Page 32 of RomeAntically Challenged
Annie did, ignoring the way her gut hollowed at the thought of confronting her parents. Even though her mom was nosy and her dad easily distracted, Annie always felt cherished. But where Annie sought meaningful connection, her father favored his own company, and her mom tended to ride roughshod over Annie’s opinions.
Growing up a tender spirit in a strident household had often caused a young, lonely Annie to look inside herself for ways to diminish the growing distance between family members. It was a coping mechanism that spilled over into even her current relationships.
Not all relationships were meant to go the distance, but she’d be crushed if one ended because she hadn’t tried hard enough.
“I think I’m going to have to do another few wash and repeats,” Annie said with a sigh, silently begging the universe for a break. “And I need to get rid of my roommate.”
“I didn’t know you had a roommate,” Lynn said.
“It was news to me too,” Annie said, although she was so tired she wasn’t all that sure she hadn’t dreamed him up. He was more like a nightmare—one hell of an annoying and sexy nightmare. “The owner of the cabin came back early, didn’t know the place had been rented out.”
“Your roommate is Emmitt Bradley?” Lynn asked, and Annie slapped her hand over her friend’s mouth.
“Not so loud,” Annie whispered. “I don’t want to be the object of the next break room gambling pool. He came home early, and no one told him about me or me about him. Trust me, he was as surprised to find me there as I was to find out he isn’t planning on leaving anytime soon.”
Lynn slapped Annie’s hand away. “I’m still stuck on the part where you spent the night in the same house as Emmitt ‘Big O’ Bradley and you came in here talking about Clark. We need another piece of pie.”
“Weneedto find a way to get rid of him,” Annie said. “Both of them. I need a man-free zone.”
“Easy, kick him out. If he comes back, throw his things on the lawn and light them on fire. He’ll get the message,” Beckett said, giving Diesel the empty plate. The dog licked every inch twice, then gave a grunt of pure bliss and lay back down.
“First I think I’ll pull out my contract, see what rights I have.” She would read it line by line. “The last thing I want is to live with a man right now.”
“Especially one you aren’t seeing naked on a regular basis,” Beckett said. Not for the first time that day, Annie remembered just how good Emmitt had looked in nothing but his boxers. Glowy kitties or not, the man made David Beckham look flabby.
Even worse, he made her tingle.
Claiming it was nothing more than heartburn from having the first half of her cheesecake for breakfast, she said, “I may be in the market for a new place soon.”
“You can always stay on my couch.” Beckett was back into fix-it mode. “It’s lumpy and you’ll likely wake up with Thomas staring at you, but it’s better than sitting on the toilet when both seats are left up.”
“There’s always my guest room,” Lynn said. “You’d have to share it with Ken’s mom for the next eight weeks, but then it’s all yours,” Lynn said.
Annie lolled her head to the side to look at her friends,
“Thanks for the offers,” she whispered, her throat a little tight with emotion over the genuine show of kindness. “But I think I’ll need something more permanent. I checked Craigslist and Zillow, but there’s not a lot of availability right now. And of the little there is, nothing is in my price range.”
“It’s the tourists!” Beckett said, and Diesel released a startled fart. “They’re like locusts. They come in swarms from New York and Boston, jacking up the prices on everything, crowding the beaches, eating up every reservation in town, stealing all the single men. It makes me wish for early snow.”
“I thought you were done with men.”
“I am. God, I’m so done with men I might as well burn my Spanx, donate all my sexy heels, and take up speedwalking,” Beckett said. “I’m just saying that the only way to get anything in this town is to know someone who knows someone.”
Annie gave a toothy grin. “I know you. Do you know someone?”
“If I did, do you think I’d be living in a six-hundred-square-foot studio above my dad’s garage?”
“No.” Annie flopped back down. “How do locals find affordable housing?”
“Usually someone has to die,” Beckett said, one hundred percent serious. “I suggest keeping an eye on the obituaries.”
“I think one of my auntie’s friends has a summer cottage she might be willing to rent out,” Lynn said. “I can also see if anyone in my cooking group knows of one that might be coming on the market.”
“Just like that?” Annie asked, skepticism in her tone.
“Yeah, my cousin might know someone who knows someone and, poof, you have a new place. That’s how things work in my world.”
Annie wasn’t sure what to say. She’d watched how hard Lynn had advocated for a friend’s niece who wanted a job at the hospital. Annie admired how close the Vietnamese community in Rome was. It was a small community, but everyone looked out for one another, even reaching down to pull others up with them. Jobs, cars, dating, services, and apparently even housing. Until today, Annie had only been an observer of the community.
