Summer of Us (Blue Harbor Book 9), page 3
“And I do too.” She set a folder on the bar top and flipped it over. “Lanie handled everything and I just came from her office. She assured me that this is legal and binding.”
Ryan ignored the murmur of interest from the regulars within earshot and nodded down at the papers. “Do you mind?”
“Not at all!” Heidi stepped back from the bar, crossing her arms at her chest. She might be cold, he realized. He kept the air conditioning cranked up, mostly because the clientele preferred it that way. Now he wondered if that might be the problem. Or at least, a factor.
Right now, though, he had other worries. He flipped through the pages of the lease, noting that her rent was at least listed the same as his, the terms of the dates, too. And there, on the last page, was Mrs. Tinley’s signature.
Disappointed, he pushed out a breath. “Well, this does look legitimate.”
“It is. And you can talk to Lanie if you have any questions.” Heidi slapped a business card from the real estate office on the wooden bar top.
Ryan may be running this pub into the ground, but he was no fool when it came to business. He had two degrees and a long career in management. He knew how to read a contract. And he knew enough to make sure what he was signing was on the up and up, too.
“If you follow me to my office, I can show you the lease that Mr. Tinley gave me.” He stopped and pinched the space between his eyes. “Actually, I don’t have an office at the moment.” What he had was a giant mess. The construction crew was scheduled to come tomorrow to tear down the wall between the old office and the current dining room. It would be disruptive, and he’d take a hit for a while.
He slid a glance at the old, bearded men at the corner of the bar. Some patrons wouldn’t let the noise deter them from their daily libations, at least.
“What does Lanie suggest we do?”
“She’s calling the Tinleys,” Heidi said. Ryan’s relief was short-lived when Heidi added, “But it will probably come down to us working this out between ourselves. So one of us needs to go, and I can promise you that it won’t be me.”
“It won’t be me either.” Ryan, realizing that he’d spoken too loudly, glanced over at the customers and then back to Heidi. “I just cleared out my apartment upstairs. The movers are setting up a new office space there as we speak.”
“And I just moved out of my…” Heidi paused to lick her lip. “Apartment. There’s a new tenant already moving in. As we speak.”
Ryan rubbed a hand over his forehead. There had to be an easy solution. “Don’t you have sisters you can move in with? Cousins?”
She leveled him with a narrowed look. “And don’t you have a brother?”
He shook his head. Dinner once a week was one thing, but camping out on their couch was another.
“You know that Brooke and Kyle have a small place. Besides, they’ll need the extra space for when the baby comes.”
Uh-oh. The moment he saw Heidi’s eyes pop open, he knew he’d messed up. Kyle and Brooke were waiting to share the news themselves, and the only reason that Ryan knew was because he’d walked in on Kyle building a bassinette in his workshop when he’d dropped by last week a little earlier than usual. He’d been sworn to secrecy, and now he’d gone and told not just someone in town, which was trouble enough, but Brooke’s very own cousin.
“They’re having a baby?” Heidi swooned with joy. “But I didn’t know? When did you find out?”
“Please don’t tell anyone,” Ryan pleaded in an urgent whisper. But even as he said it, he supposed that his plea would be dismissed. The Clarks and the Conways were ten women strong. Eleven if you counted Candy Conway, who could sniff out gossip from one glance in someone’s direction. “Kyle will kill me. Actually, Brooke will kill me. And you know how this town is, you tell one person and then by the end of the day, everyone knows. They plan to make an announcement when the time is right. To everyone.”
“My lips are sealed,” Heidi said. Sensing his hesitancy, she said. “I mean it.”
Did she, though? Because Ryan couldn’t remember an event or party they’d both been to where he hadn’t seen her and her cousins and sisters whispering and giggling and basically sharing everything.
“Hand to God, Ryan. I won’t tell a soul.” She set a hand to her own heart, but his relief was short-lived when her mouth curved up. “If you move out of the cottage.”
