“You dropped this.” Mr. Handsome No Name holds up my lease.
“Great, thanks,” I say, quickly taking the papers and throwing them in my passenger seat. “You can go now. I have this under control.”
“There’s a problem.” He runs a hand through his hair. “The address on your lease is the right address. But I also have a signed lease for this house. My lease is up in June. I’m renovating the house in exchange for free rent.”
This new revelation only helps ease my humiliation a teensy tiny bit. But it also brings with it a whole new set of problems.
“But my lease startstoday, in April. How can we have leases that overlap each other?”
He shrugs, tapping his fingers to the roof of my Jeep. “We need to call Kelly.”
“Great idea.” I take my phone from the cupholder and scroll for my landlady’s phone number.
“While you do that, get out,” he says, stepping backward. He opens my car door.
“Excuse you?”
“Get out real quick,” he says, motioning for me to move. Then his eyes meet mine and he seems to have a sudden realization. “Please.”
I don’t even ask why when I climb out of my own car.
“I’m Max, by the way,” he says before getting into the driver’s seat.
“Julie,” I say.
He smiles, then closes the door and expertly backs my car out of the driveway. He pulls forward on the road, then reverses the Jeep and the trailer into the driveway so it’ll be easier for me to leave next time I rush out in a hurry.
Kelly answers the phone with a, “Kelly speaking, how may I help you?”
“Hi, this is Julie Baskins. I just rented a property from you in Sterling?”
“Oh, sure, what’s up?”
“There’s another guy living here. Max? He claims his lease is up in June even though my lease starts today.”
“Oh my goodness,” she says with a laugh.
Max gets out of my Jeep and tosses me the keys.
On the phone, Kelly is still laughing. “I can’t believe I did that. How funny!”
I palm my forehead. She and I have very different ideas of what funny is.
“Speaker?” Max whispers. I nod and put the call on speakerphone, holding out so he can hear.
“So what should we do?” I say.
“I’ll just cancel your lease and refund you the deposit. I’m sorry for the mix-up!”
“No!” I say, sounding desperate and pathetic. But I am desperate. “I don’t want to lose the house,” I add.
“Max can’t move out until he’s finished with the renovations. I’ll tell you what—I’ll just refund your first two months’ rent and then you can move in when he’s gone. Okay? I have another call coming in, so I have to go. Bye now!”
The call ends. My stomach drops.
“What am I supposed to do now?” I say, taking a deep, deep breath to avoid panicking. “There are no hotels within an hour from here. I already gave up my old apartment. My family lives in Florida! My trailer rental is due back tomorrow. I have nowhere to go.”
Max shrugs. “Just stay here.”
