Page 117 of Terms Of Un-Endearment
"Sooooo, you and Piper are staying in that house together? Alone?" I can almost hear Frankie’s rapid, surprised blinking.
“I reckon I should’ve led with that, yeah?” I flash a grin, even though she can’t see it. I’m sure she twin-senses it. “It’s only for the weekend until she finds somewhere else to stay. It's not her fault Sybil gave her bad info about when she could move in.”
“Huh. We’ll see if it lasts the whole weekend but tell her I said hi.”
“What’s that supposed to mean—we'll see if it lasts the whole weekend?” I walk into Kenzo and wave to Hiroshi behind the sushi bar. They know me well here.
“One of you isn’t going to survive that long in the same house—I get the sense she doesn’t back down the way she used to, if her social media is any indication. She’s a powerhouse. My money’s on you being the one to throw up your hands and go somewhere else.”
The background noise gets louder, and before I can defend myself, Frankie says, “I’ve gotta go. Good luck with Piper!” She laughs and ends the call.
I slide into a seat at the bar, less amused at her joke than she is. Usually, I see someone I know at Kenzo and we chat while we eat, but I’m fine keeping to myself tonight. I wouldn’t be good company, anyway. My brain is too full.
Between Piper showing up and my conversation with Frankie, I can’t stop thinking about what’s ahead for me. Frankie may love being on her own, but it scares the hell out of me.
But she’s right about one thing. Until I’ve got my next step firmly in place, I can’t let the house go. What she’s wrong about is doing things in a way that could end my relationship with Dad.
My wheels are turning, though, and I reckon I’ve found a way around that. Dad’ll be mad at first, but in the end, I reckon he’ll be pleased to see a bit of mongrel in me.
An image of Piper’s watering eyes when she admitted she had nowhere else to go pops into my head, but I shoo it away. She’ll be able to find somewhere to stay. She grew up in LA. She knows her way around, and from what I saw today, she’s not a kid. Piper Quinn knows how to take care of herself and has her mummy to help her out if she needs it.
But the idea I’ve got cooking will save me from being the bad guyandprovide her a place to stay.
Spoiler alert: it won’t be at the beach house.
Chapter 8
Piper
Iwake up to a call from Mom. It’s only six am, but I’m still on New York time, so my body thinks I’ve slept in.
“Hi, Mom.” I climb out of bed with a yawn. As long as I’m up early, I might as well sit on the back patio with a cup of coffee while I figure out my Plan B.
“Sweetie, my reception is terrible, but I wanted to make sure you found somewhere to stay last night.” Mom’s phone crackles with static.
“Actually, Archie is letting me stay here for the weekend.”
“What’s that?” Mom yells. “You’re breaking up.”
“I’m at the beach house for the weekend,” I say slowly and loudly. “I’ll get a hotel on Monday.”
In the long pause that follows, I tuck my sketchpad under my arm, grab my toolbox of pencils and markers and head downstairs.
I think I’ve lost Mom until I hear a static, “Joe says not to leave. Possession is nine-tenths of the law—he's on the phone with my lawyer.”
For a second, I’m not sure I heard her right, but then her voice comes through loud and clear. “Do not leave that house! Malcolm isnotgetting out of this settlement!”
She wants me to refuse to leave?
“Archie’s name is on the deed, Mom. The house isn’t Malcolm’s. I can’t just stay. I’d be trespassing.” I haven’t forgotten Archie’s threats from last night.
The answer I get is too static and broken to understand before the line goes dead.
As I walk to the patio, I stare at my phone, hoping for a text from Mom. Or a telegram. I’d even take Morse code—I wouldn’t understand it, but it would make more sense than what Mom just told me.
She wants me to be a…squatter?
Finally, a message pops up:
