Page 113 of The Love Ambush
Her smile reaches her eyes. “And I work too much. I’m not as much fun as I used to be either.”
“Maybe we could get together sometime and be boring together?”
“I’d like that.” She pushes her shoulders back and faces the house. “Now, I’ve got to get to work. I’m going to be the most appalled potential home buyer in the history of home buyers.”
I laugh and make myself scarce in case Dad or Trisha comes to the door.
The texts from Emily start before I’m a block from home.
Emily:Dad is really pissed that the real estate agent brought someone to see the house without any warning.
Emily:Trisha’s pissed because Sophie and I have been ‘forgetting’ to pick up our clutter.
Emily:Hailey just noticed the ‘water stain’ on the ceiling and is asking Dad if he’s planning to fix it. LOL.
I sit on the curb and laugh as I text her back,Don’t let Dad know we know Hailey.
Emily doesn’t text back right away, but I stay where I am and send another text,If you want out of the house, I’m just down the block.
I only have to wait five minutes before Sophie and Emily jog my way, both of them laughing.
“Oh, my God,” Sophie says, hands on her knees as she stops next to me, panting. “You should have seen the look on Trisha’s face. It was turning red, and her eyes were bulging out.”
“I pretended I was just now finding out about Dad selling the house,” Emily says. “I pretended to cry and ran out of the house like I was upset.”
“And I told Dad I’d never forgive him for selling our family home,” Sophie says. “Because I won’t.”
“Dad was so mad, he says he might have to look into finding a new real estate agent,” Emily says.
My heart sinks. “That’s not good.”
“It’s okay,” Sophie says. “Mr. Stinson told Dad this is the busiest season for agents, and he’s not going to find anyone who has time to sell our house, especially with the state it’s in.”
“That’s good,” I say, because they’re both so happy and I don’t want to ruin it. But I know my father. There’s no way he won’tlook into getting another agent, and the Sullivans can’t possibly be friends with every real estate agent in town.
“Mr. Stinson says he has people coming to see the house all afternoon, so we should be out of the house for the rest of the day.”
“Wow,” I say. “He’s really wasting an entire day tonotsell our house?” Maybe the Sullivans aren’t friends with him. Maybe they have some dirt on him.
“He’s a really good guy,” Sophie says in a wistful tone, staring into the distance.
I slap her shoulder. “He’s twice your age.”
“He’s twenty-six. That’s only ten years older than me.”
“Ew,” Emily says. “You like him? That’s so gross. He’s, like, old.”
“I agree,” I say. “He’s way too old for you.”
“Let’s go to the park,” Emily says. “It’s too pretty to be inside today, anyway.”
That does not sound like my little sister, but she just smiles up at the weird look I give her and starts off in the direction of the neighborhood park.
“Sounds like fun to me,” Sophie says as she hurries after Emily.
Of course, the park is packed on this gorgeous November Sunday, full of little kids and their parents. Emily and Sophie aren’t bothered by the crowd. They run around, playing tag and swinging on the monkey bars, waiting in line for the slide and helping any little kids who need it. They’re way too old to be playing here, but none of the parents complain.
I watch my sisters because I have nowhere to go and nothing I should be doing. For the first time in years, I don’t feel the same weight of responsibility where they’re concerned. Partly because Dad is back, but more because we’re actually working as a team for the first time. My sisters make pretty darn good teammates.
