Page 13 of When Love Is Lost and Found

So I look great, and I smell nice. So does he.

After I pour myself a cup of coffee, I sit at the table, wanting to take advantage of this time alone with him.

"So you knew Jimmy?" I ask.

He stops whisking and takes a deep breath before exhaling slowly, but he doesn't look at me.

"Yes, I knew Jimmy." He's avoiding my gaze, opting to look out the window instead.

"He called you a friend in his last letter."

"We were friends," he says. "We were in the same squad."

"Were you with him the day he died?"

"Yes."

"Can you talk about it?"

"It was an accident."

"I know," I say. "But how did it happen? What happened to him?" When my voice cracks, I close my eyes and swallow the lump of emotion forming in my throat.

I watch him take a cup from the cupboard and pour some coffee. He joins me at the table, taking the chair across from me.

I take a sip of coffee and brace myself for what I'm about to hear.

"Good morning," Mr. Linder's cheerful greeting cuts through the tension and makes Jon and me smile.

"Good morning," I say. "Can I pour you a cup of coffee?"

"Yes, thank you," he says, leaning back against the countertop with his arms crossed. He looks rested and relaxed.

"Good morning, Dad. What are you doing up so early?"

"I'm meeting with a couple of investors who are funding five of the seven rehabs I've scheduled for the next six months."

"You just got here and already have meetings to attend?"

"Why put off until tomorrow what I can accomplish today?" Mr. Linder says, reaching for the cup of coffee I just poured him. "Besides, your mom and I are spending next weekend in New York. I want to get things rolling before we leave. I can't relax when I have pending matters."

"Are you taking Noah with you?" Jon asks.

"We'd like to leave him here with you and Shay."

"I don't know if I'm moving in," Jon says. "I might stay in Loren's guesthouse for the time being."

"Loren?" I ask. "Are you talking about Lorenza Betancourt by any chance?"

"Yes," he says. "You know her?"

"I met her on the plane," I say, smiling. "Wow, talk about a small world."

"So she got back a day early," Jon says. "Loren's our neighbor. You'll reach her house if you walk across our property out back. I'm her tenant."

"So you're the tenant she mentioned," I say. "She didn't use your name."

"Well," Mr. Linder says, "you two work it out amongst yourselves."

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