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She blinked. “You don’t have to?—”
Mike motioned around them at the kitchen that smelled like someone had hidden a fish somewhere in the air vents. “I think that out of everything I have a budget for, paying you is going to be the top priority. Otherwise, what’s going to keep you here? Certainly not my charming personality.” He muttered that last bit bitterly before stalking back the way they’d come. “I’m going to check out my grandfather’s room. There might be some cleaning supplies under the sink. Or you can check the hall closet.”
He left the room without bothering to look her in the eye. How embarrassing! She’d nearly seen him break down and actually cry. What kind of man did that make him? He couldn’t afford to put food on the table, how was he going to pay for the supplies to clean this place up? The money the lawyer said he could use for the house was pennies compared to the amount of work Rose would have to put in to make this place even halfway decent.
Darting into his grandfather’s room, Mike was able to shut the door most of the way so he could hide behind it. He leaned against the wood, hearing it creak against whatever was behind it. Closing his eyes once more, he focused on his deep breathing. No emotion. He’d cut his family out of his life when he was younger, which meant he probably deserved every last painful memory and ache that currently plagued him.
His grandfather had been alone in his final days. Alone, and drowning in all of this.
The bedroom was just as bad as everywhere else. Half of the bed was covered with more of the same. The light from the window was blocked enough that the room felt dimmer than it should. The musty smell wasn’t as bad as the kitchen—that was a plus. But something told Mike that it would likely continue to get worse. There could be a family of mice camping out in his grandfather’s shoes.
Mike dug his fingers into his closed eyes, pressing until he saw stars and the burning sensation abated. He could do this. Just because he had lost the only person left that still cared for him didn’t mean he had to share his feelings with anyone—especially not Rose.
He could tell from the moment she’d arrived at the house that she was holding something against him. There was a grocery list of reasons she might dislike him on this particular day. All the more reason for him to shut her out before he got attached to someone who would end up leaving him like everyone else.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Rose stood all alone in the kitchen, reeling from the way Mike had just reacted to her. She was only trying to show that she would be here for him if he needed her—well, as much as she could be.
She hadn’t had a chance to tell Ethan what she was doing today. And her mother had only given her that look—the one that said she needed to start looking for another job. There was no comment on Mike at all.
On her way here, she’d stopped in at the Sweet Everything bakery for a cinnamon roll and overheard someone mention how they couldn’t believe Mike was working for the Reese family with his history.
Before Rose could see who was talking so poorly about Mike, the woman had slipped out the door. The whole situation had left a sour taste in her mouth and her bad mood had persisted until she’d arrived.
It didn’t make matters any better when Mike turned out to be just as much a jerk as her brother had warned her about. He was so full of himself!
She clenched her hands tight and scowled in his direction. If he wasn’t going to appreciate the work she was willing to do, maybe she should just leave now.
Rose itched to pace, but the space around her didn’t exactly give her that option. She needed to release all this pent-up frustration or she might just snap, and that could end up being worse than the situation she was currently in.
The pay would be nice while she looked for another job, and from the sound of it, she was getting paid based on the job completed, not the time it would take. If Mike wanted to treat her like trash, well, she’d just have to take herself out as quickly as possible.
She’d get done in half the time and just to spite him, make it better than he would have thought possible. Then he’d be sorry for how he treated the people around here.
Rose huffed, rolling up her sleeves as she leaned down and gathered a pile of newspapers at her feet. If anyone deserved to have this house in top condition, it was Otis and Helen. Their memories should be able to live on in a place people could enjoy visiting.
Under the cabinet was a bulk-sized box of garbage bags. Perfect. She’d start with the trash, then she’d move on to the clutter. Hopefully there was a box somewhere around here where she could put anything Mike might want to keep.
She growled as she worked, huffing and puffing like a little wolf might do in a story book. Sheesh, Mike had even managed to make her feel like she was the bad guy in this scenario. Ethan was right, Mike hadn’t changed. He was still the guy that no one wanted to be around.
Something crashed in another room and the sound of Mike blurting an expletive reached her ears. Rose snorted, rolling her eyes as she shoved another handful of stuff into the garbage bag in her hand.
They continued to work in separate rooms for the next hour. Rose was finally able to expel the excess energy that had plagued her when Mike had stormed off.
And the kitchen was looking much better. She’d managed to pick up most of the trash and organize the remaining items into a couple different piles. There was one for knickknacks, one for kitchen tools, and one for miscellaneous items.
After the sorting, she’d gotten to work on the cupboards, cleaning them out in order to put away what rightfully belonged in them.
Rose climbed up onto a chair, rag in hand when someone knocked at the door. She glanced at her watch, realizing it was quite a bit later than she’d thought. They’d been at it for at least five hours, and she’d completely missed lunch.
She heard Mike head for the door, and she stood on her toes to get at the back of the cupboard. Muffled voices filtered through the house, piquing her curiosity but not enough to convince her to go investigate. It was probably someone else he’d asked to help.
Good. If someone else was here, they could ease the tension that Rose could feel emanating throughout the whole house. The voices went quiet, the door closed. Then footsteps approached.
It wouldn’t matter how hard Rose tried, she knew she wouldn’t be able to school her features and pretend to be the happy, overly sensitive one anymore. Mike’s reaction to her had burned her to the point of no return. She wanted nothing to do with him right now.
“Hungry?”
