Page 8 of Lovewell Lane

“I’ll go grab the light bulbs for you,” Sam said.

He returned in a flash and set them in front of me. “Slick, you should do it. This is your mess,” I said.

“Son, she’s paying you. I set it up through your phone for a reason.” How he figured out how to do that was beyond me. Slick continued, “I’ll be out of here soon anyway, you should get to know her since she’s staying on your property. What if she’s a wrong’un.”

“Huh. Yeah, what if,” I grumbled. I gave him a pointed look before swiping the light bulbs off the counter. Leaning down, I placed a kiss on Tessa’s head. “Uncle Sam is going to help you finish this while I go help our new neighbor.”

“What’s a wrong’un?” Tessa asked.

“Your grandad was just joking, Tess. It means someone who’s tricky,” I answered. “Be right back.”

I swiped the box of lightbulbs off the counter and made my way to the back door to greet our Guest of Honor with a frown on my face. I had enough on my plate. The last thing I needed was a tenant to look after. Tessa already had a habit of bringing in strays. We didn’t have room for another.

The door opened after a couple of knocks, and I was greeted with a newly familiar face. Margo looked shocked to see me. I handed her the box of light bulbs and braced myself for an awkward conversation.

“Nice to see you again. Unfortunately, there’s been a miscommunication here. My father rented out this guest house without informing me,” I said.

Her confused smile fell into that pout that she had earlier. It looked unnatural for her to frown.

Margo spoke slowly, “Okay, but I need to stay here. There isn’t anywhere else in Honeyfield that rents.”

“There’s an inn right in town.”

She crossed her arms and narrowed her gaze up at me. “My diner doesn’t have any equipment yet, which means I need a kitchen to practice recipes.”

I sighed. “I don’t know what to tell you,” I said honestly.

“Do you need this place for a reason, or do you just want me to leave because you don’t like me?” she asked. Her pout was gone and replaced with a knowing look. Turned out she wasn’t all sweet smiles; she had bite to her.

That made me pause. Technically, I didn’t need the guest house for anything since Slick was leaving on his trip. She got me. And the smile that grew on her face told me she knew she was right.

I let out another sigh. I was doing a lot of that lately. “I don’t want to so much as hear a peep after 11 o’clock,” I grumbled. “No loud music, especially.”

She smiled happily and her head bobbed up and down like a bouncing ball. “Got it!”

“And you’ll make me sourdough from scratch?” I confirmed. Might as well get something out of this.

“Mhm,” she affirmed with a big smile and more nods.

“No visitors,” I added.How do I put this?Might as well be blunt. “Especially men, I have a daughter. She plays out here, and I don’t want any weird men around her.”

“Of course,” Margo chirped.

I nodded to myself and tried to think if there was anything else. While thinking, I peeked around her to see the guest house was left a complete mess. I walked past her to get a closer look and spun around the room in a circle, dumbfounded.

“Fucking hell,” I muttered. “Did he not even clean it for you?”

Margo hummed behind me. “Would it be okay if I borrowed a vacuum and a broom? I can buy my own cleaning supplies, it just seems like a waste to buy those if you already have them.”

“Hold on,” I answered.

I didn’t even acknowledge my family who all looked at me intrigued as I reentered the house. My little sister, Calliope nudged my other brother, Jack, and pretended to eat popcorn while Sam did his best to fight a smile. Minutes later, I greeted Margo by lifting up a vacuum in one hand and a plastic bin filled with cleaning supplies in the other.

“Let me help,” I said. I handed her the vacuum and picked up the window cleaner with a paper towel.

“I can do it myself,” she answered. “I really appreciate you letting me stay.”

I didn’t give her a response and got to work. We both cleaned in silence. I glanced over at Margo a few times only to make awkward eye contact with her. This would be the only time I would need to be around her, so I just focused on getting the job done. After that, we could go back to our separate lives.

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