Page 16 of Crazy Thing

Uhh. Okay. This is…different.

My brows pinch together, and I’m about to ask what he’s so freakishly happy about.Before I can get a single word out, my landlord hops out of his squeaky chair, rounds his desk, and shoves out his hand to eagerly shake mine.

“Oh, gosh. I’m so glad you came in, Ziggy.” He ushers me into a seat. “Sit. Sit. Please. Have a donut. Should I pour you a coffee? Oh, wait. Kombucha. I can run out and get you a kombucha. Would you like that?”

I’m starting to think that my gut was wrong. Coming here today was not the right thing to do. Because this man is acting hella suspicious.

“Are you doing okay, Mr. Jones?” I ask him, clutching the strap of my canvas satchel. This man had better not get too close because my homemade pepper spray is ready to go.

Yeah, yeah—peace and love. But safety first. Safety always.

Thankfully, the man returns to his chair behind his desk. “I’ve been meaning to thank you for catching up on your rent.”

My forehead crinkles with confusion. “I—I…what…?”

He starts to ramble. “You know I never wanted to send you that terrible letter. I wouldn’t have sent it, but my granddaughter needs braces—not the normal ones either. She hasher heart set on those new fancy, clear ones. And both my grandsons’ soccer registrations are due next week, and we were thinking we might have to pick only one of them to play club level this season. And you know how slow things can get business wise here in Honey Hill. So, thanks for taking care of that, Ziggy, and especially for paying the whole year in advance. You’re all set now with renewal.”

My jaw is resting on the floor as my landlord word-vomits all over me.What in the prophecy stone is happening right now?

I gasp when it hits me. It’s a miracle! A miracle from the universe!

This is finally the answer I’ve been seeking. Well, this is actually light years ahead of the measly answer I was meditating on. The universe has clearly gone out, taken matters into her own hands, and completely solved my financial problems.

I’m so happy I could cry.

That is, until the landlord hands me a copy of the receipt. I read over the crumpled printout. I squint at the coffee ring stain in the middle, before skimming down to the payment details at the bottom.

And, fuck—Darius Brighton.

His name is printed right under the bank card number and expiry date.

Miracle, my ass.

8

DARIUS

“Shots!”

“Hell, yeah!”

“Another, my brother!”

I roll my eyes at the guys. They’re acting like idiots. We’re all hanging out at Nolan’s bar. When I got here, I thought we were going to talk through my strategies for the waterfall situation. But tonight, my brothers are too wrapped up in some stupid drinking game they just made up.

I can’t keep up. They’ve already changed their rules a half dozen times. If they keep at it, they’ll all have alcohol poisoning by the end of the night.

They’re being so obnoxious that even Karli couldn’t stand to be around them. A few minutes ago, she got up from our table and dragged her best friend, Layla, over to the bar just to get away from our rowdy table.

Yeah, my brothers are having the time of their lives.

Meanwhile, I’m bored.

I’d love to have the luxury of unwinding like the guys, but I just can’t turn it off like they can. Lately, thinking about this waterfall mess has been consuming most of my wakinghours. Now that the dust has settled, everyone around town has gone back to business as usual.

I feel like I’m the only one still taking this problem seriously. So I’m sitting here at the table, working from my phone to pass the time until I can bail on them and get back to my home office.

As always, I have a shit ton of work to do. Even more so now that I’ve had yet another assistant quit on me.Surprise, surprise.

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