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I turn to Mariam. “Babe? Is that true?”
I can feel Joyce scoff at me using the “babe” word.
“I don’t know if it’s true that the building actually is for sale. But yes, I came out and told her that if she didn’t get out of here with that sign, I’d use it for kindling. Along with her Louboutins.”
“See? She’s a maniac!” Joyce shouts.
I hold up my hands, my arm leaning on the sigh. “Wait, wait, you threatened her dog?” I gape at Mariam.
Both women stare at me for a second. Then Joyce shouts, “No! My shoes!”
“I’m not a complete psychopath, Jesse,” Mariam says.
A smile breaks over my face despite every attempt to control it. I’m not going to lie; some part of me is proud of her for going wild in the street over her livelihood being threatened—embarrassing or not. And, okay, watching her in fight mode turned me on. So what.
“No, just maybe a partial one,” I say with a wink.
There’s one way to settle this quickly and seamlessly, and I’m pretty sure Mariam will hate it.
I turn to Joyce. “You have every right to post that the property is for sale if it is, in fact, for sale, ma’am. First, get the owner on the phone; I’d like to talk to him.”
Joyce juts out her hip. “You know I’m not allowed to do that as the listing agent.”
I roll my eyes. “Are you kidding me? Fine, tell him I have a cash offer.”
At that, the agent’s eyes light up and she dials her client. Meanwhile, I cast my gaze at Mariam, who scrutinizes me with hurt in her eyes.
“I can’t believe you’re taking her side,” she says.
“Baby, if the owner listed, then we’ll find out. If not, we send her packing and pay her no mind because she’s messing with you. If it is for sale, we go from there.”
Mariam shakes her head. “If it is for sale, it’s my problem, not yours.”
“Incorrect. If it’s for sale, then we’re in this together.”
“How?”
It hurts my heart to think that she doesn’t get it. That us being together is more than making out, tickle fights, and movie marathons on the couch.
“Harvey, this is Joyce from Joyce Parsons Realty—hey!”
I snatch the phone away, put her client on speaker, and then hand it back. Dick move? Probably. Don’t care.
“Hey, Harvey, it’s Jesse Jones. I’m curious, why’d you list the building for sale and none of the other ones you own in Darling Creek?”
The owner hems and haws for several moments, then finally comes out with it. “Joyce approached me yesterday and said the local tax rates were about to go up with new people moving to town, and now was a good time to sell. She said she could get me way above asking, and said she could sell it to someone who wanted to turn it into apartments. The wife has been bugging me about taking a trip, so I figured, why the hell not?”
Mariam’s eyes widen. “I knew it! I knew she had something to do with this.”
I turn away and walk down the street because I do not want Mariam to hear this part.
“Harvey, how much are you asking?”
“Four hundred.”
“I’ll give you three. In cash.”
“Three!” Harvey is outraged.