“That’s called blackmail,” he said frankly. His jaw pulsed with anger. To think he’d almost believed her!
This was typical, classic Heidi Clark. She’d always had a mischievous streak, a gleam in her eyes even when she was still a little girl in pigtails. Always dared someone to jump off the highest rock into the lake, or begged someone to dare her. She was fearless. Maybe even reckless. Whereas he…
Well, there was nothing wrong with being cautious. Especially if recent history had taught him anything.
“That’s called a deal,” she replied with a shrug.
They were at a standoff. He stared into her eyes—those big, blue, strangely alluring eyes—and then set his jaw.
“I just told you I have nowhere else to go. And I do have a lease. And I don’t really believe that you’d do anything to upset your cousin.” At least he could only hope so, because the absolute last thing in the world he wanted was to lose his brother’s trust when he’d only just regained it.
Her fierce stare lasted about another five seconds before she relaxed her expression. “Oh, fine. You’re right. So what do you propose, then? We share the place?”
Ryan sputtered on a laugh. “Share the place? I don’t even know you.”
“What do you mean? You’ve known me my entire life.”
That was true, technically. But the Heidi Clark he knew was an annoying little girl with a loud laugh, riding her bike through town at breakneck speed, or later, floating from one job to the next, never lasting very long before moving on to the next. He supposed he should be relieved that she hadn’t come looking for work at Harrison’s yet.
Heidi was brash and impulsive and she didn’t take life at all seriously.
And the woman standing before him was…not as he had always pictured her. Her light brown hair fell in waves at her bare shoulders, and her tank top showed off a tight figure that wasn’t shy on the curves. But it was that smile that disarmed him the most. Big and joyful, that seemed to spread all the way up to those bright eyes that held a hint of challenge in them.
“You know what I mean. This is probably the most we’ve ever spoken to each other in our lives.”
“It is,” Heidi said with a nod. “Look, the cottage has two bedrooms. We can each take one and start looking for another rental. Whoever finds one first, moves out. And we split the rent.”
He raised an eyebrow at that. Splitting the rent could come in handy, especially when he’d projected that the next month or so would be lean here at the pub. And if he started looking for a new place today, he might be able to move in by the first of next month. Surely something would pop up by then.
Of course, he’d prefer to stay.
“Are you actually going to look for a new place?” he wanted to know.
She seemed startled. “Are you actually willing to agree to this arrangement?”
“I don’t think we have much choice. Unless you plan to let me have it.”
She gave a little smirk. “Nice try. And yes, I will talk to Lanie about finding me another place to live. Until then, I guess I’ll see you at home?”
She jingled the keys that he knew didn’t belong to that luxury sedan she’d clearly borrowed from a family member and pushed off from the counter, giving a full view of those long, tanned legs.
Ryan swallowed hard, saying nothing, because really what was there to say?
He cleared his throat and turned to the men at the end of the bar, who did a good job of pretending they hadn’t overheard everything, but at least he knew they weren’t part of the local gossip mill. Their interests were simpler than that, mostly centered on fishing, beer, and watching sports, in his bar. He’d take it.
“Another round, gentlemen?” He didn’t wait for their response before pulling the tap, but he kept one corner of his eye out the window, watching as his new housemate slid her oversized sunglasses down over her face and tucked into the driver’s seat.
For over a year, he’d kept his world small, on purpose. Devoted himself to this bar. To making it better. To giving himself a purpose.
It had been lonely at times. It had been challenging, but boring too in a way. He’d had a routine. He’d kept it simple.
And now, everything was about to get very interesting. And he didn’t know how he felt about that. He only knew he didn’t have much of a choice, did he?
CHAPTER THREE
“How’s the new house?” Bella asked two days later when Heidi showed up for her first shift since the move.
Heidi hung her messenger bag on the coat rack and then bent to greet her sister’s golden retriever puppy, who was growing bigger by the day. As usual, George happily accepted the ear scratches and then rolled onto his back, paws waving in invitation for a belly rub.
