Page 27 of Timeless Pages

Chapter twenty-two

Isa

" S kimmer, Calvert, and Hughes, this is Brandy speaking. How may I direct your call?"

"Hey, Brandy! It's Isa."

"Isa!" I had to smile at my new friend's excitement. I felt bad that we hadn't spoken since our interrupted lunch. "What can I do for you?"

"Is Daniel in? I had some questions for him."

"He is. Give me one second and I'll see if he can take your call." Piano music played in my ear as Brandy put me on hold.

This weekend gave me time to relax and simply exist, which allowed me to consider my future and arrange a shopping trip for tomorrow.

I needed to know where my finances stood, not just for shopping, but also for rebuilding the bookstore.

My father moved in so quickly that I hadn't had time to meet with Uncle Jay's estate lawyer.

I opened my laptop on the kitchen island and pulled up his contact information.

When Uncle Jay fell ill, he ensured that everything was in place for a smooth transition.

Or what we expected would be a smooth transition.

We hadn't anticipated my father showing back up and causing problems. If we had, Uncle Jay would have put everything into my name before he passed.

Hindsight is twenty-twenty, and since we couldn't go back and change it, I'd have to work within my available options.

I drafted an email to the estate lawyer, which I would send after speaking with Daniel to determine the available options.

"Are you still there, Isa?" Brandy asked.

"Sure am."

"Great. I'll transfer you to Daniel now."

"Wait!" I said before she could. "What are you doing tomorrow?"

"Working, why?"

"Oh, right. That makes sense. I was going to see if you wanted to go shopping with me. I need to replace my entire wardrobe thanks to the fire."

Brandy squealed so loudly that I had to pull the phone away from my ear. "I'll take the day off. I am not missing a girls’ shopping trip."

"Are you sure?" I teased. "I wouldn't want to impose."

"Shut up. You already invited me. You can't take that back," Brandy scolded. "This is happening. Text me the details."

"Will do," I replied, grabbing my phone to do just that.

"Good. Now I'll transfer you to Daniel."

"Thanks, Brandy."

The line went silent for a few seconds before Daniel came on the line. "Isa, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I need to go shopping to replace some of the items lost in the fire, so I wanted to confirm that I am free to use my money. I also wanted to ask about the status of getting the conservatorship thrown out altogether. Were you able to meet with the judge who signed it?"

"I have a meeting with him tomorrow, actually. As soon as I explained who I represented and what had transpired to his assistant, he was suddenly available to meet. I don't anticipate any issues and expect it will be nulled tomorrow."

"That's great news. So what should I tell Uncle Jason's estate lawyer?

I want to get everything switched into my name as quickly as possible.

" This nightmare could almost be over tomorrow!

Then I'd have to lie low long enough for the cops to catch Father.

Once they did, I could live my life however I chose.

It wouldn't look much different than how it looks now.

"Who was his lawyer?" Daniel asked, bringing my thoughts back to our conversation.

"Ok," he said when I gave him the name, "I'll reach out to him for you and let him know when we can move forward with closing out Jason's estate.

As for using the money, the hold we filed on the conservatorship allowed you to use whatever funds you needed to survive.

So you're free to go shopping at your discretion. "

"Perfect. Thank you, Daniel. Let me know if you need anything from me. Also, I feel I need to warn you that I'm stealing your assistant to come with me."

"That's perfectly fine. Just don't tell Brandy I said that. Gotta have my fun where I can," Daniel chuckled.

"Tell her what?" I joked. "I appreciate your help, Daniel."

"It's my pleasure, Isa. Have a good day. I'll let you know as soon as there is an update."

We hung up, and I deleted the email I planned to send to the estate lawyer.

I was fortunate to have Daniel in my corner, and since he wouldn't accept payment, I would have to figure out something nice to give him as a thank you for everything he had done.

Without him, I would have been so fucking screwed.

I looked around the penthouse apartment.

Without the guys, I would have been dead in the water.

It was only because of their connections that I was able to secure Daniel at all.

I'd have to find a way to thank them as well.

Perhaps while we're out shopping tomorrow, I can find some gifts.

I took my laptop to the couch and snuggled into a nest of blankets and pillows. Now that I had completed the hard tasks on my to-do list, I could move on to the fun stuff: creating Pinterest boards for my bookstore rebuild.

