Page 13 of Lemon Crush

Setting my cup down, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and saw a text from Phoebe. Just her, not the prolific Roomies group chat her mother had started a week ago. I needed to figure out how to end the nonstop notifications from that before I lost my mind.

“Great timing,” I mumbled, poking it open with my thumb.

Phoebe: Did you turn off the app, Uncle Wade?

Me: No?

Phoebe: Have you checked it recently? Because I saw a rental yesterday afternoon that you might be interested in. I kept waiting for you to mention it so we could talk about it, but you haven’t and it’s driving me nuts. Don’t make me get off my princess cushions to drive over there myself. I can’t believe she didn’t tell me.

“What’s going on?” Kingston asked.

“I don’t know. Phoebe set me up on an app?—”

“A dating app? Thank God. I didn’t want your sad, set-in-your-ways old bachelor energy to start rubbing off on me.”

“It’s a real estate app, jackass.” She’d signed me up to look for a house to purchase, so why was she trying to get me to look at a rental? Was she as ready for me to move out as I was?

Sure enough, there was a little red “1” on the app icon. When I opened it to check out the latest listing in my area, I almost knocked over my drink as I shot to my feet. “What the hell?”

I knew those pictures. I’d been in those rooms.

That was Sam Retta’s apartment.August’sapartment.

Kingston grabbed my hand and turned the screen toward him. “Nice place. A little girly. Is it in Galveston? Considering thedécor, I’m assuming it’s on the beach.” His eyes narrowed. “Why does that living room look familiar?”

I took my hand back and scrolled through the description with my heart fumbling around in my chest. What the hell was August up to?

Not a few months ago, Morgan and Gene were bemoaning the fact that she’d refused to even consider renting out the poolside mother-in-law apartment. They would have told me if she’d changed her mind. Which meant they didn’t know.

The listing date was yesterday. The day they’d flown to Italy.

“Mid-term renters only. The fully furnished apartment is only available for the next five months max. Non-negotiable.”

What happened after those five months? I had a sinking feeling I already knew.

My phone buzzed in my hand.

Phoebe: Did you see it?!

Me: You didn’t know she was doing this?

Phoebe: I called her last night and she didn’t say a word. Why wouldn’t she tell me? I’m her favorite. Should we worry? Circle the wagons? Tell Mom?

Me: No. Don’t tell anyone, especially your mom. I’ll look into it today.

“I’ve never seen you text that much in my life,” Kingston declared. “What’s going on?”

I sat down again, lifting my cap long enough to run a hand through my hair. “August put Sam’s old apartment up for rent.”

“Ah, that’s why I recognized that furniture. And we’re looking like we might be having a stroke about that…why?”

“I don’t know,” I said impatiently. “For the last year, she’s been avoiding company and not leaving her house, but now she’ssuddenly okay with letting strangers do walkthroughs? She could be having a money emergency she doesn’t want her sister to know about. But if she is, it’s one she thinks she can solve in five months.” And when that time elapsed, she could decide to sell and leave again for good.

Kingston gave it a beat before saying, “Do you think you might be reading too much into this without having all the facts? She could be trying it out on a temporary basis first, you know? Not getting locked into a year lease with some loser that gives her trouble and doesn’t pay their rent.”

What would she do if that happened? Let them squat indefinitely while she paid for their utilities? Because she’d included utilities in the rent price. It was a steal that someone would snap up in an instant.

I’dknownsomething was up with her.

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