Chapter 21
“Heyo, Balloon Lady!” Jake called out when Samantha walked into the sanctuary.
Great. She and Jake were friends now, apparently. Wonders never ceased.
Harry raised his eyebrows. “Balloon Lady?”
She was tempted to ignore the question, but she didn’t want to be rude to Harry. “Someone got me balloons. A lot of them. Jake helped me ...” How could she phrase this? “He kept me from floating away like Mary Poppins.”
Jake tipped his head back and laughed. Whoa. Twice in one day. Sobriety was a crazy ride.
“What was the occasion?” Tiffany asked with a pinched face.
“She just won the lottery,” Jake said before Samantha could answer.
“What?” Tiffany cried.
Samantha could almost see the envy coming out of her pores.
“Yeah, but don’t tell anyone. She’s going to keep it a secret. You know, she doesn’t want everybody trying to be her friend all of a sudden.”
Samantha bit back a laugh. Everyone else on the team knew that Jake was full of it, but Tiffany bought the lie, hook, line, and sinker.
And they all let her.
Probably not what Jesus would do, but maybe Samantha wasn’t the only one tired of Tiffany.
The doors creaked open behind her, and Carol asked, “Mind if I observe, Harry?”
He stared at her, a bit stunned but then shrugged. “Sure, why not?” If there were things in life that Harry minded, Samantha had never seen him encounter one. This was one easygoing dude.
Samantha smiled at Carol and then went to her spot and unpacked her flute, well aware that Tiffany was still staring at her.
“How much did you get?” Tiffany asked.
No one answered her. It was as if she hadn’t spoken.
“What are you going to do with all the money?” Now she sounded breathless.
Samantha continued to ignore her, waiting for Harry to tell them what song they were playing.
“She’s going to give it all to charity,” Jake said.
“What?” Tiffany cried again. “Why?”
Samantha rolled her eyes.