Lie, Lie Again(29)
Jonathan nodded. “Right. And your boy Dave said he’ll come over tomorrow to do the few repairs, weather permitting. Thanks for connecting me with him.”
“No prob. He’s a good kid.” He crossed his arms and turned to Jonathan. “It has the potential to go quickly with the way the market is at the moment. That can change in an instant, but I think we’re in a good position with this one. Let me know when you want to pull the trigger, and I’ll get things rolling.”
Jonathan held back the urge to do a victory punch to the air. He forced a serious look. “I’ll keep you posted on my decision. The old place has been in the family for years. It’s going to take the right price to get me to part with it.” Ha! I can’t wait to dump the place and the nagging tenants. But the harder Patrick had to work to convince him to sell, the harder he’d work for a stellar selling price.
“What about leases? Do you have any tenants with a lease, or are they month to month?”
He nodded assuredly, as though he’d expected the question. “The tenants won’t be a problem.”
They shook hands once again, and Patrick drove off. Leases. Shit! Why hadn’t he thought of that? If any of the tenants came up with some grand idea about him paying out their lease when he needed them to move, they had another thing coming. He wasn’t about to part with his hard-earned cash. With any luck, Ma had kept handwritten notes that he could easily destroy. He smiled. Maybe her refusal to use technology was a blessing after all. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he turned back to his car. He’d figure it out. Always did. And if the place didn’t sell right away, he’d figure that out too. Hell, he could set the place on fire and collect the insurance money if it came to that. Of course, he’d do it when the tenants were out and about. No need to harm anyone. He chuckled to himself. It’d be easy to tell them he had to tent the place for termites. Accidents happened, after all.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Riki opened the door to Chris, his hair glistening with raindrops. “You don’t have an umbrella?”
“Nah. It never rains.”
She laughed as he stood dripping on her welcome mat. “Stay there. I’ll bring you a towel.” She took a bath towel from her linen cupboard and tossed it to him. “I think you might need to break down and get an umbrella. Every time I think it’s over, it starts up again.”
He wiped off his jacket before pressing the towel to his face and ruffling it across his hair. “Guess I’ll have to stay where it’s dry until the storm passes.”
A finger of dread scratched down her spine as she imagined him staying all weekend. Only until tomorrow—Sunday—but still. What if he stayed late on Sunday? Or even until Monday morning? Using the towel, he drew her into a hug, and the bad feeling vanished. What was wrong with her anyway? Would it be this way with any guy she dated?
This time, fear didn’t scratch—it clawed. Maybe she was someone who preferred solitude, and no one would ever feel like the yin to her yang. It’s possible no guy could ever be the one. What if she grew old all alone? How would she feel with no one there by her side when the inevitable happened?
She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. Don’t be dramatic and stupid, Riki. She stepped out of the hug and looped the towel over her arm. “I’ll hang this in the bathroom. There’s beer in the fridge if you want one.” And plenty of girls out there who aren’t secretly a mess, if you’d prefer one of those.
“Thanks.”
Chris was sitting on the sofa when she returned, a papier-maché panda in his hand. He held it up. “What’s this ball thing for?”
She plopped next to him. “It’s a panda, not a ball.”
“Really?” he asked, spinning it from one side to the other. “A panda?”
“Yes. We’re doing an endangered-animal unit next month for Earth Week, and I’m having the kids make papier-maché animals to go along with their reports.” Taking it from his hands, she said, “This little guy is my example. I spent a few hours making him the other day.”
He circled an arm around her shoulders and frowned. “Wow. It’s . . .”
“Is it that bad?” she asked as she placed it back on the table.
“It’s something. The good news is, your kids won’t feel like theirs suck because the teacher’s looks so much better.”
“Thanks a lot. Mrs. Fitzsimmons left her sample behind, but it was all dull and dusty. Even so, maybe I should just use hers.”
“No. Don’t. I hated it when my teachers made these amazing projects and mine looked like crap.”
“Thanks, I guess?” She playfully touched her shoulder to his. “Do you want to order pizza? It’s kind of too wet to go out, don’t you think?”
“It’s not that bad, and some of the guys are meeting up at the Lantern for drinks and appetizers. You love seeing everyone.”
Do I? Or did he just want to believe that? She didn’t even know his friends all that well. But then again, most girls would jump at an offer to go to a cool gastropub with their newly official boyfriend, wouldn’t they? Yes, Riki, they would. That’s what Rowan would say, and she was probably right. Rowan was always giving her advice on how to “act normal.” To be fair, sometimes it was helpful. Mostly, though, it was annoying, and she wasn’t in the mood to follow Rowan’s advice. She turned to Chris and patted his leg. “If you want to hang out with them, you should. I’m not up for it.”