AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I pull out a stack of papers and stuff from the cabinet, set it on the island, and start sorting it into keep and trash piles. “I slept on the big couch. The house isn't nearly as dusty as I was expecting, but still. I want to clean it up first. Get fresh sheets and all that stuff.”
“Now shopping I can help with. I’ve been meaning to grab a couple things I need from Glendale. We can go tonight, grab some dinner, make a whole night of it. I’ll call Abby, even though I doubt she'll say yes. I swear, she works more than the rest of us combined.”
I smile, thinking of Cora's youngest sibling. Abby and I should've been the closest, considering we're only ten days apart. But despite us all being relatively close, we never bonded like Cora and I did.
Though that probably has more to do with my mother and her incessant need to turn everything into a competition—and then promptly win. Aunt Hazel was due with Abby a few days before my mother, but because Virginia Carter never does anything by half measure, she convinced a doctor to induce her early.
“I'll pick you up at four. Then we'll have plenty of time to shop. Abby should be able to meet us for dinner by seven then, if I can convince her to come,” she says.
My hand hovers over the newspaper renewal notice, and a line of tension zips down my spine. “Oh shoot, I, uh, already have plans tonight.”
“What? With who? Actually, you know what, I’m not even surprised. Only you could make friends with someone after seventy-two hours in a new town.” She sort of huffs the words out, and I’d bet that protein bar in my purse she's rolling her eyes with a half-smile on her face.
Just like I'm almost positive she's going to lose all that amusement in about two seconds.
“Yeah, about that. It’s kind of a date.” I wince, the words rising in pitch towards the end like I’m asking a question.
The line is quiet, long enough that I look at the screen to make sure we’re still connected.
She sighs, this noisy exhale that somehow sounds both exasperated and annoyed. “Please tell me you heeded my advice and you're not, in fact, going out with a Reaper. WithCasanova.”
My own annoyance rises to meet hers head-on. “Fine, I won't. Just like I won't tell you that I had a Reaper in my house yesterday. Adifferentone.” I lay it on thick enough that she can probably feel my sarcasm like a heavy layer of sunscreen. “Who was honestly so hot I'm starting to wonder if there's something in the water in this town, because this man was—”
“Details, Eve. I need details. Now.”
I fiddle with the corner of a gardening magazine in the trash pile. “Well, it's kind of a funny story actually.”
She scoffs. “I'll be the judge of that. Stop stalling.”
“Fine,” I say on a sigh. “I hit him in the face with Nana Jo's Tahitian vanilla candle.”
“Youwhat?” she sputters, incredulity lacing her words.
I bristle a little, the back of my neck getting hot. I glance around the kitchen, pointedly not at the phone. Even though she can't see me, I still feel bad about the whole bloody nose thing.
“Well, he surprised me. Walked right in the house and everything. I happened to be holding that candle, and Cora, let me tell you. That man fell like a bag of rocks.” I can't help it, a little giggle slips free as I remember the look of utter astonishment on his face as he stared at me.
“Oh my god,” she says through a fit of giggles. “That's honestly not at all what I was expecting you to say. What happened then?”
“Well, it's a little funny now, but at the time, I was seriously freaking out. He started bleeding, and then I nearly fell face-first as I ran to get him a paper towel.”
She's full-on belly laughing now. That kind of amusement that builds bigger and bigger, and I bet she's going to start that wheezing thing she does when she laughs so hard, she can't get enough air.
“Then he saved me from breaking Nana Jo's dick vases.”
And there it is. The high-pitched wheeze filling the kitchen. It's so contagious, I find my own amusement rising to hers.
“God, you should've seen his face though. Even with a busted nose, that man was so hot. All broody and masculine. He looks like the kind of guy who would chop wood just for fun, ya know? Ugh, and then I thought he looked familiar, so I couldn't get it out of my head that I knew him. I'm sure I made a weird situation even more awkward, but he was cool about it. He didn't exactly run out of here, but he didn't linger either.”
“Oh my god, Eve. I've got tears, literal tears. That's the best story I've heard in ages. You know who would love that kind of thing?”
“Nana Jo,” we answer at the same time.
“Yeah, she would've loved everything about it,” she murmurs, her words laced in laughter.
“Especially the Reaper.” I waggle my brows.
“Ugh, do I even want to know who it was? It better not be that asshole Jagger.” Her volume drops, warning threaded into her words.
