Wynn bolted up in bed and scanned the room. She looked at her chest and saw the same lime-green T-shirt as she saw the previous days. Oh my God. Not again.
Her phone buzzed on the nightstand, and she saw the notice for a voice-mail message from Jordan on the screen. Same shitty phone. She typed in her code and immediately began typing a message to Carly.
I feel like something weird happened between us last night.
The same answer from yesterday appeared on the screen. I think this text might be meant for someone else.
Carly was probably pissed, and rightly so. Sorry about the kiss. I shouldn’t have left without saying goodbye.
She watched and waited as the bubbles appeared on the phone. Again, not me. Some other lucky girl. The bubbles appeared again, and then, Maybe we can talk tonight popped up.
What the hell? The name Carly Evans stared at her from the top of the screen. What had happened last night? What was happening tonight? Where was tonight happening?
Definitely tonight. Where is that again?
The Waterbar @ 7:00. See you there.
She listened to the message from Jordan. “Hey. I need your help at a fund-raiser tonight. Call me back.” Holy fuck, she was going crazy. Her phone rang, and Evelyn’s name appeared on the screen. It was the same day again. “This can’t be happening.” She threw the phone across the room, flopped back onto the bed, and squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened her eyes, nothing had changed. “What the fuck is going on?” She was in a Groundhog Day time loop.
She retrieved the pieces of her phone from across the room. Totally dead. She’d have to pick up another on the way to work. By that time Evelyn would be completely pissed that she hadn’t responded. Shadow met her on the floor with a piece of the phone in her mouth. “At least you know what’s going on.” Shadow climbed into her lap. “You probably need to go outside.” She stood with Shadow in her arms and started down the hallway but turned around and slipped on her flip-flops. She wasn’t taking any chances with stepping in accidents this morning.
She let Shadow outside, then made the coffee before she filled her food dish. She took the box of Froot Loops from the pantry and poured some into a bowl. That and coffee would be her only savior today. The day was destined to go downhill from here. She let Shadow back inside and then found her laptop and searched for the notes she’d written last night. Gone—everything was completely gone. She opened a new document and retyped as much as she could from memory, which was most of it, since she hadn’t gotten drunk and purged it all from her head this time. Once she finished her notes, she headed to the bathroom to shower. She felt for the light switch but caught her finger on a wire instead. She yanked her hand back when a zap of electricity shot through her. Fuck! She’d forgotten about the bathroom remodel. She shook her hand to relieve the pain. It was clear this crazy phenomenon wasn’t a dream.
Even though the guest shower was smaller, the warm water felt good as it washed over her. It had been forever since she’d actually enjoyed a bath. It seemed like she was always in a hurry to be somewhere. Not today. She knew precisely how the day was going to play out, and even though she couldn’t find her exact notes, she remembered how she had intended to change her plan.
After she got out of the shower, she dried off and then assessed herself in the mirror. She was thinner again. The extra weight she’d put on in the past year was another side effect of working too much. As she spread the hair product through her hair, she also noted that she didn’t have even one strand of gray hair on her head. Was the job really worth it? She spritzed herself with cologne and then went to the closet and took out the black, notched-collar Express suit she’d worn the day before. If this day moved forward, she’d remember to keep this one. She tugged on the slacks and slipped on a white button-down to go under the matching jacket.
Before leaving the house, she typed the coffee order into the app on her phone and hoped she could make it in and out of the shop without Sally coffee-bombing her. She erased her name and typed in a fake one on the order just to make sure.
When she arrived at the coffee shop, she watched through the window and waited until Sally was out of sight to slip inside. It looked like she’d gone into the back room, which would give Wynn enough time to retrieve her order from the pre-order area at the counter.
“Don’t think I can’t see you.” Sally ran from the other end of the counter as Wynn grabbed the tray of coffees and bolted to the door. “Coward,” she shouted. Sally was probably right about that, but Wynn wasn’t up for trying to make a bad situation with her work any longer than necessary. Having to watch what you did and said every moment was exhausting.
Wynn zipped out and to the parking lot faster than she’d run in her life. She stopped and sucked in a deep breath before she got into her Jeep. She was seriously going to have to find a new coffee shop.
The stop at the cell-phone store had gone quicker than she’d anticipated. She’d paid whatever the asking price was, even though it seemed extremely exorbitant for an older model iPhone. As soon as she got into the Jeep, she punched in April’s number at Sexton Technologies and waited for her to answer.
“Miss Jamison’s office.”
“Hi, April. It’s Wynn. Can you transfer me to Jack Spencer, please.”
“Let me look him up.” She heard a few clicks of a keyboard. “Hang on. I’ll transfer you.”
She heard a few clicks as the call transferred. The phone rang a couple of times before he answered. “Sexton Tech, Jack speaking. How can I help you?”
“Jack, this is Wynn Jamison. Evelyn Cantor wants you in her office in thirty minutes.”
“Okay. Did she say why?”
“Nope. She’ll explain when you get there.” She didn’t wait for a response and hung up. She was going to have to haul ass to get there before he did.
* * *
After seeing the Baxters to the door, Carly went to her desk and dropped into the leather chair. If only half of the couples she counseled were as proactive as Mike and Sara, she would be out of a job. She felt confident they were on the right path and would most likely have a successful marriage, as long as neither of them discounted the other’s needs.
Carly pressed her fingers to her head. She’d woken suddenly this morning from a dream she couldn’t recall. Something was off this morning, and she couldn’t quite figure out what. Maybe it was a migraine coming on, but it didn’t feel like it. She grabbed a bottle of medicine from her desk and took a pill anyway. She had a big night tonight and couldn’t let a headache get in the way.
Instead of checking her schedule herself, Carly picked up the phone and dialed Stephanie’s extension. “Is that it for today?”
“Yep. You had me clear your schedule this afternoon because of Suzanna’s event.”
“Great. My head is splitting, so I’m going to head home and lie down for a while.”
“I have something for that if you need it.”
“Already took something, but thanks.” She hung up the phone and gathered her things. Maybe a nap would help her recall the dream. She’d been on the edge of remembering a couple of times this morning, but just couldn’t bring it into focus. If nothing else, a little sleep should help relieve the headache.
It was weird. She’d been fine until she received the text message from Wynn. She hadn’t seen Wynn last night and had no idea what she was talking about, but she felt like she’d lost a conversation with her somewhere. Wynn’s text led her to believe she was confused as well. Her dreams had been vivid, as usual, but her memory of them was gone—completely erased. In recent years, she didn’t remember as much of them as she had when she was younger, but she usually retained bits and pieces to ponder.
Today she recalled nothing except a familiar feeling about Wynn, a warmth she couldn’t explain. Was it possible for them to have had the same dream? No. That was ridiculous unless she was playing a starring role in a supernatural film. She’d see Wynn tonight. Hopefully she’d elaborate on her text this morning. Odd how her stomach clenched at the thought of Wynn kissing another woman. They’d never dated or even flirted, not that she hadn’t thought about it more than once. Wynn was everything she’d dreamed of in a woman but always seemed just out of reach. She’d find out tonight if Wynn’s involvement with another woman had completely eliminated the possibility of having something with her.