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It’s hard to believe that the property will still be there in a year, or who knows, maybe longer, but I so desperately want it to happen.
Nikki opens the sliding door, calling us in to eat.
The homemade cinnamon rolls are so incredible that I ask for the recipe. Do I bake often? Not at all, but you never know when you might want a cinnamon roll. Nikki freely shares the recipe with me, as well as Marley, who decided she wanted it too.
“I need to head out.” Beau stands, the chair squeaking loudly as it’s shoved back.
“Have a few showings today?” Richard asks through a mouthful of roll.
“No.” He hesitates, his next words coming out quiet, and slow. “I-uh-, I have a date.”
The room falls deathly silent. I risk a glance at Marley, whose face is pale, eyes unseeing as she moves a piece of her cinnamon roll around her plate.
“Well…” Nikki says. “Have a fun time.”
“Thanks,” Beau says. He waves to everyone, stopping to rest a hand on Marley’s shoulder. We see her tense, but not for long, as Beau is leaning down to hug Lennie. Then, he’s gone.
No one brings it up, and no one talks about the giant elephant in the room.
44
ANDREW
The rest of brunch was awkward as fuck. I can’t believe Beau would do that to Marley. He could have easily lied, and said he was off to do a few showings. But no, he had to be a fuckwad. I mean, we all knew there was a possibility of them not ending up together, but no one actually thought it would happen. If anything, I thought we were closer to getting them to crack, and breaking the tension between the two of them, but I guess not.
Josie and I dropped Gramps off about an hour ago, and now we’re camped out on my couch, her laying between my legs. I twist a piece of her hair around my finger, and spit out the thought that has been living in my head for the last few hours.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Of course,” she says. She tilts her head back to look at me, her blue gray eyes confused.
“When you told Beau you couldn’t afford that space, I thought of a solution.”
“And what might that be?” Josie raises a brow, begging me to give her an answer. “Any way that I’ve looked at it, I can’t afford it. Between the rent, supplies, my mortgage, and paying Kenzy, it just isn’t possible.”
“What if you didn’t have a mortgage?” I ask.
She opens and closes her mouth a few times, like she’s trying to find a reason, and is coming up with nothing.
“If I didn’t have a mortgage, then yeah, maybe it would be possible. But what am I going to do, sell my house and move into the office of the store? That’s not exactly logical,” she laughs.
I stay silent, waiting to see if she catches on. I watch as her eyes widen, a small smile appearing on her lips. She scoots forward, turning so she’s sitting cross legged and facing me. “Wait.” She holds a hand up. “I need you to tell me if I’m thinking what you’re thinking, or if I’m being totally crazy.”
I lift my brow. “Are you thinking that you should sell your house and move in with me?”
Josie gasps, clasping a hand over her mouth. “Oh my god, you’re serious?”
“Of course I’m serious.”
“Andrew. I mean, we’ve been together, what, five months?” She shakes her head. “There’s no way we could live together.”
“Why not?” I clasp her hand. “Velma and Travis get along, and I’m sure Velma would love all the extra windows in here.”
“Oh my god,” she repeats. “I… I don’t.”
“You don’t?” I chuckle. “You don’t have to agree right now, but think about it. If you didn’t have a mortgage, then you could pay the monthly payment for the shop.”
“What about rent here?” she asks.
