Page 13 of Trouble Walked In

Della groaned. “Do you have any idea what those old people did in those rooms? It’s disgusting. The Violet Roomhad wads of toilet paper stuck to the bathroom walls. I had to scrape it off with my fingernails.Whydid they do that?”

Lizzie chuckled. “I think they were all reliving their collective childhoods. It’s kind of cute, if you look past what Mr. Onstein did to the plumbing.”

“I don’t want to know what’s under my fingernails right now.”

“You didn’t have to use your nails. There’s a squeegee you can use tucked inside the bucket. I’ll show you.”

Their voices had been growing louder and closer, and suddenly the two women popped through the open door.

Lizzie jerked her head back at the sight of him.

Della’s eyes widened.

Renic felt like a bug about to splat on a windshield.

For a surreal moment, time stopped. All he could focus on was the beautiful woman standing in front of him. She looked as stunning as the last time he saw her.

She still had the same rich brown eyes with flecks of gold that mesmerized him, and a body that was the perfect combination of curvy and athletic. Even dressed in ratty jeans and a flannel shirt, she was the girl he wished lived next door.

She could have been a model, though she didn’t seem to realize it. She never seemed to notice that men traveled in her orbit like satellites. Her focus had always been her sisters first, and her lying cheat of a husband second.

Lizzie’s mouth fell open and she stared at him in stunned disbelief.

“Hey, Renic.” Della drew out his name in a half-hearted attempt to be casual.

“Della. Everything okay?” Renic couldn’t drag his gaze away from Lizzie.

"Everything’s fine,” Della said.

Lizzie crossed her arms, and her eyes smoldered at himthe same way they had the last time they spoke. “I guess it’s true. Bad people do travel fast.”

“I thought that was bad news,” Renic said.

“Same thing.”

Renic smiled, hoping to take the edge off the already tense conversation. “Darth Renic, huh? That’s a new one. I like it. Makes me sound kind of mystical.”

"Why are you here?” Lizzie glared at him.

“Hey, you two.” Della looked at each one of them in turn like she was watching a tennis match.

Renic spread his hands wide in a gesture of surrender. “I didn’t come here to fight.”

“That’s exactly what you came here to do, you arrogant bastard.” Lizzie pointed at the door. “Get out.”

“It isn’t. I came here because I care about Della.”

“You came here because you care about money,” Lizzie countered.

“It’s not just about the money, dammit.” Renic ran his hand through his hair, frustration bubbling up to lace every word out of his mouth in the same way it had three years ago. “Can we just take a step back and start over? It’s good to see you, Lizzie.”

“Get. Out.” Lizzie’s beautiful brown eyes narrowed. “Now.”

Chapter Five

Lizzie glared at the man who had just waltzed through the front door as if he belonged here. He didn’t. He was a piece of history, a bit of the life she’d pushed away. Her new life was this inn and the people who relied on it. There wasn’t room for anything, or anyone, else.

In her old life, she’d been married and The Bellamy Sisters were a tight unit. She’d handled logistics for her sisters and felt like she was an essential cog in the musical machine of their family, at least until the wheels flew off and the machine collapsed into a disjointed pile.

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