Heidi laughed, but the tension was still evident in her voice.
“It’s…okay.” She rose, wincing at the worried pinch to Bella’s brow. No doubt Bella had been expecting a problem; no doubt they all were. For this reason, Heidi had been quick to return her mother’s car on Wednesday and grab her bike from the garage before she was spotted.
But now the truth was going to come out. A part of Heidi was surprised that it hadn’t already spread like wildfire, as gossip tended to do in Blue Harbor. Bella and Brooke were close; though not close enough for Bella to know about their cousin’s growing family. No, that was a secret that only Ryan knew about, and now, well, her.
It was a bond, she supposed. Along with the shared living quarters.
“There was a bit of a…mix-up.” Heidi evaded her sister’s stare and grabbed a stack of books that had just arrived. They were the newest release from a popular author, and she and Bella wouldn’t have to argue about a prominent display. “Do you want these on the new release table? Although, I was thinking I could refresh the window this afternoon, maybe build something around this? I’ll get started on some ideas.” She made haste to walk away, but Bella stopped her.
“Uh-uh. None of that.” Bella’s tone was one of warning. “I’m not your boss right now, I’m your sister, and the books can wait. What’s going on?”
She was cornered. With a huff, Heidi set the stack down again and gave a shrug as she met her sister’s gaze. “It seems that someone else also leased the cottage.”
There was a beat of silence as Bella’s frown grew deeper. “Someone else? How is that even possible?”
“Crazy, isn’t it?” Heidi hoped to keep her tone breezy, even though the situation was far from a laughing matter. She’d ended up in the room she’d thought would be her spare—for what use, she hadn’t been sure of when she’d first seen the place, and she was embarrassed to admit even to herself that she’d floated the fantasy of a home office space, one where she could build her marketing business that Bella had encouraged her to consider. One that she really wanted to pursue, if she could just muster up the courage to do it. But that required time, and right now she had actual problems to deal with.
But more than that, it would require other people. People who would be willing to give her a chance—or a second chance, for most.
“But you signed the lease through Lanie, right?”
There it was. The hint of suspicion. The assumption that Heidi had messed up, not followed the rules, somehow played an active part in her own misfortune.
“Yes, I used Lanie to handle the lease,” she said, noting the bitter edge that had crept into her voice. “The other renter went directly through the owners of the property, but Lanie assured me that my lease was legitimate.”
She gave her sister a hard stare because she couldn’t help but resent that Lanie’s word counted more than her own.
Even if she had rightfully earned the reputation she was now trying so hard to undo.
Bella must have picked up on her hurt because her expression softened when she shook her head. “Then I’m sure it’s all fine. Lanie will sort it out. And you are still living there? You moved in?”
“Moved in. Living there.” Heidi nodded. Just not alone, she thought. She pulled in a breath, her mind running through a few ways of phrasing the delivery of the real news, when the door jangled and Lanie swept in, looking chic and neat as always in her very adult shift dress as opposed to Heidi’s jeans and peasant blouse.
Heidi made a note to go shopping for some similar items this weekend, especially now that she was saving half a month’s rent. A small perk.
“I was hoping I’d find you here,” Lanie said, dropping her gaze to give George a fond smile. His tail was beating so loudly that it was smacking the wall, making Heidi forget her troubles for a moment as they all laughed.
But when Lanie straightened up and turned her attention on Heidi, even Bella seemed to hold her breath. “I’ve been on the phone with the Tinleys. It took me a couple of days to reach them because they’d been on a cruise and were unreachable. They feel just awful about this mess.”
Heidi’s heart began to race. Surely, they would honor her lease, especially as Lanie had handled it, which couldn’t be said for the other party.
“They’ll let me stay, won’t they?”
Lanie nodded, but the look on her face told Heidi that the news wasn’t all good. “They don’t see how they can ask either of you to give up the lease, since they did technically promise you each the space.”
