Accidental Knight: A Marriage Mistake Romance(12)

I’m glad she sees it.

The screaming fit upstairs had me considering her stability. Now I’m sure it was just shock. I’d been mighty shocked myself and hadn’t expected to see her standing there.

I give her another moment before she looks at me again, sniffing back her pain.

“How long have you been living here at the house?” She shrugs. “I thought you were in the cottage.”

“I was living in the shack, yeah. I moved in here after Jonah’s first attack. He didn’t want to be alone.” I didn’t want him to be either. Been there. Done that. It doesn’t work out well.

But his heart was only half of it. He wanted to keep me close, an extra set of eyes before the wolves closed in...

“I just wish he’d have told me.” She sniffles and wipes her nose with the napkin. “I would’ve come home. No hesitation.”

“I’m sure you would, and he didn’t want that.” We’d already covered that point, yet I add, “You were busy with your business. Last thing Jonah ever wanted to do was interrupt your life.”

“Pshh, like there was anything to interrupt.” She rests the back of her head on the top of the kitchen chair and stares up at the ceiling for a moment. “I’m sure he told you about that.”

I take another swig of water. “Told me what?”

She finger-combs her long hair away from her face with one hand. “That I failed. Horribly. Three times in a row.”

Right. There was very little Jonah hadn’t told me.

“Real estate, wasn’t it?” I ask, assessing her.

“Yeah, well...sort of. It’s called flipping. Houses and other properties. You know, buy low, fix it up, sell high. I’d been through the rental game once and almost wound up pulling my hair out with tenants...so I thought I’d try nice, passive house flipping in what’s supposed to be a red-hot market.”

I nod, knowing all about her myriad landlord disasters and flip-flops, how none of them ever went as planned. I want to hear it from her, though. Find out if she’s as honest as Jonah claimed.

If she’s not, then this entire plan could be in jeopardy.

“Sounds like you did your homework,” I tell her. “I always heard California real estate was a slam dunk if all the stars aligned.”

“Yeah, well, they kinda blew apart for me. Ugly constellations.” She leans forward and plops both elbows on the table.

I glance at the doorway, wondering when her parents will arrive. Hopefully there’s time.

I want to hear her side of things, and I need to get her signature before there’s a crowd.

“So what happened?”

“Well, the first house I bought was older and so full of asbestos that by the time I paid to have it all removed – a huge job that took more time and money than all the estimates – I didn’t have any money left to put into remodeling the place. I had to sell it as is and barely broke even.”

“Goddamn. Wasn’t that disclosed in the sale?” I raise an eyebrow. Jonah already told me his version, and I’m curious how close hers will be to his. “The asbestos?”

“Yeah, but...I guess I just screwed up. Severely underestimated removal costs.”

“Why?” I’ve never been good at small talk, but this is easy to move it along.

Just keep on going. Get her comfortable. Then, the papers.

She frowns. “Why?”

“Yeah. Didn’t you call around? Get estimates?”

Her chin comes up sharply.

“Um, yeah. I’m not a total moron, even if I must look like –” She cuts off mid-sentence, rolling her shoulders. “Forget it.”

I shrug. “So it was more than they quoted you?” I push for more info. Specifics. Just to confirm a few things. “That should’ve been their problem, not yours.”

Her shoulders slump. “Yeah, well, it should’ve been, but the owner of the company is a good friend of my father’s and...” She shakes her head. “Enough said.”

I nod. That’s exactly what Jonah said, that the company was owned by one of Gary’s friends.

Jonah had plenty more to say about it, too, and about her next flip. “What about the other properties? You had more than one, didn’t you?”

She props her chin in her palm and her eyes go glassy. “No asbestos there. Termites! Had to replace foundation and support walls, which wound up costing more than I’d budgeted again...”

“And your old man had another friend he brought in, didn’t he?”

She frowns and then huffs out a breath. “I needed the help. They gave me the best price they could.”

Chalk two up for Jonah. And her. She’s been honest so far. “How ’bout number three?”

A sentimental grin forms. “That was a cute little bungalow on the beach. I really thought I’d struck gold. School was finished, so I put all my time and effort into that one. Rather than a construction company, I hired a couple of well-qualified people, and even helped with all of the demolition marking myself. It was fun for a while. I loved remodeling.”

“What happened?” According to Jonah, she wasn’t done getting screwed by her folks.

She levels a tense stare at me, and then, letting out a sigh, looks away. “My mother. That’s what happened.”