The Rules of the Red - 2014 Watty Award Winner |✓|

Chapter Seventeen - Part One

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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

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The next day, I entered the dining room expecting breakfast to be a glum, solitary act, but upon seeing Addy already seated at the table with her paper and a muffin, I was slightly cheered.

“Please tell me you got the amulet back. And that you kicked Blondie right in her size four jeans just before you did it.”

“Wish I could,” I replied, plopping down in my usual chair with a forlorn sigh. “Oh god…” I said, reaching for the coffee pitcher. “Please let this not be decaf…”

“So would now be a bad time to show you this?” Addy asked, waving her paper. It was today’s copy of The Harbor’s Herald.

“Do I even want to know?” I asked, but accepting the paper anyway. I could already guess what the fuss was about. Last night, when Chandler had said he was sitting on a story, he literally meant that he had one ready for print – and there it was splashed on page three.

I let my eyes travel across the article, wondering whether to be flattered or suspicious. There was the picture of me he had taken last night, the candid shot from behind the country club.

“Net worth of the Noble Family Rises,” I read aloud. “By Chandler Sloane. Uh, yeah. I’m not reading this.” I said and tossed her the paper.

“Really? Because I totally think you should.” Addy replied with a grin that was huge. “He wrote a lot of really nice stuff in here about your family. Plus, you can totally tell this Chandler guy has the hots for you. Listen to this:” Adelle cleared her throat and shook the paper importantly.  

“And what can we say about the mysterious Naomi Noble, who’s finally returned to Harbor? Her class and beauty tell us that she didn’t fall far from the Noble tree, but what it doesn’t suggest is whether her allure will be enough to keep her from falling under the giant shadow her family has cast. It’s too soon to say whether Harbor Village has flourished or suffered at the hands of this magnetic family, but hopefully she’ll continue to take a leaf out of the Romaines’ family book, and keep the mysteriousness flowing. After all, we wouldn’t want to take away from the town supply of magnetism… Her ‘class and beauty’? What are you, part siren? This isn’t an article, this a public love note! Jesus – the boys in this town are losing their minds over you.” Addy said, still scanning the paper.

“Chandler Sloane has not lost his mind over me. He’s just using this to charm me into helping him write a better story. He probably thinks he’s kissing my ass with this article so that I’ll let him hit pay dirt in a future interview.”

“Will you?” Addy asked, with eyebrows raised.

“I don’t know. It depends… Did you know that he’s a Succubus?”

“Shut. Up. No, I didn’t! But I thought they were supposed to be girls –”