lily’s car was stolen,” my sister says with a grin, clearly enjoying the way Julian tries to make himself look smaller. Best of luck since the man is built like a linebacker.

The sheriff’s white brows crinkle in my direction. “Where did you last see it?”

“Outside Rose & Thorn.”

Using the radio strapped to his shoulder, the sheriff relays the information to his deputies before asking us a few more questions.

“You two aren’t playing a prank on her, are you?” Suspicion bleeds into his voice.

Dahlia and Julian both shake their heads, and the sheriff reports back to his team. The three of us talk about the latest episode of our favorite reality dating show while we wait for an update.

Finally the sheriff’s radio beeps with an incoming message from one of his deputies. He listens before looking up with raised brows. “Your car is at Manny’s shop?”

I blink twice. “How did it get there?”

The sheriff asks his deputy to get more information, and we all wait to figure out what the heck is going on. It takes the deputy a few agonizingly slow minutes, but he returns to let the sheriff know the car was being repaired at Lorenzo Vittori’s request.

Julian looks irritated at the mere mention of Lorenzo’s name, while Dahlia’s stare is shrouded in suspicion as she turns to look at me.

A few people whisper behind me, probably questioning why I would have anything to do with Lorenzo, and I don’t blame them. In their eyes, we’re like two puzzle pieces that don’t fit together.

I need to do some serious damage control—and fast—but I have no idea where to start.

Thankfully the sheriff breaks the tension by asking, “Would you like to press charges?”

“What?” I ask, completely taken aback by the question.

“Yes,” Julian answers for me.

Dahlia tugs on his shirt. “Julian.”

“He stole Lily’s car without her permission.”