Page 35 of Shortcake
I snorted. “Pack up and go where? I don’t have any place to live until this is fixed.”
I guess I could crash with one of my brothers… but God. They were all blissfully in love and in that new relationship stage. I did not want to hear any expression of that love through the walls at night if you caught my drift. Ick. Maybe we could have a no nooky rule…
But even I knew that was selfishly unreasonable. Hell, if the situation was reversed and I was offering my place to my brother, then he asked me to stop having sex? I’d kick him right out on his ass.
Not to mention, I’d lived with my brothers for eighteen years. I loved them all dearly. But my God, I never wanted to move in with them ever again. In fact, I seriously questioned Haylee, Elaina, and Chloe’s sanity for the shit they put up with as their girlfriends.
Goddammit.
Even Enzo had this new boyfriend and she lived in a tiny one-bedroom home. Crashing on her couch for several weeks sounded like a nightmare.
Bob tore the sheet off his clipboard and handed it to Conrad. “You got renters insurance?” he asked me. “They usually cover some of the cost of a temporary apartment for this sort of thing.”
I gulped and shook my head. How many times had Liam and my mother nagged me to get renters insurance? I just thought they were being obsessive and overly cautious.
“You don’t have renters insurance?” Warren echoed, then gave a low whistle. “Man. That’s not an expense I would skimp on in the future.”
I glared at my old high school arch-nemesis. “Gee, thanks. I’ll remember that.”
“Well,” Bob continued. “In that case, since it’s not a mistake on your part as the tenant, it’s usually on the landlord to put you up somewhere.”
I met Conrad’s gaze as the lines around his weary eyes tightened.
I felt bad for the guy. He looked exhausted. Stressed. God knew how much this was going to cost to fix. Add onto that, he had to pay for me to rent somewhere else in the meantime? I wasn’t sure what a local sheriff made, but something told me it wasn’tthatmuch.
I gave Conrad a weak smile. “I’m sure we can figure something out.”
Conrad clamped his hands to his hips. “How did this happen? Are the mice in my home, too?”
“Me and the guys can do a sweep of your house to see. If there’s mice in the walls, we’ll know within a few minutes.” Bob waved at some of his men, then pointed to Conrad’s front door.
He paused before following the group in and dropped a meaty hand onto Conrad’s shoulder. “Sorry, sheriff. Not the best introduction to our little community, I know.”
I stood there awkwardly for a breath, waiting for Conrad to say something. When he didn’t, I scuffed my toes into the grass, outlining a circle. “This really sucks. I’m sorry.”
Conrad exhaled deeply. “It does. And… thanks.” Crimson stained his cheeks when he looked up at me. “I—I owe you an apology.Again. Sounds like this fire wasn’t your fault.”
I shrugged. It wasn’t my fault. And he did owe me an apology. But even as big of a ball-buster as I was, I didn’t want to kick the man when he was down.
Warren backed away from us with a little wave. “If you don’t need me anymore, I was going to head back to the station—”
“Of course. Go ahead. I’ll try to come in a little later.”
“Take the day off, sheriff,” Warren said. “I can cover for you.”
A smile twitched at Conrad’s mouth as he shook Warren’s hand. “Thank you.”
We both watched Warren get into his car and drive off. Gone was our referee.
Silence fogged the air between us.
Finally, Conrad slapped his hands to his knees and pushed up to stand. “Look, I know it’s not the same as having your own place. And it’s definitely not the Waldorf-Astoria. But my basement is big and it has its own en suite bathroom. And a little den area off of the bedroom down there. Only thing it’s lacking is a kitchen.” He paused with a small, defeated chuckle. “It was supposed to be Harper’s room, but after that little stunt last night? I was already planning on making her move into the bedroom next to mine as part of her punishment.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. He must have known I wasn’t following his train of thought, because he added, “I can’t afford to pay for an apartment for you. But if you want that basement, it’s yours. Rent free for as long as it takes to fix your apartment. Unless you prefer to stay with Warren or a friend.”
Why the hell would I stay with Warren? Sure, we were friends now, sort of. But not like the kind of friends who went out a lot or who I would call in the face of a catastrophe. We weren’tthatclose.
I bit my lip, thinking. Having my own bathroom, bedroom, and den was more than I’d get at any of my brother’s homes, that was for sure. They had guest rooms. Finn and Haylee even had a guest bathroom. But none of them could offer what Conrad could. And moving my things over would be easy enough. I could just pack a suitcase and then pop up to my old apartment if I needed something.
