Page 52 of My Favorite Lost Cause
“Fuck that guy,” reaching for the bottle to top off my glass. “I don’t care if they tear the house down. I’m still not selling. I’ll buy an RV and call it a vacation home.”
Elijah bites his lip. “And then the state will declare eminent domain and take it from you anyway, Charlie. I think we need help.”
“I have an idea,” Maren says, lighting up suddenly.
She’s impossible to say no to when she’s like this, so rosy-cheeked and hopeful, but then again, when do I ever saynoto her?
“Harvey has this friend?—”
“No.” Okay, it’s possible after all.
She clicks her tongue to scold me. “You don’t even know what I was going to say.”
“It doesn’t matter what you were going to say. I want nothing to do with Harvey and more importantly, I wantyouhaving nothing to do with Harvey.”
She huffs an impatient breath. “I saidfriend, but Andrew’s more an acquaintance he’s friendly with. We had dinner with him and his wife a few times. But anyway, he’s originally from South Carolina, I think, and he also does a lot of real estate law—he might know people at a state level who will shut this down. They’llhaveto back off if someone from the governor’s office is insisting on it.”
Wasn’t she telling me about some guy they used to go to dinner with, the one she thought would make a perfect husband? I’m sure they go out with lots of couples. It’s still suspect.
She sends out a text, and within a minute she’s got the call set up for this evening. I’m not sure how great a lawyer Andrew can be if his schedule is this empty.
She returns to her cottage, Elijah leaves, and I sit on the steps, stewing. I don’t like anything about this. I don’t like that this shady developer has the power to get us condemned this fast and I don’t like that this guyAndrewmight be the one to swoop in and save the day.
Maren returns just before the call begins, and I like thesituation even less. I’ve grown accustomed to Oak Bluff Maren, bare-faced and hair in a ponytail. Now she’s Manhattan Maren—mascara, hair falling around her shoulders.
“You put onmakeupfor this?” I ask flatly.
She hitches a shoulder. “I mean…the people we know at home sort of expect it. And I figured I ought to look presentable.”
“You looked presentable enough without it.” I grunt, unhappy as she opens her phone and hits the meeting link.
There’s a two-second delay, and then Andrew appears. He’s maybe in his early forties—and though his hair is flecked with gray, it doesn’t make him look old. He smiles broadly at Maren, as if he’s thrilled to be on this call when he’s doinghera favor.
I’m liking this less by the fucking minute.
“Long time no see, Maren,” he says. “How are you?”
She flushes. “It’s been a busy couple of weeks. Oh, and do you know my stepbrother? Charlie Dalton.”
“I don’t think we’ve met,” Andrew says, civil and nothing more before he returns to Maren. “I heard about you and Harvey. I’m so sorry. You always deserved better than that guy. Kristen and I both said so.”
It’s pretty weird that he’s referencing his wife while he’s looking at Maren with that intimate smile, like he’s already undressing her. And that’s what was ringing a bell before…is this the guy? The one Maren mentioned who’d be the best husband?
“Thanks,” she says. “I’m happy to be out.”
“Not sure if you heard but Kristen and I separated too.”
That’swhy he’s fucking looking at her like that.
Maren’s mouth forms a smallO. “No, I’m so sorry. I’ve been out of the loop for a while. I hadn’t heard.”
“I really wanted kids; she didn’t,” he says. “She’d kind of left it up in the air for a while, but we were getting to that age, and she still couldn’t pull the trigger.”
This asshole knows good and well that statement is the way to Maren’s heart. Already, her blue eyes have gone velvet soft.
“I’m sorry. That had to be a hard decision.”
“It was and it also wasn’t,” he says. “She’s married to her job. I wanted someone who was actually interested in being married tome.”
