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“I’m sorry for…” Here, Iris stumbled because she didn’t even seem to know what she should be apologizing for.
Her shoulders rounded.
And he couldn’t stand seeing her this way, hurt and beaten down, searching for excuses that she had no earthly reason to make. Today, Eli couldn’t fight off the urge to step in, regardlessof whether it was his place. “To my knowledge, there’s no law against holding a yard sale. And that was the last of Gertrude Van Doren’s things.”
“I’ll head inside,” Mira said, wisely choosing not to engage.
Susan scowled, focusing her wrath on Eli. “You have no right to get involved. You’re just the handyman.”
“I’m her roommate. And don’t cut me off, I had more to say. You’ve neveronceexpressed condolences to Iris for losing a loved one, so if anyone is guilty of bad manners, it’s you, woman.”
Susan’s eyes widened, and she sucked in a shocked breath. “How many of youarethere, exactly? Are you freaks starting a commune?”
He ignored her, continuing with his verbal takedown. He might be quiet, but everybody had a tipping point. “If you can sell your house, please do. Then maybe we can make friends with whoever replaces you. So move along. You’re not welcome here.”
To his amazement, the others acted as if he’d spoken for them as well. Henry Dale and Iris left Susan spluttering in the yard, and eventually, she was forced to return home when nobody would acknowledge her. Eli stepped right into the back of Mira’s U-Haul, handing boxes to Iris and Henry Dale. When Mira returned, she seemed a little shaken by the encounter, but she soon threw herself into unloading.
With four people pitching in, it didn’t take long to empty the truck. Everything was piled in the foyer, of course, so there were more trips up-and-downstairs. Henry Dale eventually tapped out and wandered off to his room to rest. Eli kept going until the lastcarton reached Mira’s room on the third floor. Iris stayed to the end as well.
“That was painless, apart from the woman ranting when I got here,” Mira said, blowing out a breath. “Thanks for helping out.”
“The other neighbors are fine,” Iris said quickly. “I don’t know why, but Susan has an axe to grind for some reason.”
Mira nodded. “It happens. At my last place, the neighbor would constantly leave passive-aggressive notes on the door.”
“What kind?” Eli asked, idly curious.
At the condo, he rarely saw anyone else. He had the impression most owners were absentee and only rented the units for income. In fact, he couldn’t recall the last place where he’d even known his neighbor’s name. Probably in college—in the dorms?
“Stuff like, ‘Your mail is overflowing the box. Please collect the sale flyers or discard them; they’re making the building look messy.’”
“Oh,thatkind,” Iris said with a shiver.
“We were planning to make dinner to welcome you unless you have other plans,” Eli said to Mira.
The other woman smiled. “No plans yet. So thank you. That sounds good.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Irisdefinitelywasn’t jealous thatEli had offered to fix dinner for Mira.
That was just who he was. He often cooked for her and for Henry Dale, Sally too, when she was home at mealtimes. There was no reason to think he meant anything by it. Even if Mira was really cute and she seemed to have her life together as well. Well, apart from the minor hiccup of an unexpected breakup with her girlfriend, but that only proved that someone had liked her well enough to move in with her.
I’ve never even gotten to that point.
Iris stifled a sigh and tried to give herself a mental pep talk. Maybe it was the run-in with Susan before, but she’d lost the happy glow from earlier in the week. The amount she earned from the shop still wasn’t enough to live on, and she wasn’t getting as much as she’d hoped from the house either. Sure, she still thought it was a good decision to have Mira update certain things using her magic, but—
“Are you helping or what?” Eli beckoned from the kitchen doorway, soothing some of her spiky edges.
He included me in that offer from the start. Oh. That means…we. Us.
Much happier now for reasons she refused to contemplate, Iris took two steps, then paused. “You can start unpacking if you want. We’ll call you when the food is ready.”
Mira inhaled softly, a hint of unsteadiness in her voice. “This…means a lot to me. We’re basically strangers, and you took me in on the most tenuous of connections. I’m trying not to show it, but…things are really tough right now.”
Impulsively, Iris backtracked and opened her arms. “Hug? Totally fine if you’d rather not. Like you said, we don’t know each other well yet.”
“I’m not a hugger,” Mira said. “Unless I’ve known someone for a long time. But I do appreciate the thought. I’ll be upstairs.”
