Storm Shells (The Wishes Series #3) by GJ Walker-Smith Read Free Book Online

part, your defection has improved our business relationship considerably. Unfortunately, as co-owner, I still require your signature on certain documentation. Sign these papers and return them to me at your earliest convenience. That means today. Pretty please.
    Ryan
    I hadn’t put any thought into how leaving New York would leave Ryan in the lurch. I suddenly felt bad, grabbed a pen from my bag and spent the next ten minutes signing paperwork in the name of Charlotte Décarie. Ryan had covered all bases by including a self-addressed envelope. I repackaged the papers, ventured back into the post office and returned them to the arrogant control-freak sender.
    I didn’t open the second parcel until that night when I was alone in my room. I tore the strip off the top and out tumbled my curly fry rings. I searched the empty package for a note but there was nothing – and it unfairly chipped at my heart. The finality of the gesture was heartbreaking.
    Ignoring the hurt, I slipped the rings onto my finger and held my hand up to the dull light from my bedside lamp. They were far more ostentatious than I remembered, but still incredibly beautiful. And for some weird reason, they no longer slipped off my fingers when I wore them.
    I fell asleep still wearing the rings that I’d only managed to grow into once I abandoned the union they represented.

    December 21
    Adam
    My plan of avoiding Trieste until classes resumed in the New Year fell apart quickly. She’d been given my phone number.
    “I thought we could meet today,” she suggested, during an obscenely early morning call that woke me up.
    “Trieste, do you have any idea what the time is?” I asked, making a mental note to block her number.
    “Ah, twenty-two minutes past seven.”
    “On a Saturday,” I added, as if it made a difference.
    “I didn’t think you’d have plans, considering you’re recently separated and all. There’s no point moping around by yourself.” The nerve of the girl was astonishing. “I have an essay due that I could do with a bit of help with. I have to submit it tomorrow.”
    I let out a long disgruntled groan. It should’ve been enough to make her to hang up and forget ever calling me again. But she didn’t. I found myself agreeing to meet her that afternoon.
    * * *
    Trieste had the gall to keep me waiting. I was just about to give up on her when she came running down the sidewalk with an armload of books.
    “You’re late.” I tapped my watch. “I can’t wait around for you all day.”
    “I know, I’m sorry. I had a job interview that ran over time.”
    I took the stack of books from her and stood nodding as she rattled off the reasons why she didn’t get the job at the café she’d applied at, followed by the reasons why she didn’t want it in the first place. “Coffee makes me sneeze anyway.”
    “Right. Well, can we go now?”
    “Yes, but I have to warn you, lunch is on you. I’m broke.”
    I’d agreed to an hour of study, not lunch. The girl was impossible. “Fine,” I surrendered. “I know a place close by.”
    * * *
    Billet-doux wasn’t really Trieste’s scene. “I thought you said this place was great,” she whispered, leaning across the table.
    I continued reading through her essay, paying her next to no attention. “It is great.”
    “It’s empty, Adam. Perhaps they have issues with the health department.”
    I looked up. Trieste was glancing at the floor, perhaps looking for signs of vermin.
    “It’s closed, Trieste. I thought it would be a quiet place to study.”
    She looked embarrassed. “Oh. I just thought the service was terrible.”
    I laughed blackly. “Don’t let my brother hear you say that.”
    “Does he work here?”
    “Sometimes.” I turned my attention back to the papers in my hand.
    Trieste managed to keep quiet until I’d finished reading. Once I was done, I straightened them and handed them back.
    “Well?” she asked, pushing her glasses up her nose.
    “It’s fantastic,”