Undying Laughter

“My friends care about me, Doctor. But we’re hardly friends.”

“Really?”

“That’s another question.”

“Sorry.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Why aren’t we friends?”

“We don’t know each other,” Destiny said with a little laugh. “Maybe we would have been friends. That isn’t the point. I don’t understand why you’ve made me your cause du jour.”

“You aren’t a cause. You’re a woman with a serious problem.”

As she digested his answer, she wasn’t quite sure whether she liked it or not. “I’m a woman used to solving her own problems.”

“I’m sure you are,” Wesley told her easily. “But there’s no crime in asking for help. Especially when it’s freely offered.”

“Nothing in life is free, Doctor.”

“Very cynical,” he observed. “Care to expound?”

“Not particularly. Suffice it to say that I strongly believe that you have to pay for everything in one way or another.”

“I believe you’ve just simplified the dynamics of karma into a cross-stitch sampler.”

“Cute,” Destiny remarked, feeling herself relax. “Beneath that professional exterior lives a wicked sense of humor.”

“Don’t tell anyone.”

“Your secret is safe. Besides, I’m not keen on any more competition.”

“Do you constantly look over your shoulder for the next shining star?”

Destiny smiled and captured her hair in her fist as the car accelerated out of the city. “I try never to look back. It isn’t healthy.”

“Are you always this evasive?” Wesley queried.

“I guess it’s been a long time since I carried on a conversation with anyone other than Gina or David.”

“Very limited. Too limited for such a beautiful young woman.”

“Thanks, I think. You certainly are good at giving backhanded compliments.”

“Sorry. Must be Rose’s influence.”

“She seems like a very nice lady. Very real.”

“Except for her delusions about Elvis Presley and her passion for wearing animal prints.”

“There’s nothing wrong with a flamboyant personal style or an appreciation of the King.”

“I agree. But I’ll admit it was something of a shock to discover my mother looked and acted like a reject from some BBC comedy.”

“What do you mean, discover?”

“I’ve only recently reestablished a relationship with Rose. Mostly because of my brother, J.D. He and his wife went back to Florida shortly after they were married.”

“He’s the guy who did the dependency?” she asked.

Wesley nodded. “He and Tory—that’s his wife—had some trouble with the renovations.”

“What kind of trouble?”

“They found a body shorn up in the wall.”

“Yuk!” Destiny said with a groan. “Thanks for sharing that with me. It will make standing on that stage really comfortable.”

“It wasn’t a body, actually. It was a skeleton. And everything worked out in the end.”

“Sounds peachy,” Destiny managed to say. “Anything else you’d like to share with me?”

“I could tell you about Chad’s kidnapping, but I’ll save that for another time.”

“Chad? Isn’t that Agent Tanner’s son?”

“Yep.”

“Is The Rose Tattoo cursed, or something?”

“Nothing so sinister,” Wes assured her. “Just a bad year or so for the locals.”

“I guess if my admirer shows up, he’ll be in good company here in Charleston. That’s something.”

“Calm down, Destiny. The guy in the wall was the former owner. And the Tanners’ son was returned safely to his very grateful, albeit overly indulgent, parents.”

“And everyone lived happily ever after,” she said as they parked in front of the villa.

“Absolutely,” he answered holding her door open.

“Then I guess I should feel relieved that I’m here.”

“Maybe not,” Wes said, nodding his head in the direction of the door to her villa.

“Great!” Destiny fumed as she spotted the large, crudely wrapped package guarding the entrance.

“Wait a second!” she heard Wesley call out. Determination and a fair amount of anger fueled each step. “I can’t believe he found out where I was staying.”

“I think we should call Dylan.”

Destiny tore into the paper expecting flowers. But it wasn’t flowers.