Z: How much trouble would I be in if I locked Hazel in her room permanently?

She decided she should clarify.

Z: Or at least until she safely reaches adulthood without giving me a heart attack.

It only took a moment for the answering bubbles to appear.

M: Do you plan on feeding her?

She chuckled. Her friend knew laughter was exactly what she needed right now.

Z: I suppose.

The bubbles floated longer this time.

M: Even so, as your attorney, I advise against it.

M: The authorities frown on that sort of thing.

There was a pause, but she could see her friend was typing something else.

M: Is this a red wine or whiskey night?

She could definitely use one of their cocktail hours in the repair shop later.

Z: Hazel punched a boy in the face at school today.

The answer came swiftly.

M: Damn! Did he deserve it?

She grinned at the instant assumption that it must have been justified.

Z: Yup

M: Go Hazel! Whiskey night.

Z: For sure.

*

ATTORNEY MIKE MCKINNON stared at his phone for a moment, knowing what he had to do. Zoey would expect no less.

M: What kind of music do chiropractors like?

Z: I’m seriously afraid to ask.

Mike grinned.

M: Hip pop.

“What are you grinning about over there?” His twin sister, Mary, made a playful grab for his phone. She’d picked him up from the car dealership where he’d left his SUV to get new brakes. “Do you have a secret admirer or something?”

He didn’t answer until after Zoey’s reply appeared.

Z: GROAN! CU later

“No admirer, sis. Just Zoey.”

“That was a pretty big smile for just Zoey.” She glanced over again, one eyebrow raised. “Oh, God, are you two...?”

“No! Hell, no!” He straightened in his seat and pretended to shudder. “Stop. She’s basically family. I’d never...” Sure, there’d been a time, back in high school, when he may have wondered what it would be like to kiss Zoey. A girl who took shop class and wore nothing but jeans, flannel shirts and Doc Martens. A girl with a quick laugh and a sharp wit, tall and lean, with coffee-colored hair. But even then, he’d known he couldn’t risk losing a friendship unlike any other he had.