LITMIR.BIZ

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at a desk in the wide hallway. Phoebe tapped lightly on the paneled door, then stepped into a tiny office with a floor-to-ceiling window.

      Maya was on the phone, but she motioned for Phoebe to take a seat in front of her desk. Instead Phoebe crossed to the window first and stared out at the north-facing view. To the west lay the Pacific Ocean, to the east, the barely visible high-rises of downtown Los Angeles. And somewhere north was the San Fernando Valley—a suburban mecca everyone loved to mock but that Phoebe actually enjoyed visiting from time to time. The June gloom had burned off, leaving behind brilliant blue skies only possible in Southern California. New York might be the frenetic city that never slept, but LA was cutting-edge cool with a dash of sass.

      “Zane,” Maya said, her voice tight, “he’s young. He did something stupid, but—”

      Zane. Which meant Maya was talking to her stepbrother. From what Phoebe could tell, the two had never had an easy relationship.

      “When does it start?” Maya scribbled something on a sticky pad on the corner of her desk. “Fine. I’ll be there. No, I’m coming. I can’t get out of here today, but I’ll be there. Just go easy—”

      She stopped talking as Zane apparently had hung up on her. She made a face at her phone.

      “A room with a view,” Phoebe said, taking the seat across from her friend’s. “I haven’t seen your new digs since you moved. Congrats.”

      Maya leaned back in her chair and grinned. “Thanks, but I’m hoping I won’t be here for long. There’s a job coming up at a network. On camera and talking about real news, not these Hollywood fluff pieces. If I have to do one more story about an actress’s new hairstyle...” Her smile faded as she studied Phoebe. “Tell me what happened in court. I didn’t get a frantic phone call, so I assume you’re okay. I still have access to cash if you’re going to need bail money.”

      Phoebe knew her friend wasn’t kidding about the cash. Maya would be there for her, no matter what.

      “No jail time, no punitive damages.” She sighed softly. “The earnest money is to be returned. I’m suspended for a month, without pay, although April says she’s going to pay me herself.”

      “She should.” Maya swore. “Let me guess. April just watched the whole thing and didn’t utter a word to the judge.”

      Phoebe nodded. “I’m such an idiot. I actually thought she would say something.”

      “You mean like the truth?”

      “That would have been nice.”

      “How upset are you?”

      Phoebe smiled ruefully. “There’s a half-pound box of butterscotch squares from See’s in my car. I’m also planning to stop by the grocery store on my way home and buy a bottle of wine.”

      “Liquor and sugar. That’s pretty bad.”

      “It’s as close as I’ll come to a life of crime.” Phoebe rested her elbows on her knees and covered her face with her hands. “I know better. That’s what kills me about this. What is it with my personality that says I have to earn my place in the world? How many times do I have to be burned before I’ll learn to stop helping people? Every time I do, it gets me in trouble.” She thought about her unexpected meeting with Jeff outside the courtroom.

      “Oh, and the Bureau of Real Estate is considering revoking my license. Jeff stopped by to give me the information himself.”

      “Did you kick him in the balls?”

      “I didn’t think about it in time. Bummer.” She looked at Maya. “Why am I such a sucker?”

      “You’re a good person who likes to help people. So what are you going to do now?”

      “I don’t know. I have a month off. If the board suspends my license...”

      She didn’t know what would happen then, nor did she want to think about it. After college she hadn’t had a clue as to what she wanted to do with her life. Then she’d stumbled into real estate, and for the first time ever, she felt that she’d finally found a place where she belonged. She loved showing houses and getting people good financing and watching their faces light up the day they moved in to their new home. It was her whole life.

      “April’s a bitch,” Maya said.

      Phoebe sighed. “She’s a single mother with three kids, one of whom is chronically sick.”

      “You’re making excuses.”

      “I’m telling the truth. She’s right. If she’d taken any more time off to stay home with Beth, she could have been fired. So she asked me to fill out the paperwork for the Bauers. My mistake was in listening to her. I knew the paperwork was wrong.”

      Phoebe had fought with her boss, and a frustrated April had finally yelled at her to just do what she was told and file the stupid things. Which Phoebe had done, even though she’d known better. But through a series of unfortunate events, what should have just been a mistake had ended up starting a lawsuit and a subsequent criminal investigation—the consequences of which had landed her in court. Rather than tell the truth, April had let her take the fall, explaining that Phoebe could afford to be a screwup. If April got fired, there were three kids on the line. Phoebe hadn’t come up with an argument to refute that one.

      “I didn’t think the real estate board got involved in paperwork mix-ups,” Maya said.

      Phoebe thought about the letter in her purse. The one she’d read while consuming four pieces of almond truffle and a double latte from Starbucks.

      “They don’t. However the Bauers were April’s clients, and I did the paperwork. They’re accusing me of taking the credit and money for her sale.”

      Maya’s green eyes widened with sympathy. “Which you didn’t do.”

      “But who’s going to believe me?”

      “April knows the truth.”

      “April won’t risk telling it.”

      “So what happens now? You could haul her into court. I could do an exposé.”

      “Thanks, but I’m looking for a different sort of option.” Although what it was, Phoebe couldn’t say. “I guess I have a month to find myself a new job.” Depending on what happened with her license, maybe a new career. “I love selling real estate. I don’t want to stop doing that.”

      Maya shook her head. “No, what you love is rescuing people. You’re the only Beverly Hills agent I know who specializes in starter homes for the financially challenged. You could be making truckloads of money with movie stars and Hollywood execs, but instead you work with newlyweds and single moms on a budget that wouldn’t support a rodent family.”

      Phoebe thought about protesting, but she knew her friend was right.

      “I know what it’s like to be desperate for a place to belong,” she said. She’d lived with the feeling most of her life. One day, she promised herself. One day she would find it, and then she would never let it go.

      “Oh, wait.” Phoebe brightened. “I do have one movie-star client, but Jonny Blaze doesn’t want to buy a house here in LA. He’s looking for a vacation paradise home complete with room for a helicopter pad.”

      “Could you at least sleep with him and take your mind off things?”

      For the first time that day, Phoebe laughed. “I wish, but the man actually ruffled my hair and told me I looked like his kid sister.”

      “That’s a drag.”

      “Tell me about it.” Phoebe rose. “I have chocolate calling my name, and you have the rich and famous to stalk. I’m going to get out of your way.”

      “No way.” Maya rose, came around her desk and gave Phoebe a hug. “I’m not leaving you alone. Let’s go out for Mexican.”

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