Page 62 of The Incredible Kindness of Paper

Chloe

First thing in the morning, Chloe rolled over in bed and grabbed her phone.

Jennifer had begun the process for the incorporation of the Paper Roses Foundation two days ago, and she’d said that everything ought to be ready today.

It was a fast turnaround, but she assured Chloe that her friends owed her a few favors and would be able to move quickly to get the paperwork ready for signature.

Chloe had been so keyed up with excitement about it last night, she’d had to take a sleeping pill and turn her phone off so she could get any rest at all and not be tempted to check it every hour.

But as she squinted at the brightness of her phone and opened her email, there was nothing new there. She checked her texts, but only the conversation from last night was there:

Chloe: Hi Jennifer! Just wanted to say again how much I appreciate your help with the Paper Roses Foundation. Checking in if you or your friends needed any more info from me? Thanks!

Jennifer: Don’t worry, I’ve got it all under control. Have a nice evening and get ready for great things in the morning.

Chloe: You’re the best! Thanks again and good night!

It’s fine , Chloe thought. It’s barely past seven a.m. I’m way too jumpy.

She took a long, hot shower, forcing herself to slow down before she was allowed to look at her phone again.

She tried to be present in the moment when she brushed her teeth, thinking about scrubbing small circles on every single tooth.

It was a little weird, though, to focus too hard when she was putting in her contact lenses; it made her cross-eyed and then she had to start over again.

Which was perhaps not a terrible thing, since she was trying to burn time.

Still, after her hair had been dried and she finished her morning routine, it was only 8:21, and her inbox remained empty.

“Relax, read a book, and eat some breakfast,” she said, laughing at herself under her breath.

She made herself some chocolate chip waffles and tried to chew very slowly, all while attempting to concentrate on the murder mystery she was halfway through. (She failed on the concentration front and probably missed half the clues that were dropped in the three chapters she “read.”)

When Becca left for work, Chloe finally allowed herself to check her phone again. The morning was nearly over, so the documents from Jennifer’s accountant and lawyer friends were probably in Chloe’s inbox.

But once again, there was nothing. Chloe frowned.

Chloe: Good morning, Jennifer! Checking in over here. Sorry if I’m overeager, I’m just really excited!

A second later, a red exclamation point popped up and read: “Message Not Delivered.”

“Weird.” Chloe had never had a problem with the cellular network in her apartment. She tried to send the message again.

Almost instantly, another red exclamation point appeared. “Message Not Delivered.”

Chloe decided to call Jennifer. That was the fastest way anyway. But no sooner had Chloe dialed the number than a mechanical recording answered and said, “This number is no longer in service.”

Her stomach went into free fall.

“No…”

But the past reared its head, and Chloe could again hear the rumors that had circulated sixteen years ago after the Jones family disappeared—a prior rap sheet of con after con after con. Pyramid schemes. Massive international fraud. Fronting for a drug cartel.

Everyone had been so eager to paint a villain story.

But Chloe had resisted. Not only because they were impugning Oliver’s character by association, but also because even at sixteen, Chloe didn’t want to be the kind of person who relished mean gossip.

So Chloe refused to succumb to the rumors that were circulating about the family, which grew more exaggerated every time she heard one, like a salacious game of telephone.

Now, though, Oliver had insulted Chloe’s paper roses to the entire country, and Jennifer’s phone was mysteriously disconnected after Chloe had given her a lot of money.

Believe in the good in people , Chloe thought ferociously to herself. She’d told Zac that that was the sort of person she was. She wouldn’t let herself jump to conclusions about Jennifer.

But the other thing Chloe had said to Zac was that she didn’t live with her head in the sand.

She understood what negative outcomes could occur, even if she chose to focus on the positive possibilities.

But when a negative outcome became closer to reality than just potential, Chloe didn’t shy away from the facts.

And this, unfortunately, was one of those times.

Chloe’s stomach plummeted again as she ran a search for the names that Jennifer had given for her attorney and tax expert friends.

Nothing came up for either. Chloe even tried variations on spellings.

No dice.

What would Becca do if she were here?

She’d advise Chloe to be more cynical, to finally pursue some of those rumors about Oliver’s mom from long ago.

Chloe looked up “Jennifer Jones Caribbean timeshare scam” and “Jennifer Jones Scotland ancestral real estate fraud.”

Articles popped up, including some about a more recent criminal trial and conviction on multiple counts of fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering.

Supposedly there had been other suspected fraud in her past—including the timeshare resale and Scottish land scams while she lived in Kansas—but the statute of limitations had run out on all of those before Jennifer had finally been tracked down.

But for the newer crimes, she’d been sentenced to five to seven years in prison.

That meant Jennifer had only recently been released.

A sob clutched Chloe’s throat, and she fell to her knees in the middle of the apartment as she choked on the incoming tears. “Oh god oh god oh god… What am I going to do?” That had been all the money she had—no, money she didn’t even have because she’d taken out a cash advance on her credit card.

It felt like losing her job all over again, but this was possibly even worse. Why was it so hard to make it as a good person in this world?

She wanted to crawl into bed and bury herself beneath the pillows and never come out again.

What Chloe needed was her parents. Someone to bring her soup and rub her back and chase away the shadows to make everything okay.

Hands shaking, she dialed her mom.

“Hi, Lo-Lo!”

“Mom?” Chloe barely managed, because the tears were coming fast and hard now.

“Oh, baby, what’s wrong?”

“Everything… I… I don’t know what to do.

I have no job, no money. I fell for a scam.

My rent is going up a-and…” Chloe dissolved into a puddle, unable to get out the last part, which she now realized hurt her even worse than the rest. That Oliver had come back into her life but betrayed her on national television, had proved that he didn’t understand or see her at all.

“My sweet girl,” her mom said. “Come home. Let me take care of you for a little while.”

“I-I can’t afford—”

“Don’t even think about that. Dad will get on the computer and buy you a plane ticket right now, okay? If we do that, can you make it to the airport in a few hours?”

Chloe swallowed the tight lump in her throat. “Yes,” she whispered.