“Wait,” Bella cut in. “Who’s the other person? We didn’t get to that part yet.”
Lanie raised an eyebrow. This was Heidi’s news to deliver.
“Ryan Harrison,” she mumbled, now grabbing that stack of books that Bella had insisted could wait. No, it couldn’t wait.
Bella didn’t look particularly moved by this announcement. “Well, Ryan’s pretty reasonable. I’m sure he’ll understand that you have a lease through a real estate agent.”
Reasonable? Heidi curled her lip and set a few of the books on the new release table, rearranging others to make space. She could think of several choice words to describe Ryan and none were half as generous. But then, Bella mostly kept to herself, either with her head in a book when they were growing up, or here in the store when she got older. Ryan was just a passing face in their crowd, but the bigger part, Heidi knew, was that Ryan had very little reason to give any reaction to Bella.
Whereas he’d always given Heidi a creeping sense of disdain. There were the weddings, of course, where he sat like a lump, watching everyone else mingle and dance. And the holiday events in town, where he chose to judge the activities rather than participate in the fun. She could still remember his face when she’d come down the sledding hill last December, yes, squealing as loudly as her niece Zoe, who was sharing her sled. His gaze seemed to cut through the cold winter afternoon, as cold as ice.
“But technically, Ryan has a legitimate lease too. Directly with the owner.” Lanie sighed deeply. “I’m afraid you’ll have to decide which of you will be the one to move out.”
“Move out?” Bella’s voice rose a notch and she turned to Heidi with wide eyes. “You mean, he’s living there too?”
Heidi grimaced. “As Lanie said, he technically signed a lease.”
“And how’s that going to work?” Bella asked.
“Good question.” Heidi hadn’t seen Ryan since their conversation at the pub the other day. His hours were long, starting early and ending late, and Heidi did have a tendency to sleep in on her days off, which her sisters and parents were forever commenting on, of course. His shampoo and razor were in the bathroom, right beside her ample stash of beauty and hair supplies. His blue towel hung beside her pink one. Of course, his was perfectly folded and draped, like a hotel maid had tended to it.
The only way she knew Ryan was still even staying in the house was because she’d gone to bed early, closing herself into her room both nights, hearing him come in before she’d managed to fall asleep, hoping that she didn’t snore loud enough to be heard through the walls. No doubt he’d reprimand her for that, or give her one of those long, unimpressed stares like he had at Britt and Robbie’s wedding in May when she’d danced with her niece Zoe at the reception, silly, slightly clumsy moves that had made the little girl giggle until she started hiccupping. And yes, they’d removed their shoes. But the reception had been outdoors at the Conway Orchard and Winery, and her heels would have sunk into the grass otherwise!
Ryan had sat off to the side, at one of the singles tables, talking to no one, certainly not dancing with anyone. She’d only even noticed him because she’d caught him looking at her a few times while she twirled Zoe (and then had Zoe twirl her, which was admittedly awkward).
Now, she wondered just how panicked he would have been if she’d run over and grabbed his hands and dragged him out onto the dance floor, ignoring all protests. The man probably would have had a heart attack. And thirty-five-year-olds could have them, right?
“Why are you smiling?” Bella asked.
Heidi blinked. “Oh, I was just thinking about the fact that at least I’ll be saving half a month’s rent.”
“You can’t honestly be planning to stay there!” Bella stared at her.
Heidi shrugged. “Why not stay for now? Ryan’s…”
“A decent enough guy,” Bella said begrudgingly, and Lanie nodded her agreement.
Heidi opened her eyes wide but said nothing. That was hardly what she’d been about to say, but she didn’t see much point in discussing it.
“Ryan’s quiet. Mostly keeps to himself. But you never knew him that well, Heidi. With your age difference,” Bella said.
“The age difference is barely noticeable now,” Heidi said tersely. Honestly, her sister was intent to still treat her like a child sometimes! “Besides, I knew Ryan, of course.”
