Page 102 of Fairy Godmothers Aren't Cheap

“Otto is retiring soon.” She watched me over the top of her glasses. “We’ve been taking our motorhome on dry-run weekend trips.”

I nodded. James had mentioned their RV, and how they were taking jaunts to let the dog get accustomed to its moving digs. I hadn’t thought that much about it, to be honest.

“We’re leaving in two weeks for a longer trip. We’ll be back about mid-August. We’d love it if you’d stay here. James was going to check in on the place, water the plants, mow the lawn and all that, but the insurance company prefers someone live here during an extended vacation. Would you be interested?”

“I need a place before your trip, though.”

“You can move in whenever you like.”

“I have a gopher.”

“Bring him and his cage.”

“He kind of has free run of our apartment.”

“The dog wouldn’t like that.”

We were silent for a moment, mentally mulling over solutions.

“Well, if you can think of a solution for your gopher, the place is yours. Rent-free.”

Rent-free?

Maybe Tamara could take Felipe back to Eagle Ridge with her.

Or he could be like the pair of jeans inThe Sisterhood of Traveling Pantsby Ann Brashares and we could share him. He could come into each of our lives like a talisman of luck whenever we needed him. That was an idea I could get behind. It seemed as though, even when things were swirling down the drain, I still loved the idea of there being a bit of magic.

CHAPTER36

~ Char ~

Moving was the pits. Leaving my friends was even worse. And saying goodbye to Felipe, who was going with Tamara to Eagle Ridge, also ranked pretty darn low on the happiness scale.

There was just one thing that didn’t suck, and that was watching James carry my boxed things down to his Rover in an old pair of jeans and a ratty grey T-shirt that was a bit small, hugging his pecs. He was utterly delectable.

He’d caught the hungry way I’d been devouring him with my eyes. And of course I was. His shirt looked like it had been designed solely for him.

With a teasing twinkle in his baby blues, he pulled the cotton blend away from his abs and asked, “Should I see if I this comes in every colour?”

Why would he even have to ask? The answer was clearly yes. Especially since I’d been unable to resist touching his beefy arms whenever we passed on the stairs.

I gave him a lingering kiss and went back to my room with a fresh stack of black garbage bags to gather up the last bits. While I worked, I tried not to think about the fact that his parents were taking me in. Yes, I was going to be acting as their live-in house-sitter, but still. He was my boyfriend, and I was moving in with his parents. That didn’t say sexy things about my state of independence.

Sure, I could argue that I was free and wild, living wherever the breeze sent me, and that I was seizing the day and opportunities for adventure. The truth was, I wanted a more permanent home base, and I knew that without Sally and Otto, I would be essentially homeless.

Gabby’s parents and her two brothers had gathered up her stuff last night, moving her into Lamonte’s suite on the other side of the city. Lamonte was away working at a Jeep event, and I wondered if it would be at all awkward when he returned. Surely he had to know Gabby was crushing on him in a major way. Maybe this was his big move, and the two would be married within a year. Men confused me, and I hoped Lamonte knew what he was doing, letting Gabby move in with him.

At the moment, though, she was in our bathroom with the music cranked, getting a head start on scrubbing away every bit of evidence that we’d once lived here. It didn’t matter that Samantha’s dad had hired cleaners to come in after the moving company departed with Samantha’s things.

While I continued to throw the last of my belongings into garbage bags, Josie and a mysterious brigade appeared, looking like they’d just left a LARPing session. They must have been Live Action Role Playing dragon trainers or something. There were a lot of leather vests and tall boots, as well as a few weaponish items hanging from their thick belts. All I could think when I looked at them was, ‘Were dragons living in Canada?’ Either way, they whisked in and out of the house, every speck of Josie gone within fifteen minutes, as though they’d been controlled by one of her detailed spreadsheets.

I watched from the front window with a bit of awe as she jumped into an off-road vehicle with her crew. So efficient. But what was with the goofy ride? It looked ready for an apocalypse with a big Jackall jack strapped to the hood, extra stainless-steel reinforcement around the wheel wells, big knobby tires, and a roof rack filled with water and jerry cans and other equipment like a shovel, chains and a chainsaw.

But even odder than Josie’s brigade, and the guy with a futuristic-looking robotic hand, was the presence of Haden, Kade’s older brother. He’d shown up to help Tamara move back to Eagle Ridge since Kade apparently had a previous commitment: one that I hoped didn’t involve Jannifer Bryant again. What was so odd about Haden being here was that he and Tamara had never really hung out in the past. But, even more so, was the way Tamara studiously avoided any eye contact with the poor man. It made me doubt my theory that they’d make a good couple.

Well, until that blazing moment when the kitchen box I was carrying came apart, and I sent pots, pans and cutlery down the stairs with a resounding crash that had made a red-faced Randy curse at us. Tamara and Haden had taken one look at each other and doubled over with laughter, hanging off each other for support like they were the oldest of friends.

I still wished Tamara would choose him instead of Kade.

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