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I swallowed. “How?”
She shifted on the stool, leaning back to cross her legs. “My basement tenant is moving out on December 31st, so I have a one-bedroom, one-bath, full kitchen basement suite available for rent, and I’m offering it to you.”
I narrowed my eyes, feeling it was more of a keep your friends close, your enemies closer kind of deal, but still, there were merits. It was a place to live, and based on how meticulous her house was, the basement suite would be a well-maintained property. Bea would accept nothing less.However, she never mentioned what the cost would be.
Wait… Why had I even considered it for a microsecond? There would be more strings attached than would be acceptable by law. Slowly, because I wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, the pieces started to match.
“I suppose the job part of your helpful offer would be working at the Coffee Loft?”
A smug, twisted smile curled her lips. “Precisely. Nina can show you how to brew the perfect latte and can even teach you how to make the fancy designs on top. We pay above minimum wage and have great perks for our employees.”
“No, thank you.” There was zero hesitation in my words.
“You’re not even going to think about it?” She leaned back in shock.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not going to work with you and Carter. Mixing business and pleasure is a horrible idea. Horrible. And living here? As lovely as the offer is, I feel you would be just too involved in every aspect. There’d be no separation. No distance. So no thank you.” Working personal relationships never ended well, and I’d watched those explode in the past.
Naturally, as my voice was starting to peak, Carter chose that moment to waltz into the kitchen. He froze as he stared at me. “Am I interrupting, or are you two finished?”
“Oh, I’m pretty sure we’re finished, right?” I hopped off my stool as I stared at Bea.
“We’re not, but we’ll end this for now.”
Carter glanced between me and his sister. “You’re sure?”
“Without a doubt.” I faced Bea, curious if Carter knew about her proposition and if that had been the original reason she’d invited me over for supper. Going for broke, I double-downed on my words. “Thank you for the offer of renting out your basement suite and for offering me a job at the Coffee Loft, but I am turning it down.”
“She what? You what?” Clearly, Carter had no idea. “Bea, we talked about this.” He rammed his hands through his hair. His mouth opened and closed, and I wasn’t sure if he was going to yell or bite his tongue. “I told you no, how it was a bad idea.”
She walked over to him and dropped her voice to a soothing tone as she stroked his cheek.
“It’s the best way. If she moves into the basement, I’ll see you more because you’ll be where she is. Wouldn’t it be fun, all the movie and game nights we can have? We could even try our hand at a trivia night.”
With a solid grip, he removed her hand. “You mean, it would be easier for you to watch over me like I was a child and not a full-grown adult. You already do that at work.”
“Carter.” But there was no denial or rebuttal.
The smoke billowed from his ears, and his jaw clenched tight.
The tension was thick and before more shots were fired, I grabbed him by the hand. “How about that walk before we have some cake?”
“Great idea.” With his jacket barely zipped up, he stormed out of the house.
Throwing my coat on and stuffing my hands into my mittens, I joined him as he paced on the sidewalk.
“I am so sorry about my sister. That was uncalled for.” He huffed out thick white clouds of steam. “I begged her not to say anything, but she did it anyway. She offered you a position at the Coffee Loft too, didn’t she?”
“Yes, but it doesn’t matter.”
“Of course, it does. You’re upset. I’m upset.” He spun me around.
When I looked deep into his eyes, I couldn’t lie. “Yes, I’m upset, but it isn’t with Bea, and my anger shouldn’t be directed at her; I’m mad at myself.”
“Why? She deserves it too.”
“Nah. I’m upset because she vocalized what I was thinking and hearing it out loud only made things worse.” I wanted to hug him and feel his arms wrap around me, but before I knew it would happen, I needed to get the words out. “I’m upset because I’m trying to make something of myself, and I keep falling on my face.”
I paced away from him, heading toward the park at the end of the block just a few houses away.
