Page 12 of Casita Casanova

“I found your listing in the San Diego County Craigslist rentals section. A one-bedroom casita for rent in Leucadia, available immediately. From the picture posted, it’s a bright blue color and surrounded by trees.”

I raise my eyebrows as her description hits a bit close to home.

“Oh, and, ‘tenant must love dogs’.”

I shake my head slowly because this doesn’t make any sense. I think I’d remember placing an ad to rent out the casita.

“It says short-term vacation rentals only, akin to AirBnB, but I’d like to ask for more than short-term, say, a six-month lease?”

“I, uh…”This is so odd!

“Based on the rental prices in the area, I’ve calculated that twenty-five-hundred dollars a month, with first and last up front, would be fair.”

My eyes bulge out of their sockets. Danielle will be picking them up off the table here in a second.

“But my client is prepared to pay more, if necessary.”

Morethan twenty-five hundred a month? For my tiny casita? I giggle at the concept, then cover my mouth. I don’t want to be rude, but this is preposterous.

Who posted an ad for the casita?

My best friend watches me intently, waiting, leaning forward in an attempt to hear both sides of the conversation. I place the phone between us on the table and put it on speaker mode so she doesn’t have to strain so hard to hear what I’m hearing. And maybe she can make sense of this because I certainly can’t.

Did Eddie create a fake rental listing for the casita? What’s his game? It seems a bit immature, and I can’t imagine why he’d do it… and if he was trying to make money off of the rental, why would he have includedmyname and phone number?

And why would he have allowed me to move in?

No, that doesn’t make sense. The man’s an ass, sure, but he’s not childish. And the beach house is mine, plain and simple. He didn’tallowme to move in; I got the beach house in the divorce, fair and square. Weagreedupon that. He remained in our house in wine country and I moved here. He wouldn’t be able to rent the casita out from under me, or run some sort of scam on me when he has no claim to the property anymore anyway.

“It says here,” the woman begins, pulling me back into the conversation, “that you have a ‘playful golden retriever who doesn’t understand personal space’.”

My lips twitch on a smile. “That sounds like Ribbit…”

“Great. I have a client who is interested in renting your casita. He’s tidy and meticulous, so you won’t have to worry about damages, although I would, of course, provide a security deposit in addition to first and last month’s rent.”

Danielle’s eyes are wide as she nods. “Do it,” she mouths.

My brain is having trouble keeping up. “Um—”

“Is the casita still available?”

Danielle’s eyes go from wide to narrow. “Maryn. Do it.”

“I’m sorry, but… I feel like there has been some sort of confusion—”

“I’ll pay you double what I offered for monthly rent.”

My eyes widen and I choke on my quick inhale.

“And, how much is that?” Danielle asks, leaning over the cell phone to speak as I sputter away in shock.

“That would be five thousand dollars a month, with first and last month’s rent up front, as well as a security deposit. Upon signing a six-month lease agreement, of course.”

My mouth drops open.Five thousand dollars?

The woman on the phone pauses, then adds, “And that would be part of the stipulation as well, the six-month lease that I mentioned. Your ad states short-term rentals, but we need six months. Is that something you’d be willing to negotiate?”

“Yes,” Danielle says quickly.

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