Page 46 of Forty and Fighting Dirty
SEVENTEEN
RHETT
That afternoon,I was called out to site to deal with some issues with one of the new ski lifts, so I didn’t get back into the office until after five. Piper was already gone. I glanced in her office on the way to mine, my chest tightening. Sitting behind my computer, I focused on the things I could control, like work, and tried to forget about a blue-eyed firecracker who had me twisted into knots.
The scuff of a boot against office carpet made me look up. Ollie stood in the doorway, chocolate-brown hair in its usual disarray. He wore a quilted jacket, worn jeans, and an old pair of work boots. “All that luck and still not happy, huh?”
I scoffed. “Have you seen the place?”
“Owned by Arthur Fielding, right? The old guy with a bad attitude?”
“Died angry and alone,” I grumbledwith a nod, wondering if I would share that fate. “Apparently his daughter didn’t want to deal with the trouble of fixing the house, so she donated it. Place is about to fall down.”
“She moved away ’bout ten years back now. Wonder what she’s up to that she didn’t even want to step foot back in town to see her old childhood home.” Ollie wandered closer and slumped down in one of my visitor’s chairs.
“Maybe she had it right,” I grumbled, and Ollie laughed. I frowned at him. “What?”
“It’s not that bad, Rhett. You just won a house. If I had one-tenth of your luck, I’d be set for life.”
“I won half a house,” I corrected, thinking of Piper, “and like I said, it’s not as good as it looks.”
“Kind of like you. Nice and pretty on the outside, but a real shame about the personality.”
“Screw you, Ollie,” I shot back, but my lips twitched.
My cousin’s eyes glittered. “And your co-owner feels the same way about the place?”
Even an oblique mention of Piper made my jaw tighten. I glanced out the window at the gathering dusk, trying to figure out what to say so Ollie wouldn’t see right through me. “She thinks the house is perfect. I think I broke her heart when I reminded her we’d have to pay taxes on the win. She wanted to buy me out before I crushed her dreams.” The sour feeling in my gut seemed dangerously close to guilt.
Why had I wanted that house at all? I should have let her take it. It had seemed so important not to let her get the better of me in that moment, but what had I really been worried about?
Ollie hummed. “What are you going to do about it?”
“Sell the house,” I replied. “She can’t afford to buy me out, pay the taxes, and make the place livable. I sure as hell don’t want to keep the place, so it’s the best option.”
My cousin’s brows jumped. “Oh yeah?”
“Why? What’s wrong with that?”
“Mila told me Piper’s looking for a new place to stay. Her lease is up at the end of November. She probably thought all her problems were about to go away.”
“What’s that got to do with me?” I answered, voice harsh.
Ollie put his palms up. “Just thinking out loud.”
“What’s Mila doing tellingyouPiper’s business, anyway?”
“Relax, Rhett,” Ollie said, which made my blood pressure go up a few notches. “Mila was just asking if my place on Willowbark Avenue was available. She’s trying to help Piper find somewhere to live.”
The guilt in my stomach began to pulse, and I worried I might throw up. I hadn’t known Piper’s lease was up so soon. She only had until Thanksgiving to find a place to stay. With the ski season starting, that would be tough. Every bed in town would be full, and most people would want to cash in with short-term rentals.
“She can’t stay in the house. It’s not safe, and she can’t afford it.”
“But you can.”
My eyes snapped up. “What’s that got to do with Piper?”
“She’s not Sarah, Rhett.” Ollie’s voice was so gentle that it made the anger detonating inside me seem that much moreextreme. I tried to control it, tried to wrestle it down so it wouldn’t show on my face, but Ollie had known me since we were babies. He could tell.
