Page 90 of This

She cackles at the memory. “I’ve never seen someone climb a vanity so fast.”

He’d probably still be up there if I hadn’t shown him photographic evidence that I’d released it outside.

I pause on the second to last letter in the stack from a gutter company I’ve never heard of before. Unlike the junk mail, it’s addressed to me directly instead of Current Resident. I open it, curious if Liam requested a quote. Of all the updates, I can’t remember the gutters ever being replaced.

“What is it?” Keaton asks, glancing at the invoice in my hand.

“A bill for having new gutters installed last week. They must have mixed up accounts.”

She quirks a brow as I pull my phone out to dial the number at the top. After closing her magazine, she wanders toward the hallway. “Good luck.”

I spin around at the counter, braced on my elbows when a lady answers, “Desert Bloom Gutters.”

“Yes, I received an invoice, but I haven’t had any work done.”

“All right, honey. That’s going to be Lenny in billing. I’ll transfer you over.” The line cuts off with about ten seconds of cheesy hold music filling the time before a gruff voice breaks in.

“This is Lenny.”

I straighten up and try again.

“What’s the name on the invoice?” he asks.

“Dane Masters.” A few beats of silence tick by. “I’m not sure if my mother had work done from you guys before and there was an address mix-up or—”

“At 1030 Le Clare?”

“Yes.”

“Right. I remember this one. The place of install was different from the billing address. Max, our service coordinator, made a note on the order. It’s not that uncommon for people fixing up homes before they move in to have the bills sent to their current address.”

I nod despite the fact he can’t see me. “Makes sense, except I’m not moving anywhere.”

Lenny lets out a grunt, and papers shuffle on the other end. “I’ve got it right in front of me. Supplies and guys went to 615 Wicker Lane last Tuesday. And Max marked he was told to send the invoice to Dane Masters at 1030 Le Clare.”

“By who?” I can’t hide the irritation in my tone, but someone trying to hook me for two grand is a decent reason to be mildly pissed off.

He blows out a breath. “I have no idea. That’s all Max wrote down. I can ask him next week when he gets back from vacation and let you know.”

I give Lenny my number. He assures me he’ll let me know once he sorts it out, but I’m already on my way out the door. Since I fired Greg last month, he and Aubrey have dropped off the grid, but it looks like he might be finished licking his wounds and ready to revamp his bullshit. And if it’s not my father, then whoever’s using my name won’t be after today.

“Where are you going?” Keaton calls after me.

“To deliver this asshole’s bill myself.”

As I pull out of the driveway, I program the address into my phone. It isn’t far, less than five minutes of cruising through neighborhoods similar to mine. I park across the street from a small Tudor-style stucco with brand-new fucking gutters and grab the invoice off my passenger seat.

In front of the house are two large trucks and a van, all with different logos on the sides. A contractor, plumber, and electrician. Given the squeal of saws and pounding that floods out the open front door, the place is under a full renovation. Lenny was probably right about no one living here yet. Someone’s around though. The brick driveway goes up the side of the house with a gate blocking my view of the garage in back, but the roof of a car is just visible on the other side. Aubrey drives a god-awful pink Hummer, and it’s the wrong color for the Mercedes I let Greg keep.

A guy with a shoulder full of two-by-fours steps out, and I move aside to let him by.

“The owner inside?”

He glances over his shoulder and nods. “Kitchen. But hang a right through the living room to get there.”

I walk straight in without knocking. It would be pointless with all the power tools.

The wood floors of the entryway have been sanded, ready to refinish, and it looks like more walls have been torn down than built. Following the only path without plastic sheeting or sawhorses, I head through the living room. I spend a minute checking out the space. Large and open with what will be a skylight when they finish the ceiling. Splashes of exposed brick and a sunken seating area.