Until You (The Redemption, #1)(7)

The problem? When I open my freezer and pull out the container of ice cream, there’s only a spoonful left.

That pat on the back I gave myself for having restraint and not finishing off the carton the last time I had some just came around to bite me in the ass.

Figures.

Doesn’t that feel like the story of my life as of late?

Wine it is then.

I pick up the letter that started this just as the first sip of wine hits my tongue. When she’s seen me in town, Bobbi Jo has asked me a few times to help with town events.

I’ve always avoided her. Played off her requests. I’ve forever said no.

Why?

Because I’m afraid someone will recognize me? Because I’m scared to get too attached to this place and these people in case I’m forced to move on? Because all the above terrify me?

My sigh weighs down the room as I toy with the edges of the letter and question myself.

Clearly that damn letter has affected me more than I’d like to admit.

Someone knocks on my front door, and I jump at the sound, nearly dropping my glass of wine.

It takes me a beat to gain my wits and settle my pulse before it hits me. The landlord. Hottie McTotty.

That’s the only person I can think of who would be knocking at my door. But when I swing it open, the man I saw the other day isn’t there.

His daughter is, though. But this time, there are two of them, identical in every way except for their clothing. And the one on the right with the jean shorts and yellow tank top is holding Hani against her chest.

“Hi,” they say in unison, mischievous smiles on their lips. Hani greets me by purring contently and eyeing me up and down as if he’s letting me know I wasn’t paying enough attention to him so he escaped to find it elsewhere.

Traitor.

Then again, the fact that I didn’t notice he’d slipped out when I went to the mailbox is on me, not him.

“Well, hello there,” I say, looking from one to the other, the smile coming easily to my lips.

“We’re Paige—”

“And Addy,” the one with the yellow top says. “We live in the big gray house.” She points over her shoulder as if I don’t know which one she’s talking about. “Is this your cat?”

“So nice to meet you girls. I’m Tenny, and yes, that’s my cat. His name is Hani.”

“He was in the barn,” Paige says.

“Dad says we’re not supposed to go in there until he finishes cleaning it up and making sure it’s safe, one of the things on the list of things Uncle Ian left him to do, but—”

“But we heard meows and decided to investigate . . . and there he was.”

I laugh. These two girls are adorable, not only in looks, but in how they operate on the same twin wavelength finishing each other’s sentences.

“Well, I thank you for bringing him back home. He’s not usually an outside cat, so I’m surprised he took off.”

“He wanted to meet us,” Paige says. “That’s probably why.”

“Probably,” I say as Addy rubs between his ears, sending him into a state of bliss. I take the two of them in. Addy has freckles dusting the top of her nose while Paige doesn’t.

At least there’s a way to tell them apart.

“You left a lot of notes for Uncle Ian,” Paige says and then snickers. “Dad said it’s a prime example of why tenants are a pain in the you-know-what.”

“Did he now?” I ask, biting back a laugh. Nothing like a kid to spill your secrets when you don’t want them to.

“Yep. He did, but that was before we met you,” Addy says.

“And you’re cool. You have a cat,” Paige adds.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret,” I whisper. “I promise I’m not a pain-in-the-you-know-what.”

“We know,” they say in unison as one rocks on their heels and the other cranes their neck to look inside the house.

Either their dad sent them to check me out or they’re really curious.

Hani jumps out of Addy’s arms and moves gracefully toward his bowl and meows. “It’s his dinnertime. Can you tell he’s never missed a meal?”

Addy quirks her head to the side and twists her lips in contemplation. “Now that you mention it, he is kind of fat.”

“Shh,” I whisper. “You’ll hurt his feelings.” That earns me the giggles I was working for. “Thank you for bringing him—”

“Can we help feed him?” Paige asks and, before I can answer, she walks through the open doorway and makes herself at home.

“Yeah, can we?” Addy follows suit. “This place is cool. Cute.” She walks around the open space that serves as a family room, a dining room, and an office space all in one, her fingers trailing over the table and then the back of the couch before she turns to face me. “We’ve always wanted a pet—a dog—but we couldn’t because—”

“We live in Chicago and Dad says it’s not fair to have a dog when there isn’t a yard.”

“But there is a lot of yard here, so we’re going to work on him to foster a dog while we’re here. Then we’ll fall in love with it, and he won’t have a choice but to take it home with us when we go back.”