Page 6 of Heating Up (Nugget)
Dana searched through the drawer of the writing desk, found a stash of hotel stationery, and made a list. When she got into the office, the first thing she intended to do was send the Millers a thank-you note. Then she planned to call Tawny Wade and rent her old house. Tawny had just listed the lease with Dana and Carol. They hadn’t even put an ad in theNugget Tribuneyet.
The house was only two miles from Dana’s old home, so she could easily keep tabs on the new construction. Plus, it was conveniently located near her office. Unlike most of the other rentals here—seasonal cabins tucked away in the surrounding Sierra mountains—it was winterized. And best of all: affordable. Dana had no idea how much her insurance would pay for rent. Although she had savings, as a real estate agent she worked on commission and never knew when her next sale would come. Right now the market was good, but it fluctuated like the New York Stock Exchange.
Griffin, bless his heart, had offered her any of the vacant homes in Sierra Heights. He’d heard about the fire, which by now had to be front-page news, and had tracked her down at the Lumber Baron. But living there and seeing him with Lina every day would be a special kind of torture. Plus, she couldn’t afford one of those houses and wouldn’t take charity, especially from a man she still had feelings for. She’d rather sell the vacant homes and make fat commissions than live in one of them.
She took one last look at herself in the full-length mirror, locked up the room, found her car in the small lot, and drove the four short blocks to Nugget Realty and Associates, thinking about all she had lost in the fire. Her grandmother’s needlepoint that hung over the fireplace, the leather jacket she’d splurged on just last month for her thirtieth birthday, Aunt Roe’s Franciscan Ware, and the old Calloway candy tins she’d collected from her family’s factory. All gone. The pictures of Paul, too. At least those she could scan from her parents’ albums. Like everything else of Paul’s, they’d kept them in museum condition.
There was a Ford Expedition parked in the lot when Dana got there. For a minute she worried that she was late for an appointment. Without her phone—another casualty of the fire—she’d have to check the calendar on her work computer for her daily schedule. But she was pretty sure she didn’t have anything today. Dana hoped Pat Donnelly and Colin Burke would be able to meet her later at the house and tell her what she was looking at money wise to rebuild. Before the insurance folks tried to lowball her.
She checked her face in the rearview mirror. Maddy had made sure there was a basket of necessities in her room, including mascara and lip gloss. The woman was a true angel. It was funny; Dana had always kept to herself in this town, not because she was a bitch or anything, but she was shy. Perhaps reserved was a better word for it. It was easy on the job; she just slipped into her agent persona, hiding behind the façade of an outgoing salesperson. Yet, when her house burned down, the townsfolk had rallied, treating her like she was deeply woven into their tight-knit community.
A blast of heat hit her the minute she stepped out of the car. Only June and the temperature already had climbed into the nineties, a sign that it would be a hot summer. And dry as cotton mouth if the drought persisted. As soon as she entered the office her skin prickled from the sudden change in climate. Carol had the AC cranked up cool enough to need a sweater.
“I didn’t expect you in so early . . . or at all,” Carol said, and Dana noticed a man sitting at her partner’s desk. Must be the owner of the Expedition. “Don’t you want to take the day to get situated?”
“That’s partly why I’m here.” She let out a sigh, remembered they had a client, and flashed her most professional smile at the man.
“This is Aidan McBride, Sloane’s brother, the new firefighter,” Carol said, and Aidan stood up.
“I was the guy with the blanket, remember?”
Now that she was paying attention, she felt her face flush. “I’m sorry. You look completely different without all that gear.” Like Clive Owen in theKing Arthurmovie. He was . . . like . . . Just wow! After Dana got her tongue to work again she said, “Shopping for a home?”
“Just got one,” he said.
“He signed the lease on Tawny’s property.” Carol beamed, ecstatic.
Dana silently cursed. They hadn’t even listed the damn place yet. “Oh . . . wow . . . that’s terrific.” She tried to sound enthusiastic, but she was pretty sure her face had fallen to the floor.
Carol, not one to miss cues, saw her mistake instantly. “Tawny showed it to him and they worked out a deal. Oh boy, I screwed up, didn’t I? The fire . . . you need a house.” Carol looked at Aidan, obviously hoping he’d tear up the contract.
“It’s fine,” Dana quickly interjected. What kind of reputation would they get if they reneged on their clients’ deals for personal gain? Finders keepers . . . “I have lots of options.”Liar, liar.
“You sure?” Aidan asked.
“Of course. I’m a real estate agent, Mr. McBride.”
“Okay.” He appeared hesitant. “There doesn’t seem to be too much for rent around here, though.”
“I assure you, I have two other places I’m considering.” Maybe she could live in one of Lucky Rodriguez’s barns. “The house is perfect for you . . . right down the street from the firehouse.”
“If you’re positive, then yeah, it’s perfect for me. My stuff’s coming at the end of the week and I thought I’d start moving in today.”
“Great,” she said, and plastered on another fake smile. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a few phone calls to make.” She needed to get Pat Donnelly and Colin Burke to rebuild her house . . . today, before she was homeless or spending her entire life’s savings on a room at the Lumber Baron.
As she headed to her desk she heard Carol give Aidan the keys to the house and the packet they gave newcomers with numbers for local utilities, cable, and such. She pulled up her own contact list on the computer, focused on her to-do list, and wrote out a thank-you to the Millers. Later, she’d bring them flowers or some other token of her appreciation. Unfortunately, Nugget didn’t have a florist or she’d have an arrangement delivered. She had so much to do she didn’t know where to start and wanted to leave herself time to drive by her house to see if there was anything that could be saved.
She looked up to see Carol walking Aidan to the door. He sure was tall—had a good two to three inches on Griffin. And muscular, like he spent a lot time in the firehouse working out. Although he seemed nice enough, Dana suspected he thought pretty highly of himself. Guys who looked like him usually did.
“I am so, so sorry,” Carol said as Aidan drove out of the parking lot. “It didn’t even occur to me that you’d be interested in Tawny’s place. Oh, Dana, we need to find you a house.”
“I was thinking that maybe one of the units in the police chief’s duplex might be available.” It was up on Donner Road, a short drive to town. It had belonged to the chief’s late father and his son now used it as rental property.
Carol shook her head. “Both units are taken. What about Griff? Perhaps he’d let you rent one of his houses until you figure out what you want to do. There’s a chance your house isn’t as bad as it looked last night and could be rehabbed in a few weeks.”
That was Dana’s greatest hope. “The market is red hot now. I’d hate to occupy one of those houses when we could be selling it.” She and Carol had the listing on the entire planned community: fifty-five houses total, with an average asking price of eight hundred thousand dollars. Nothing to sneeze at commission wise.
Carol fixed her with a look, knowing how Dana felt about Griffin. “You’re being ridiculous. This is an emergency.”
