Obsession Falls(15)

He paused, noting two of his sons surrounded by a bunch of women. With a slight shake of his head, he came over to the bar and took the seat on the other side of me.

Asher stood. “I should get going. Make sure I’m home before Grace and the kids get back.”

“The beer’s on me,” I said. “Congrats again.”

“Thanks, Haven.” He tipped his chin to my dad. “Good to see you, Paul.”

Dad nodded. “You too.”

Asher left and Hayden brought Dad a beer.

“How’s the house looking?” he asked. “I meant to get over there today but I didn’t get around to it.”

“So far it’s in worse condition than we thought.”

“How much drywall did you ruin?”

I cracked a smile. “Most of it.”

He chuckled. “Figures. We should probably make changes to the budget, then. Find some less expensive options for some of the finishes.”

“Probably.”

“I’ll work on that. Jim Brenner owes me a favor, maybe I can get a deal on the windows.”

“Sounds good. And I’ll try to finish demo without breaking anything else.”

“You do that.”

Our meeting, such as it was, didn’t take long. He had a lead on another property that might go up for sale. We weren’t quite ready to invest in another house, but it was good to keep an eye out. I showed him my sketch for the new kitchen layout to make sure he approved. He did.

My dad was a pretty straightforward guy. Made working with him easy.

While we talked, the question of whether I’d locked the back door of the remodel kept bugging me, like an itch I couldn’t reach. It was probably fine, but we’d had trouble with squatters in one of our properties not long ago and I had no desire to go through that again.

I left some money on the bar to cover our tab and tip, then stood. “I need to swing by the house. Might have forgotten to lock the back door.”

“Okay, son,” Dad said. “Have a good night.”

“Tell Mom I said hi.”

“I will.”

I left the tavern and got in my truck. The days were getting long as we got into June and the sun was still above the mountain peaks. It was a nice night. If Z and Luke had any sense, they’d take those girls down to the river. Better atmosphere than a grimy old tavern.

But what did I know?

I headed over to the house and parked next to the dumpster. I remembered locking the front door when I left and sure enough, it was secure. Inside was quiet, everything the way I’d left it. A dirty mess. I walked to the back of the house and checked the back door.

Locked.

That was good but I was glad I’d taken the time to check anyway. Tilikum had always been pretty safe, but you never knew.

I went back out the front and locked up behind me. Movement in the corner of my vision caught my eye. Probably just a squirrel—they were everywhere in this town—but why was there a car in the driveway of the two-bedroom next door?

Annika had said the tenants bailed, so it was going to be vacant for another month. Wasn’t that just a few days ago? She couldn’t have found a new tenant already.

The car in the driveway was a basic sedan. It needed a wash but that wasn’t what tugged at my gut instinct. The back seat was jam packed full of stuff. I walked closer to peer inside. The passenger seat was clear, but the rest of the car was stuffed. It looked like someone—or a couple of someones—living out of their car.

Oh hell no. This was exactly what had happened with those squatters a couple of years ago. A random couple with a drug problem who’d been living out of their car moved into one of my vacant rental houses. It had taken months to get them out. Total pain in the ass. I was not dealing with that bullshit again.

Good thing I had a key. I’d get them out before they got comfortable.





CHAPTER 7





Audrey





The carpet was soft.

I laid on my back, looking up at the living room ceiling, and trailed my arms across the floor, like I was making a carpet angel. The rental house was everything I’d hoped it would be and more. It was cute, cozy, clean, and although it was a hair outside my intended budget, the extra expense was worth it. It was already furnished, so I didn’t have to worry about getting new stuff. And there wasn’t a pampered Persian cat to be found.

Cute neighborhood, too. The house next door looked a bit sketchy but there was a big dumpster in the driveway, so maybe it was being torn down or remodeled or something.

My mom had pretended to be surprised that I’d found a place to live already, but I could tell she was relieved. The feeling was mutual. Even aside from the Max and Duchess situation, my relationship with her was always better if we didn’t see each other every day.

“I think we can make this work. What do you think, Max?”

He rolled onto his back, mimicking my posture, his front paws bent like he was playing dead. I gave him a scratch on the belly.

“Yep, this is perfect. Our own space. Sorry there aren’t any kitties to play with but it’s for the best.”

My application had gone through just fine. Annika had sent me a rental agreement and met me after work to give me the keys. The lease was for a year, which felt kind of daunting, but I’d known going in that most places would require twelve months. That would give me plenty of time to look for another job—again—preferably in another city. I’d make the best of this temporary stopover in the mountains, but that’s all it was—temporary.