Page 45 of Love Redesigned
“She never should have doubted you,” Paige said. “Come on. Buck up. You’ve got lots to pack before tomorrow morning.”
“How about you do it for me?” I whimpered. I sounded like a toddler, but I was past caring. And Paige would love me anyway.
“Eight in the morning, right? Is that when Chase is coming with the trailer?” Classic Paige. She was nothing if not unfailingly optimistic. She always had been. Which is why she was so good at counteracting my tendency to wallow in my bad moods. Forward motion, she always said. Just keep moving forward and eventually you’ll get somewhere.
I let her pull me off the bed. “Yeah. I guess Darius says there’s room in his mom’s driveway, so it can stay there for a couple of weeks until Chase can drive it down.”
“He’s really looking out for you, isn’t he?”
I nodded. “He’s also a good friend.”
Paige put her hands on her hips and surveyed the room. “You do shoes, I do sweaters?”
I groaned. “Fine. But we’re getting gelato when we’re done.”
Chapter Sixteen
Alex
Dani and Isaac’s childhood home was in a community just north of the city. Wide sidewalks and large, looming oaks gave the neighborhood an idyllic feel that was entirely different from downtown. History was nice, but so was space. And houses less than two hundred years old.
“Is all this land yours?” I asked Isaac as he unlocked the front door of the home.
He looked over his shoulder. “Yeah. All the way back to the river. It’s not much—just over an acre—but that’s more than you’ll find in most neighborhoods around here.”
I stifled a laugh. “Did you know that in Manhattan, there’s an average of one hundred and thirteen people per acre?”
“What? Like, living there?”
I nodded, following him inside as he flipped on the lights in the entryway. “We’re spoiled down here in the South.”
Isaac grinned. “You don’t have to convince me.”
“The contractor should be here any minute, but I want to go out to the garage. I think there’s another box of records I never moved.”
“How could there possibly be any records on the entire planet you don’t already have stored in the dining room?”
“There’s maybe a few left. Want to help me look?”
“I could. Or I could stay here and wait for the contractor.”
He shrugged. “Okay. The bathroom in question is the first door on the left at the top of the stairs if you want to show him where to go. I’ll be back in a minute.”
I strolled through the first floor of the house, looking for any signs of Dani, but everything personal must have been packed up and put away. Made sense with vacationers in and out so frequently, but I still felt a twinge of disappointment. Not one I would admit to out loud. But it was there, nonetheless.
The sound of boots on the front porch pulled me back to the front door where I let the contractor in and pointed him in the direction of the upstairs bathroom and the leaking roof. After, I went searching for Isaac. The garage was just off the kitchen, so he was easy to find.
“Did you find anything?”
He looked up and grinned, holding up an old fruit crate. “Springsteen, The Eagles, Steely Dan.” Isaac pulled an album out of the crate with both hands. “What?! It’s here! I thought I lost this thing in the move.” He turned the album to face me. “It’s an original release of Red Renegade’s first album. I can’t believe it’s been here all this time.”
I paused at an open box pushed up against the wall, my eye caught by a shiny gold tag I would recognize anywhere. I pulled a navy handbag out of the box, the LeFranc label clear on the left corner of the bag. In the box, there were others, all different sizes and colors. AndallLeFranc. “Did Dani ever tell you she’s got a good friend who’s the nephew of Red Renegade’s lead singer?”
Isaac paused. “What?”
“Darius. She works with his husband at LeFranc.”
Isaac hefted the crate and crossed to where I stood. “Ohhh, you found Dani’s stash.” He looked over my shoulder. “I swear she took more than this with her when she went to New York. I’m surprised she had so many to leave behind.”
