Page 29 of Faking I Do
Bunnies were cute and helpless. Adeline wasn’t the outdoorsy type. It would be easy to confuse a baby bunny with a . . . rat! I jumped onto a built-in barstool as I entered the kitchen. A giant creature, more than double the size of a baby bunny, scrambled past where I clung to the stool.
“Mayor Cherish.” The guy who was supposed to be returning the hardwood floors to their former glory tipped his baseball cap at me. “We’ve got a problem.”
I folded my arms across my chest as Bodie taped the sign to the front window of the house. “How long until we can get back in there?”
“Depends on the contractor. Did you call the guy I told you to?”
“Yeah. He said he can come out on Thursday to take a look.” I shifted positions and shoved my hands in the pockets of my jacket. “But we’re on a tight deadline. Every single day matters.”
Bodie shrugged. “Then work on the exterior for now. You’ve got landscaping, painting, tuck-pointing . . . there are all kinds of things you can do until your problem is taken care of.”
I knew that, of course I did, I was the one who came up with the project plan in the first place. But I didn’t like being put off schedule. “How could Adeline mix up an armadillo with a rat?”
“I’m sure she didn’t stick around to take a real close look.” He took out his phone and pulled up a picture he’d snapped. “Besides, if she just caught a glimpse of the tail, she probably thought it was a rat.”
“Have you ever heard of an armadillo infestation?” I examined the picture of the strange creature on the screen. The only time I’d seen armadillos in the wild were on the side of the road, usually with a tire mark down the middle. They weren’t known for being the smartest animals.
Bodie tucked his phone away. “We had a few out at the ranch but the dogs tended to keep them away. Maybe we need to bring Shotgun over to run armadillo prevention.”
“No. I’ll let the wildlife expert do his thing.” It was too bad I couldn’t get him out here until Thursday though.
“Expecting someone?” Bodie nodded toward a van coming down the long drive.
“What?” I swiveled around, my mind already racing with ways to adjust my to-do list. “No, I told everyone to head to lunch until we figure out where to go from here.”
“We?” Bodie tipped his head down, meeting my gaze with those big, gray eyes.
“Yes, we. We’re in this together, remember? You’re the one who said the mayor and the sheriff’s office share the same business.”
“And who’s that?” Bodie nudged his chin toward the small parking area where a woman climbed out of the passenger side of the van.
She wore a cropped black leather jacket over a tight pencil skirt. Long blond hair flowed over her shoulders in perfectwaves. She paused to pull a tube of lipstick out of her bag then angled the side mirror so she could see to apply it.
My phone vibrated in my back pocket, trilling the annoying sound bite I’d chosen for my alarm. The alarm I’d set to remind me of the appointment I had today.
“Oh no. It’s the reporter from Texas Times.”
“How the hell do you know that?” Bodie asked.
I reached behind him to rip the freshly taped notice from the front door. “Because we have an appointment today. I sent out press releases to try to get some interest from the media in our renovation. She’s the only one who got back to me.”
A guy holding a large camera rounded the van. My vision fuzzed at the edges.
“Hey, you can’t remove that notice.” Bodie clamped a hand around my wrist. “It’s legal.”
“Legal schmegal. If the one media outlet that took any interest in our project finds out we’ve got an armadillo problem, our venture will be sunk before it even begins.” I crumpled up the paper and shoved it in my pocket. “If you’ll excuse me for a moment.”
Bodie didn’t follow me down the steps to the sidewalk. Thank goodness. We might be in this together but I didn’t need him literally following in my footsteps and blocking me at every turn.
As I approached the van the woman looked up and smiled. I held out a hand. “Hi, I’m Lacey Cherish. You must be from the Texas Times.”
“I’m Samantha Cross and this is my cameraman, Jay. Thanks for making time for us today.” Her slim fingers wrapped around mine in a firm grip.
“Thanks for coming. I do have some bad news though.”
“Oh?” Samantha cocked her head. “Is now not a good time?”
“We’re in the middle of renovations and the team refinishing the flooring just put a topcoat on the hardwoods.” I screwed mylips into a frown. “I was really hoping to show you the inside today. I even asked them to hold off, but you know how it is when you’re working with a bunch of contractors.”