Nova picked me up the next afternoon for our shopping trip. Before we started, we were having lunch at a restaurant in the mall, which was where I told Brandy to meet us. "Table for two," Nova told the hostess when we arrived.

"Actually, it's going to be three," I corrected. "I forgot to tell you, I invited a friend to join us. I hope that's ok."

"Of course it's ok!" Nova replied. "The more the merrier."

We sat and ordered our drinks. I had my back to the door, so when Nova glanced over my shoulder and groaned lightly, I quickly turned to see what she was looking at.

Dread filled me when I saw Brandy in the doorway.

Did they know each other? Did they not like each other?

Why didn't I check with Nova before inviting Brandy?

While I waited—or prayed—for the world to implode, Brandy spotted me and smiled as she headed toward us. When she got closer, she looked past me and saw Nova. Her smile fell, and her steps faltered.

Great. Just great.

"Sorry, I'm late," Brandy said as she slid into the seat beside me. "Daniel was being... difficult. Hello, Nova. It's nice to see you again."

"How have you been, Brandy?" Nova asked politely.

"I'm doing a lot better now, thanks."

"So you two know each other?" I asked. That was stupid. It was apparent they knew each other.

"We do," Nova replied. "Brandy is the woman my ex was cheating on me with."

Oh, God. It's so much worse than I anticipated.

"I'm sorry. I should have asked before inviting someone, or mentioned to Brandy that you would be here.

I just never considered you knew each other.

I don't know why. It's a small town; everyone knows everyone here.

Still, I understand if you guys want to cancel our plans.

" I was spiraling. I could feel it, but I didn't know how the fuck to stop it, which made the spiraling worse because I was in the middle of a restaurant.

"Isa!" Brandy snapped, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me slightly. "This isn't a big deal. Nova and I are fine together; we just have a slightly uncomfortable past. I think we were both surprised to see the other, but that isn't a reason to freak out. It's ok."

"She's right," Nova added, reaching across the table to squeeze my arm. "We're good. And we're both here for you. All that other shit is in the past, and honestly, we are long overdue for an opportunity to put it behind us finally. I think a shopping spree is the exact thing we need to do that."

"I agree. Today is going to be fun," Brandy chirped.

"Are you sure? I've never really had friends, and I don't want to put either of you in a position where you're uncomfortable." I enjoyed these women. I enjoyed having friends, and I didn't want to do anything that might cause me to lose them.

"Beyond sure," Nova assured me. "I never held Paul's actions against Brandy. She was being played just as much as I was. All of that is now in the past. I'm happily engaged, and Brandy left his sorry ass, so she doesn't have to deal with him anymore either."

"I sure fucking did," Brandy said, opening her menu. "And now I'm in a situationship with my bosses."

"Oh, really?" Nova snickered. "Look at the three of us lucky ladies, unapologetically greedy." We laughed together and I felt myself relaxing. Crisis averted, and now we could enjoy the rest of our day without any further stress.

After lunch, we started hitting the stores.

I'll admit that, having never been on a shopping spree with girlfriends before, I didn't know what to expect.

I was not prepared. Nova and Brandy were professional shoppers, and we moved through the mall like a SWAT team, clearing each store one by one.

Halfway through, we decided to take a break and run the bags out to the car before we grabbed a coffee in the food court.

"Ok, when we're done here, we can hit up Old Navy," Brandy said. "They usually have pretty good sales, and it's a good store to get some staple items for your wardrobe."

"Don't you think we have enough already?" I asked as I finished my coffee.

"No," Brandy and Nova said in unison.

I sighed in defeat. I didn't think I needed more clothes.

As it was, I didn't know where I was supposed to put them all, but I was outnumbered, and since I was enjoying myself, I wouldn't put up a fight.

"Fine, but I need to go to the bathroom first." I left them discussing which stores to hit after Old Navy and went to the restroom.

When I came back out, I spotted them standing near the escalators.

Before I could take more than a few steps toward them, I was seized and dragged through a door behind me.

Once the door slammed shut, the person switched his grip to my arm and started dragging me down the hallway.

"Let me go!" I yelled at Detective Greene.

"I need to talk to you. You're going to help me clear my fucking name," Detective Greene growled.