Anyone But Rich (Anyone But..., #1)(3)

Thinking back, I realized that had actually been a pretty juicy story. It made me want to get up and dive into the gossip circle even more, but then I saw Iris come in through the front door. Rumors could wait a little while longer.

The bell above the entrance gave a half-hearted jingle to announce her presence, but nobody so much as turned to look at who had come in. I distantly wondered if it was the Frank-and-farm-animal-romance saga part two that had everyone so transfixed. Maybe he’d moved on to bigger game—cows and horses, beware.

Iris was clad in her police uniform. She had graduated from the academy four months ago, and now she even got to carry around a gun. I still wasn’t quite used to the girl I grew up with packing heat instead of soccer cleats, but we’d all changed, and I had a feeling the differences were only going to continue to grow.

Iris sat down before getting herself a coffee. She flashed me a quick, friendly smile. She had her black hair trimmed short in a pixie cut, and her cute pointed chin made it somehow both adorable and sexy. I knew she was always trying to look more tough to fit in with the guys at the station, but unfortunately, she was blessed and cursed with highly feminine features.

“Something big going on today?” she asked with a nod toward the crowd of people at the other end of the store.

“Something,” I said.

She turned her eyes on me, expression growing serious. Iris always saw straight through me, and she clearly could read my stress. “You’re going to be fine, Kira. Those kids are going to love you. You’re impossible to hate. You’ve got that innocent little small-town librarian thing going on.”

“What the hell?” I asked, half-mad and half-amused. “It’s only seven in the morning, and you already get the award for the most backhanded compliment of the day.”

“You can be butt hurt all you want. Librarians are hot. Especially when they have sweater puppies.” She yanked her nightstick from her belt and jabbed at my boobs with it.

I laughed, dodging and swatting it away. “I’m going to call your boss and get that thing taken away from you.”

She did a stylish twirl of the stick and slid it back into her belt without looking. “Call my boss? I am the law, bitch. So leave a message.”

I rolled my eyes. “That’s impressive. The part where you can say that with a straight face.”

She cracked a smile and shrugged. “I’ve been practicing. The guys at the station aren’t really taking me seriously, so I’ve been practicing my tough faces in the mirror.”

Iris’s voice was light, but I thought I sensed a touch of real sadness there. The bell above the door jingled again. Iris and I were the only ones who turned to see Miranda walking in. She had always been a good dresser, even back in our school days. She had a way of finding creative ways to put together ordinary clothes. Thanks to her new job, she also had the money to straight-up buy fancy clothes. Of course, she managed to wear them well, too, which normally drew all sorts of eyes everywhere she went.

I was surprised when nobody in the gossiping crowd at the other end of the store seemed interested.

Miranda skipped ordering a coffee and joined us at the table. Her blonde hair was in perfect order, as usual, and tied into a braid she wore to one side. It had the enviable effect of making her look like some sort of Amazon warrior. She glanced between the two of us like she was waiting for us to say something.

“What?” I asked.

“You guys have heard, right?” Miranda asked.

My eyes went to the gossiping crowd for the hundredth time. “I literally walked straight from my house and plopped down at this table. No pit stops and no phone. So no, I haven’t heard anything except my stomach grumbling, because you assholes think thirty minutes is fashionably late.”

“They’re coming,” Miranda said.

I didn’t even know who she was talking about, but the tone of her voice and the look on her face made my stomach clench. “Who is coming?” I asked, a little annoyed by the theatrics of saying something like that and waiting for the obvious question.

“Hemorrhoids?” guessed Iris. “We’re getting closer to thirty. They say that’s when you really have to be careful. No more than five minutes on the toilet and definitely no straining.”

I gave her a disgusted look.

“What?” she asked. “Google it.”

“The Kings,” Miranda said. “All of them. Not just them either. The entire crazy tribe is coming. Mom and Dad. Media. Probably a wagon of ex-girlfriends. Here,” she added, tapping her finger on the table.

“To Bradley’s?” Iris asked.

Miranda shot her a look. “No. To West Valley. Here,” she said again.

“Why would they come here?” I asked. I wore the perpetual creased-eyebrow look of somebody who was hoping to argue their way out of the inevitable.

“Yeah,” Iris said. “They’ve been perfectly happy in California all this time. It was like they couldn’t leave West Valley fast enough after high school. I don’t buy it. Not until I see them with my eyes.”

“Buy it or not, they’re coming,” Miranda said. “They’re building a new headquarters for Sion, and they’re putting it here.” She tapped the table again, like she couldn’t say the word here without both a whisper and a tap.

I shook my head, still frowning. “No. Silicon Valley is like a mecca for tech giants. Have you ever heard of a Google headquarters in North Carolina? Where would they even find employees?”