Page 20 of Not Even A Mouse
The right guy
Myron
“I like it.” He stood in the empty living room, already envisioning how it would look filled with the comfortable, slouchy, kid-friendly furniture he had in mind. The real estate agent, theoldersister to one of their long-time members, Tequila, grinned up at him. He rolled his eyes. “Yes, Dianita. I’m going to buy it if we can come to an agreement.”
She grinned fiercely. “I knew it.” Offering a high five, she said, “Oh, we’ll come to an agreement. The sellers are motivated. When you told me what youwantedand the timeframe, and as always, your demands were so detailed, I knew it had to be this one.”
Four bedrooms, three baths, living and den spaces, and a huge backyard. In Talya’s school district.Yeah, Dianita came through again. He walkedup the hallway towards the master suite, pausing in the doorway.This is stupid. Andy had texted him earlier asking about dinner. He was off tonight and would be cooking.Domestic. He looked around the room again.I’ll put light-colored wood in here, with some bright accents. “Dianita, I want painters before I have furniture delivered. I’ll get you some swatches of what I want.”
“What?” He heardher coming towards him but didn’t turn around, fascinated with his detailed vision of Andy in this room. “Is this for you, Myron?” Without looking at her, he nodded. She huffed a laugh, then asked, “You’re moving to Fort Wayne?”
“Looks like it.”I need to talk to Mason. “Make an offer, twenty-five below asking, since I’ll be paying cash.”Make sure he’ll be cool with it. That wasn’t really aconcernbecause Myron had watched how the club had bent around member’s needs before. At her intake of breath at his demand, he shook his head trying to stop her argument. “They won’t accept it, I know. But it’s a good place to start.” The house was already priced reasonably because the previous owners were liquidating as part of a divorce. He wouldn’t rake them over the coals, but he would drivea bargain. “I want to close in a week.” The inspection and title search had already been done, and without the need to organize a loan, he could move fast. “I want to be moved in by the week before Christmas, Dianita. Make it happen.”
“Holy shit.” She snorted, and he turned to look at her, grinning at the twist of her mouth. He knew her, had worked with her on so many deals, he knew what thatmeant. “You know how I do love a challenge.”
“That I do.” He pushed past her to the hallway and turned, walking past the guest room and through the living space into the other wing. There were two bedrooms on this end of the house, connected by a large Jack-and-Jill bathroom. He opened the door to the larger of the two bedrooms. “I might need some help with this one.” Dianita had followedhim,and he heard a questioning noise. “Other than pink and purple, what do six-year-old girls like?”
“Oh, honey.” Her voice was soft. “I can help with that.”
An hour later, he was in the office at the clubhouse, computer on the desk in front of him. Bank websiteopenon the screen, he was moving money between his personal accounts. Years of shrewd investments meant he would not only be able to purchasethe house cash, but also could afford to furnish it as he wanted. He studied the balances and grinned.With plenty left over.
His phone buzzed against hisleg,and he pulled it out, seeing Bones contact information on the screen. He used his thumbprint to accept the call through the secure app the club used, and the video image of Bones popped onto the screen. “Hey, Bones. What’s up?”
“Esterwanted to ask you when you will return to Chicago.”
Myron smiled. “She’s still not using the phone, huh?”
“She is not. That remains an insurmountable obstacle for her.” Bones stared at him, the tattoos on the man’s face not even worth Myron’s attention these days. The man was a friend and brother,and liketheclub,had been part of his life since Mason plucked Myron out of the shelter. Thathe’d met and wooed Myron’s sister, also homeless, and lost to him for so long, that was just fate pulling tricks by crossing the life threads of people who meant something to him. “That was not an answer, Myron.”
“No, it wasn’t. I don’t know when I’ll be back.” He really should talk to Mason first, but Bones and Ester deserved to know, too.She’s my sister, dammit. Decision made, he committedhimself to the move in a public way, hoping it wouldn’t blow up in his face. “I’m moving to Fort Wayne. I bought a house here this morning.”
Bones looked startled, eyes widening. Ester’s voice came from a distanceaway,and the video shifted, swinging drunkenly around as Bones turned the phone to face Myron’s sister. “My Ronnie. No. Settling your new past findings in my head aren’t done yet.Memory making needs to happen more, please.” She looked stricken, her face paling as she stared at the phone.
“I’m not far, honey. Promise. I’ll be back more often than you want.”
“Distruth. I want you for the always that we never had.” Ester’s brain waswired differently, one of the things Bones seemed to love about her. Myron knew it was just his own quirks echoed in magnified ways in hissister. “You’re the everything I’ll have forfamily,like Bones is the everything I’ll need for living.” The expression on her face waspain, raw and real. “Always is most with more love.”
“Wehave always, my sissy. Promise you.” He held her gaze through the screen. “You’re the busy one these days, with your volunteering at the shelter. Gunny told me you’re doing great work with the rescued dogs.I understand you’re gonna be busy for weeks, maybe longer. All those pups need love.” By mentioning the dogs, he carefully skirted her mention of the knowledge that had sent her into a depression so deep it had taken rehabbing abused dogs to pull her out of it.
She wanted children with a fierce need, but events of her childhood made that impossible. A dream she could never realize. When theyfound out, she’d been so devastated by the knowledge, Bones had reached out to the members of the club in fear, desperate to find something to pull her out of her own head.
Gunny had come through for her, using his connections to find a mission in which she could immerse herself. The Cook County sheriff department had raided adogfightingcompound and seized nearly four dozen dogs. A number ofthe animals had to be put down, but the remainder were being trained to enter a brand-new life as a pet. Ester had made a hugeimpression withhow well she’d connected with the dogs. So much so, the shelter had wanted to recognize her at a dinner last month. Needless to say, that was a non-starter, but Gunny had been pleased to accept on her behalf.
“I want you here.” Her bottom lip pouted down,and he thought she looked as adorable as Talya had when he put her to bed last night. “Please. My Ronnie.”
“My new house has a guest room. The door locks from inside.” Her head tipped to the side. “I’ve got a big backyard, too. Even though it’s winter, I saw lots of birds around.” Her head tipped to the other side. Myron gave her a final incentive. “I’m closer to where Willa is with Gar and Dolly.”He knew he had herthen,because she loved Mason’s wife and children, loved all the Rebel kids, really. Kids were easier for her to deal with because they were mostly honest about how they felt, something Ester could get behind. She found the adult world exhausting. “You can come visit any time Bones will bring you down.”
“Will you take me?” She stared past the phone now, and he knew she’d focusedon Bones. “Yay.” Gaze back to Myron, she frowned. “I’m not happiest, but even a little of the happy is better than sad.”
“Yeah, sissy. Happy is better than sad.” He blew her akiss,and she grabbed at air, clutching her clenched fist tight to her chest. “Love you, Ester. I’ll see you.” She smiled, and the video shifted again, Bones’ face filling the screen. “Thanks, Bones.”
“As always, you areentertaining, if nothing else.” Bones nodded. “Be safe, brother.”
“Shiny side,” Myron agreed. The video callended,and he laid the phone down with a sigh.
“Moving to the Fort, huh?” Mason’s voice came from thedoorway,and Myron looked up with a grin. “Plannin’ on tellin’ me at some point?”
“Hey, Mason, I’m moving to Fort Wayne in the next couple of weeks, but I can continue to work on whateveryou need me to out of Chicago.”
