Page 98 of Courage, Dear Heart

My cheeks immediately burn. I catch my reflection in the mirror mounted on the back of her door. Yep. Red as a tomato.

Sheila grins. “That good, huh?”

I fan my heated face. “Yeah, it was amazing. He’s kind of perfect.”

Sheila lets out a squeal and immediately covers her mouth. “Are you willing to share any details?”

“No.”

“Ah, come on.” She nudges her knee against mine. “Let me live a little. I’ve been single longer than you.”

I shake my head. “Yeah, no. Sorry. I can’t. I don’t kiss and tell.”

“Actually, you do kiss and tell. What you don’t do is fuck and tell.”

“Sheila!” I glance at the door, even though I know Jamie could not have heard her. We’re not loud and I can hear the TV sounds from here.

“Okay. No details. What can you tell me? Did he stay over?”

I smile. “Yes. It was amazing. We talked a lot, had dinner. He spent the night. We made breakfast together and then he left to get ready for work.”

I frown, thinking of what I heard in his office.

Sheila catches on. “What happened?”

“I’m not sure. I was getting ready to come and pick up Jamie when I noticed he forgot his phone plugged into my charger. So I figured I’d drop it off on my way here.”

Sheila stands up. “Please tell me you didn’t look through his phone and found some weird shit.”

“No. Nothing like that. I’d never breach his privacy that way. It’s not that.”

Her hands go to her hips in a superhero pose. She’s like Wonder Woman, ready to battle for me. “Tell me!”

“I would if you let me.” I give her my best glare.

She zips her lips.

“I overheard something odd when I went in to return his phone. A man was walking out of his office, and I’m pretty sure it was his father. And he said something that made me pause. Neither of them saw me. I hid behind a huge plant.”

Sheila opens her mouth, ready to protest my slow revelation again.

I stop her with a raised eyebrow. “His father said ‘You have one week. You won’t like what will happen if you don’t get me the fucking building.’”

Sheila frowns. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I can’t be sure, but I think it’s about me. Or about my store and Leonora not selling the building because of it. You know they’ve been trying to get me to leave for the better part of a year.”

“I do.”

“If it weren’t for Leonora turning them down all this time, I would have been on the street months ago.”

“Leonora would never allow that to happen.”

“Leonora won’t be able to protect me forever. She’s eighty-eight. You know as soon as—” I swallow the knot forming in my throat. I love the old woman. It hurts to think that she can’t possibly have many more years left.

Sheila finishes what I was about to say. “As soon as she passes away, her kids will take over and try to kick you out. Sell the place to the highest bidder.”

“There will be no trying. New York State holdover is ninety days. And I have another six months on my lease. Leonora said she’d renew the lease. But who knows what will happen? Her kids are pressuring her to sell. And the real estate company is pressuring her to sell. How much resistance can a little old lady have?”

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