Page 11 of You're the Reason

He had nothing. He just stared at Jon. “What?”

“A job. I need someone to find someone to rent this place. This place and all the other properties that sit vacant that Kensington Fruits owns. Properties including the one you broke into yesterday. I don’t know what you’ve got going on right now, but if you’ve got a few months to give to me, then I would really appreciate it.”

“Why me?” He just blinked at Jon. “I don’t have a real estate license.”

“I have lawyers for the legal stuff. I just need someone to find the right tenants or buyers. You have a business degree. Help me find the right business for the right space.”

Seth made a face. “A business degree. That’s why you desperately need me? Business grads are a dime a dozen.”

“You have the ability to see the possibilities in a situation and place. You’ll have a good idea of which properties to sell and which to develop.”

“I think last night was a red flag telling me that my returning to Heritage is not a good idea.”

“I disagree.” Jon motioned to a door in the side wall then walked over and gave it a tug. The door stuck, but it gave on the second pull. He hurried up a set of steps that led up to the right.

Seth eyed the back door. Maybe he should just leave anyway. But shoot, Jon still hadn’t given his keys back.

Fine. Seth arrived at the landing just as Jon flipped a switch. Light flooded the room.

It had once been an apartment. One corner still had several cabinets with gaps where appliances once stood. The only walled-off section was a bathroom. The rest of it was one open room. Which meant that the bedroom, living room, and dining room were all in a shared space.

Jon walked the edge of the room but there wasn’t much to it. “And it isn’t a handful of properties. Dale bought over thirty. Some commercial, some residential, one is some empty warehouse in Lansing. Trust me, it would be a full-time position.”

Seth ran his hand along the wall. The dark paneling dated back twenty or thirty years. “Who lived here?”

“Leah and her family, minus her dad when they first moved to town. Not much for a mom and three teenagers, is it? I think it was short lived. Then they moved into the farmhouse with the grandparents within the year.” Jon tapped the wall opposite the upstairs of the MIM. “I think this wall is new. The wood looks like the same stuff they paneled the upper floor of the MIM with. But what’s left is still big enough for a bachelor.”

Seth shook his head and stepped over to the row of windows that looked out toward the square, but the dust was too thick to see through.

“Okay, Leah didn’t say to take my time. She told me to not come back until you said yes. Please say yes.”

“This town doesn’t want me here. That will never change. Maybe yesterday I thought it would work but... I was wrong. Thank you for the offer, but I just can’t.”

“That’s not true. Ask Madison Westmore. She came to town believing that same thing, but she realized that we could change the way we saw her if she took the risk of letting people in.”

“But she didn’t kill anybody in town.”

“And neither did you. Drugs killed Gregory Howell. End of story.”

“Drugs I gave him.” Seth wiped a thick layer of dirt from the window. Most of the dirt was on the outside, but at least he could see the square.

Jon stared at him for a moment as if ready to say more but seemed to change his mind. “So, back to Grace.”

“Nope.” He was all for changing subjects, but they weren’t going there.

Jon stepped up next to him. “Is Grace an ex?”

“No.” Seth released a humorless laugh as he walked over and opened one of the kitchen cabinets, then another. “But I did ask her out once.”

“She turned you down?”

“Me and my perfect timing asked her just before she left to study ballet in Paris for a year.” The third cabinet revealed a stock of canned goods. He pulled one out and searched for the date. 2005. “We made a plan to go out when she was back from Paris.”

“And?” Jon leaned against the wall and crossed one foot over the other.

“The next time she was home was for her brother Gregory’s funeral.” Seth turned to inspect more of the apartment, but the fifteen-second tour had pretty much covered it all.

“As in Gregory Howell?” Jon’s brows rose to his hairline. “Wait, that was little Gracie Howell?”

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