Page 38 of No Headlines Please

He shrugged. "Well, let me know if you change your mind. You'd like him. And I know he'd like you."

My thoughts drifted to Maddox. We'd gone out exactly one time, but my thoughts were so full of him, there wasn't much room for anyone else. Or at least, not anyone new.

I smiled. "That's really nice of you. But I think I'd better pass." My face warmed in the quiet lobby. "There's someone else I'm sort of seeing, not seriously or anything, but…well, I wouldn’t want your grandson to drive here for nothing."

"It wouldn’t be all for nothing," he said. "He's got me here, remember? Well…for the next month, anyway."

"Right." I cleared my throat. "Anyway…back to the eviction notice, is there anything you can tell me? I'm just a little worried, that's all."

He hesitated as if weighing how much he should say.

Hoping to sway him, I added, "I'm just wondering why someone else would pay her rent." I glanced toward the trash can. "And why is it such a big secret?"

He glanced around. "Alright, just between you and me?"

I nodded.

He lowered his voice. "The thing is…your sister, she wasn't supposed to know."

I stared. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, that's why I had to throw it out."

I was still reeling from that when he added, "And you're not the first person to ask about it either."

Whoa. "I'm not?"

"Nope. There was this other lady – she reminded me a lot of Mrs. Stelter – she was sniffing around maybe a week ago. She looked as happy as hell when I told her the rent had been paid."

Oh, my God. He couldn’t mean her. Could he? "Wait…was she blonde and stylish? About fifty years old?"

He grimaced. "Yup, that was her, alright."

"Huh. That had to be my mom."

He snorted. "Lucky you."

My mom got that reaction a lot, especially with people she considered beneath her. But I wasn't diving down that rabbit hole. I gave Walt a perplexed look. "But wait a minute…I thought it was supposed to be confidential."

"Not that it was paid," he clarified. "But who paid it – that was the big secret." He glanced toward the wastebasket. "The name of the payer was supposed to be blocked out."

Ryder Vaughn.

Again.

I was still processing it when Walt added, "Do me a favor, alright? If you decide to tell your sister, wait 'til June."

"Why June?"

He grinned. "Because by then, I'll be long gone, and they can't do squat."

16

Not What It Looks Like

Delaney

Obviously, I wasn't going to dig through the trash.