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With no other options, Mike dropped his sleeping gear and kicked it under the table. Hopefully she wouldn’t notice that his belongings didn’t fit here. Just as he took a step away from the table, Rose materialized in the doorway.
Her eyes immediately dropped to his sleeping bag and widened slightly. “Have you been sleeping on the floor?”
“It’s no different than camping,” he shot back. “Heck, it’s better than camping. I don’t have to sleep outside.”
Rose’s look of disbelief would have been comical if she wasn’t also judging him. “You were sleeping on the kitchen floor.”
“So? I can’t exactly trust anywhere else. You’ve cleaned this place up better than everywhere else. And even if the other rooms were clean, I’d have to replace the mattress and the couch anyway. I don’t even know if I’d be okay sleeping on that carpet. You saw how bad it was when we got here.”
She shook her head. “You can’t sleep on the kitchen floor. I thought you were staying at Sagebrush.”
“It’s easier to stay here. I don’t have to go back and forth. Besides, the guys I work with would wonder why I wasn’t pulling my own weight. I’m taking a break until this place is done.”
That caught her attention. The way she stared at him felt different somehow. It was like she was surprised that he was capable of putting all his energy into this place. Then again, that could be wishful thinking. In all reality, she probably thought he was going nuts.
He stooped down and gathered his sleeping bag. “It doesn’t matter where I’m sleeping. I can sleep on the front porch if I wanted to?—”
“Stay with me.”
“What?” He stuttered and stumbled over the word as he stared at her.
“Ethan’s,” she corrected. “Come stay at Ethan’s. The house he bought has enough room. I’m sure he would be okay with you staying for a few nights until we can get the rest of the rooms cleaned up.” Rose shifted her weight from one foot to the other, looking away in the process.
“I don’t think he’d be okay with that…”
“If he knew you were staying on the kitchen floor, I think he’d deal with it. And this place is hardly livable.” Rose glanced at him. “I’ll call him if that will make you feel better. I just don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be here. And what about the broken windows? Those people could come back and do more damage.”
“I’ll be fine,” he argued. The last thing he wanted was for Ethan to feel obligated to offer charity to him.
“I’m gonna call him so you might as well accept it. Now, will you take your stuff out? Today I’m mopping and then the kitchen will be done and I’ll start on the living room.” She gave him a pointed look, not moving until he jolted past her, wondering what had just happened.
“Are you coming?”
Mike jumped from his position beneath the bathroom sink. His head bumped against the pipe and his grunt echoed in the cabinet. He withdrew from the cabinet with a wrench in hand. “What?”
“Are. You. Coming?” Her hands were on her hips and her tone matched the attitude she seemed to be showcasing. However, something in her eyes gave him pause. “Hello? If we don’t leave soon, we’re going to be late for dinner. And I’m telling you right now, if you think my mom is bad, just wait until you meet Becca.”
“Becca?”
“Yeah. Ethan’s wife. Ever since they got married, she insists on family dinners.”
“Family dinners.” It wasn’t a question. If anything, he was trying to make sense of the words as they came out of her mouth. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a family dinner.
Rose heaved a sigh. “I already talked to Ethan. He said it’s fine. But we really have to go now. Did you hit your head a little too hard or something?”
She came into focus, crouching down just enough so she could wave her hand in front of his face. Mike pushed her hand aside.
“I’m coming. Meet me outside. I’ll lock up.” He glanced up at her and chuckled at her dubious expression.
“You’re locking up? You haven’t even boarded up that broken window yet.”
“Doesn’t mean I’m gonna let anyone just waltz in here and take what’s left.”
Rose snickered. “Maybe that wouldn’t be so bad. They could take some of this stuff off your hands.” She murmured the words as she headed toward the front of the house, and he couldn’t help but smile at her dark humor.
It took all of five minutes to get out to his truck. Rose was waiting in her car and waved just before he got into his own vehicle. He followed her off the premises, and the closer they got to Ethan’s home, the harder his heart worked.
Ethan hadn’t exactly been friendly toward him the last time they’d interacted. By now he knew what Rose was up to, but they hadn’t hashed everything out. He could already hear the insults that his former friend would sling at him.
