Page 56 of The Best Laid Plans

Not that any of those things had caused us to snap at each other all day, but the situation wasn’t anything I felt like explaining to Charlotte’s aunt.

She sighed, walking off with Richard when it was clear that I wasn’t going to give her any more information. The two piled into Charlotte’s car to help her unload at the “keep” unit. I climbed into my truck alone, since everything bound for the other unit was small enough to handle on my own.

It took less than five minutes to get to the unit, and I was able to unpack my load faster than the three of them, just one row over in the same storage facility.

As I pulled out of the parking lot, my phone rang.

“Hey, Tans,” I said. “Is the house still standing?”

“Despite my best efforts. Thought about throwing a rager just to see how much damage we could inflict.”

I smiled—the first real smile in days—and it felt good.

“How’s it going over there?” she asked. “Still getting along with MissCunningham?”

“How’d you know her last name?”

“Looked her up online because you are horribly stingy with details.” She paused meaningfully. “Someonedidn’t mention that she is smoking.”

My face was warm. “Because it’s irrelevant.”

What a crock of shit. It was a good thing she couldn’t see me.

“You remember when I went through my red-hair phase and I was obsessed with that one model? She was on the Swimsuit cover and married the football player?”

I sighed. “Tansy.”

“That’s who she reminds me of.”

Great. Now I was thinking of Charlotte in a bikini. On a sandy beach. That’s what had gotten us into this mess in the first place.

“Anyway,” my sister continued, “I hope you’re still getting along. She seems nice.”

“You cannot know that from looking at her social media.”

“So you’re not getting along.”

I blew out a hard breath. “I’m hanging up on you.”

“No, you’re not.” She laughed. “What happened?”

I didn’t answer right away. While I waited for a red light to change, I pinched the bridge of my nose. “We were doing fine,” I said begrudgingly. “Until a couple of days ago.”

“Tell me,” Tansy said. I could hear the smile in her voice.

“She sort of ... walked in on me naked.” After a stunned beat of silence, I reluctantly added, “And I didn’t handle it very well.”

Then laughter. Loud, obnoxious, younger-sister laughter.

I pulled the phone away from my ear. Waited for it to stop.

Then waited some more.

“Are you finished?” I asked.

“No,” she wheezed. “What ... what happened?”

“I had just showered, okay? People shower at different times of day, and I shouldn’t have to clear it with my roommate. She was gone when I got in the damn thing in the first place.” I was yelling and wasn’t quite sure why.

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