Page 11 of Whatever Will Be

“I’m not based in Miami anymore.”

“No? Thought you were a big real estate mogul down there.”

“Hardly. I’m a hustling house flipper.” I’m downplaying. A lot. But there’s no point in bragging. “And I live here now.”

“Here?” His brow creases. “You mean you moved up to the city?”

Considering my disgust for noise and people, New York City would be my last choice. “Nope, I’m back in Lake Stuart.”

“Bullshit. Since when?”

Technically, since the night his sister died. “Recently.”

“I hadn’t heard that.”

“Must have slipped my mind to share the news on social media.”

He’s looking at me more closely now. “You hate it here.”

He knows that and he knows my reasons.

Well, some of my reasons.

Danny knows my brother told a monster of a lie and had me shipped off to a place of nightmares. He knows I was not allowed to be present for my own father’s last days and he knows I was disinherited. If not for the fact that my mother had left me a life insurance windfall that couldn’t be violated, I would have been out on the street when I turned eighteen.

Instead, I invested in some cheap real estate when the market was down and benefited when it rose. It turns out I have a hell of a knack for turning a profit. I’m here to put that talent to good use.

“Needed a change of scenery,” I say, not much caring to dive into the specifics at this time.

“Huh,” he grunts, still perplexed.

No wonder.

We always said we’d get the hell out of Lake Stuart. Trading in a beachfront condo in sunny Florida and permanently relocating to this small town tundra doesn’t make much sense to him.

“So where are you staying?” he wants to know.

“Down the street.”

“Not in your old house.”

“Yup. Got a good deal on it.”

What a lie. I got a terrible deal. Good thing I can afford to make terrible deals.

Danny decides to drop the subject. He’s grown preoccupied and he gazes sadly at the pink castle tent.

“I can’t get my head wrapped around the idea that she’s gone. Fucking hell. She wanted me to visit for the holidays but I blew that off and said I’d come in the spring. But I probably wouldn’t have come in the spring. I ran out of here the first chance I got while she was stuck. You know how it was. Dad went to prison. Mom took off. She’d just managed to get Gretch through high school when she got pregnant with the twins. I hoped I’d be able to help her by raking in the big bucks but my career tanked. Now it’s too late.”

My heart might be a shriveled husk but today it hurts for them all. I don’t want to say any of the standard lame garbage people feel compelled to repeat at a time like this. I heard too much of that after my mother died. Her death was also sudden and excruciating. I know firsthand what it feels like to be handed crappy declarations that mean nothing.

“I went to the house first, before I came out here.”

He makes a face. “You must have seen Gretchen.”

“She’s the one who told me where to find you. She said you’re in shock.”

“That’s how she put it?”

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