Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 153946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 770(@200wpm)___ 616(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 153946 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 770(@200wpm)___ 616(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
He wasn’t buying it, but I could hardly explain something I didn’t understand myself. I would be more comfortable in his guest room, and my back would certainly thank me for getting the hell off Bernie’s couch. I missed my California king, the one currently in storage, with its special cooling layer that was exactly the right firmness for my back. As many years as I’d been bent over or flat underneath a vehicle, some things were too important to skimp on, but it was gone until I found a place to settle down. And my gut was telling me I needed to hold off on making any big decisions on that score right now.
I couldn’t focus on anything else until I knew what was going on with August.
Which made me a crazy, picky old bastard who deserved his sister’s sleeper sofa. I might need my head examined. But before I did that, I needed to give my niece a raise as soon as she got back to work. I hadn’t realized how much she did, or that her decision to rest up and keep her blood pressure low enough for a home birth would be such a pain in my ass. Maybe I should find out how good Dalton was with computers. I wasn’t lying when I said I was exhausted.
I raised my orange juice in a mock toast. “Here’s to picky old bastards and their nosy old friends.”
He snorted and returned the gesture, but before I could take a drink, my phone buzzed.
Setting my cup down, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and saw a text from Phoebe. Just her, not the prolific Roomies group chat her mother had started a week ago. I needed to figure out how to end the nonstop notifications from that before I lost my mind.
“Great timing,” I mumbled, poking it open with my thumb.
Phoebe: Did you turn off the app, Uncle Wade?
Me: No?
Phoebe: Have you checked it recently? Because I saw a rental yesterday afternoon that you might be interested in. I kept waiting for you to mention it so we could talk about it, but you haven’t and it’s driving me nuts. Don’t make me get off my princess cushions to drive over there myself. I can’t believe she didn’t tell me.
“What’s going on?” Kingston asked.
“I don’t know. Phoebe set me up on an app—”
“A dating app? Thank God. I didn’t want your sad, set-in-your-ways old bachelor energy to start rubbing off on me.”
“It’s a real estate app, jackass.” She’d signed me up to look for a house to purchase, so why was she trying to get me to look at a rental? Was she as ready for me to move out as I was?
Sure enough, there was a little red “1” on the app icon. When I opened it to check out the latest listing in my area, I almost knocked over my drink as I shot to my feet. “What the hell?”
I knew those pictures. I’d been in those rooms.
That was Sam Retta’s apartment. August’s apartment.
Kingston grabbed my hand and turned the screen toward him. “Nice place. A little girly. Is it in Galveston? Considering the décor, I’m assuming it’s on the beach.” His eyes narrowed. “Why does that living room look familiar?”
I took my hand back and scrolled through the description with my heart fumbling around in my chest. What the hell was August up to?
Not a few months ago, Morgan and Gene were bemoaning the fact that she’d refused to even consider renting out the poolside mother-in-law apartment. They would have told me if she’d changed her mind. Which meant they didn’t know.
The listing date was yesterday. The day they’d flown to Italy.
“Mid-term renters only. The fully furnished apartment is only available for the next five months max. Non-negotiable.”
What happened after those five months? I had a sinking feeling I already knew.
My phone buzzed in my hand.
Phoebe: Did you see it?!
Me: You didn’t know she was doing this?
Phoebe: I called her last night and she didn’t say a word. Why wouldn’t she tell me? I’m her favorite. Should we worry? Circle the wagons? Tell Mom?
Me: No. Don’t tell anyone, especially your mom. I’ll look into it today.
“I’ve never seen you text that much in my life,” Kingston declared. “What’s going on?”
I sat down again, lifting my cap long enough to run a hand through my hair. “August put Sam’s old apartment up for rent.”
“Ah, that’s why I recognized that furniture. And we’re looking like we might be having a stroke about that…why?”
“I don’t know,” I said impatiently. “For the last year, she’s been avoiding company and not leaving her house, but now she’s suddenly okay with letting strangers do walkthroughs? She could be having a money emergency she doesn’t want her sister to know about. But if she is, it’s one she thinks she can solve in five months.” And when that time elapsed, she could decide to sell and leave again for good.