“Perfect?” I let out a short, humorless laugh. “For who, exactly? You realize we’re talking about Madison.”
Madison Cole. My sister’s best friend since childhood. The girl who’d spent half her life looking at me like I was the devil incarnate. The one person in this town who could get under my skin with nothing more than a roll of her eyes.
“Look, I’ll cut a check,” I continued, already pacing. “I can cover a motel for her, hell, I’ll rent her a place for a month if that’s what she needs. But living on my property? No. That’s a disaster waiting to happen.”
Blair’s voice sharpened, that little-sister edge slipping through. “Don’t be dramatic. Madison’s a good mom, and Olive adores you. You’ll survive a few weeks of having neighbors.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Neighbors? Blair, we’re not talking about random people down the street. We’re talking about Madison. She hates me.”
“She doesn’t hate you,” Blair said firmly. “She just… doesn’t know you the way I do. And this isn’t about you, Seth. This is about Olive having a safe place to sleep. I already told her it was fine.”
I stopped dead in the middle of the road. “You what?”
“I told her you’d be expecting them tonight,” Blair said, sounding much too pleased with herself. “So be nice. And maybe, just maybe, try not to drive her crazy.”
Before I could argue, the line went dead.
I stared at my phone, muttering a curse under my breath. Perfect. Absolutely perfect.
Madison Cole is living in my guesthouse. This was going to be hell.
Chapter 5
Madison
Ihadn’t packed for an extended time away from home.
The duffel bag at my feet looked pitifully small stuffed with Olive’s clothes, her favorite stuffed Bunny, and whatever essentials I’d managed to throw together when Blair insisted we couldn’t spend another night in my ruined house. Everything else, our books, Olive’s drawings on the fridge, the rocking chairwhere I used to rock her to sleep, was left behind, damp and sagging under a half-collapsed roof.
And now I was standing in front of Seth Cunningham’s ridiculously large property, staring at a house that looked like something out of a magazine.
Correction, hisguesthouse.
I shifted Olive higher on my hip. She was half asleep, her little curls damp from the humidity, thumb tucked into her mouth. She’d been cranky all day, and I couldn’t blame her. Our home felt safe, familiar. Now everything smelled like mildew and wet wood, and the only option was this… arrangement.
Blair’s words echoed in my head;It’ll only be temporary, Maddie. Just until your house is fixed. Seth doesn’t even use the guesthouse; you’ll hardly see him.
I wasn’t sure which part of that was supposed to make me feel better. Living on Seth’s land, who had made it his life’s mission to irritate me since we were kids, wasn’t exactly on my list of dream scenarios. The man was grumpy, infuriatingly attractive, and far too sure of himself. He was also Blair’s brother, which made avoiding him impossible.
Still, Olive shifted against me, sighing in her sleep, and I swallowed my pride. It didn’t matter if Seth and I got along. What mattered was that my daughter had a roof over her head tonight and was safe.
I grabbed the key under the welcome mat that Blair had mentioned and unlocked the front door. The guesthouse door creaked when I opened it, and I was immediately hit with cool air and the faint scent of cedar. My jaw dropped as I looked around. High ceilings, wide windows, clean lines everywhere, it was modern but warm. Clearly, it was designed by someone who cared about details. Probably Seth himself.
I set Olive down gently on the couch, draping a blanket over her. She barely stirred. My chest loosened a little. At least she was comfortable.
The sound of footsteps on gravel snapped my head around.
Seth.
He walked up the path from the main house, still in his work boots, clipboard tucked under one arm. He stood a little over six foot three, broad shouldered and clean cut, with eyes the same green as Blair’s, only sharper. Even in the dim light, he looked annoyingly put together. Dirty blonde hair just messy enough to look intentional and a faint crease between his brows like he was carrying the whole town’s problems on his back.
His gaze flicked from me to Olive and back again. “So it’s true. You’re moving in.”
I crossed my arms, heat rising to my cheeks. “Not by choice.”
His mouth twitched, the closest thing to a smile I’d seen from him in years. “Trust me, sweetheart, it wasn’t mine either.”
I bristled at the nickname, but before I could snap back, Olive stirred and let out a soft sigh. Seth’s expression softened for half a second, his eyes lingering on her tiny frame under the blanket. Then it was gone, replaced by his usual cool detachment.
