Page 14 of A Magnolia Move-In
“Wonderful,” I said as I started wheeling away from the table.
“You’re not going to hang out with us?” Colten asked.
I shook my head. “I’m too tired.” I glanced at Jackson. “Can you help me into bed?”
He nodded and moved to grasp the handles of my chair. I waved at Colten, who looked a tad disappointed. I knew he wanted to spend time with me, but I just didn’t have the energy.
I was learning that growing another human had that effect on me.
Jackson helped me into the bathroom so I could brush my teeth and get into my pajamas. Once I rolled out, hehelped me into bed. As soon as my body hit the mattress, I could feel my eyes starting to close.
“Good night, Naomi,” Jackson said as he flipped off the light.
“‘Night,” I whispered as darkness surrounded me and I felt my body start to slip away. I lay there, forcing my mind to clear so I could fall asleep.
I wasn’t going to worry about what I couldn’t change. Not tonight.
Reality could overtake me tomorrow. That’s when I would start facing my life.
Whatever that meant.
FIVE
Penny
Iheld my breath as I sat in the small driveway of 459 Jefferson St. I glanced at the address I’d written down in haste and then back up to the numbers on the house.
I was here.
I turned off the engine and slipped my keys from the ignition. Then I pushed open my door with my shoulder as I held my purse to my body.
I could do this. I was fine. It wouldn’t take long for Cordelia to make the needed repairs, and I would be right back in her basement where I belonged. This was just an off ramp to my future.
With my keys and phone slipped into my purse, I headed up the weathered walkway, sidestepping a root that had pushed its way through a crack, exacerbating it. Once I got to the door, I knocked and waited.
I was certain that this house had been used in the latest horror movie. I half expected a man with a mask to open the door with a knife in hand and proceed to kill me. Instead, a man I recognized from Clementine’s shop appeared in the side window, and the sound of the deadbolt releasing filled the air.
Thiswas Spencer?
My heart pounded in my chest so loud that I could hear it in my ears. I hadn’t expected this.
He pulled open the door, and his gaze roamed over me. “What do you want?” he asked. He was wearing a black sweatshirt and sweatpants to match. His greying hair was tousled, and his dark eyes narrowed as he stared at me.
“I’m, um…I called. I’m Clementine’s friend. I’m here to rent the room?” My throat had gone dry, making it impossible to talk. I cleared my throat and swallowed a few times, but that did nothing. “I’m Penny. Ms. Brown?”
I still felt like I had sandpaper in my mouth.
The moments that ticked by while I stood there under Spencer’s scrutiny felt like a lifetime. But then he slowly nodded and stepped away from the door.
“Come in.”
Despite how rough the outside looked, the inside was much neater. The furniture was outdated but in good shape. Everything was tidy and clean. It smelled like a man—but in a good way. Like he preferred a certain cologne, and his house was infused with that scent.
“This is nice,” I whispered as I shut the door behind me.
Spencer was halfway across his living room when he stopped and turned to look at me. “Were you expecting it to be bad?”
I snorted, but when his eyes narrowed, I hurried to explain myself. “It’s just that the front looks so rough.”
