Chapter 7

SEVEN

I drove into our small parking garage located at the back of the building. It was definitely a perk of living in The Heights. This section of Kensington Square was up and coming and parking was at a premium. I found my numbered spot and backed in. It was easier getting out in the morning that way. Even if it made me nervous every time I did it.

Better than a fender bender in the morning. I already had enough car drama in my life.

My heart sank as I spotted Amberly walking toward the door to our building. I had to face her eventually. I grabbed my bag and jogged to meet her. "Amberly!"

She turned, her eyes puffy. Oh, God. Was the damage even worse than I thought?

"Hey."

"Is everything okay?"

She sniffled. "Not really."

"Look, I'll definitely be buying you a kickass bedding set to make up for the one I ruined. Any color you want. We can go shopping this weekend."

Her green eyes filled. "I won't be needing it." She rushed forward and threw herself into my arms.

Shocked, I patted her back. My arms throbbed with the contact. We were friendly, but we weren't exactly cry on each other's shoulders close. And definitely not hugging close. "What happened?"

"I'm sorry. I can't stop crying." She glanced down at my arms and gasped, stepping back. "Oh my gosh, what happened?" She dabbed her eyes with the back of her hand. The damage was definitely already done makeup-wise. Though I was pretty sure her raccoon eyes had started before she got to me.

"Had a little on-site accident with one of my properties. Long story."

She laughed a little. "You aren't having any luck with property damage."

"Don't remind me. I was just going to see Deb, actually."

Amberly sniffled. "Davis is working on my bedroom and kitchen. The water just got everywhere."

I sighed. "Great."

"What happened?" She glanced at my arms, then she winced. "I mean, in your apartment."

I wasn't sure how much to fess up to, but in for a penny at this point. "I have a cat."

"Ohhh." She rubbed her nose and a little smile filtered through. "I bet its cute."

I pulled out my phone and flashed my lock screen with Gizmo at his ultimate tuxedo cuteness.

"Aww."

"Yeah." I looked down at his fluffy sweet face, then I dropped my phone back into my purse. "Unfortunately, he's addicted to running water. No matter what I do to try and cat-proof the handles of the faucets, he finds a way."

"That's not good." She sniffed again and swallowed back a sob. "I have noticed our sinks have been slower to drain. I just thought it was me."

"Right? Maybe it's a bigger problem. Davis will be thrilled."

She laughed. "How could you tell if he was anything other than pissy? He's always grumpy."

"We keep him hopping, I guess." I rubbed her arm lightly. "But I don't think these tears are for some ruined sheets."

Her eyes filled again. "No. I thought Bobby was going to propose last night. He kept telling me he had a surprise for me for our anniversary. We've been together for four years. What else was I supposed to expect?"

Four years and they didn't even live together? That seemed a little strange to me. Then again, I'd just vandalized a truck after a shitty two weeks of dating. Who was I to judge anything at this point?

"I'd say you were at the next step stage."

"Beyond." She tipped back her head. "I'm tired of crying. I've been crying since last night and all day today. I can't seem to stop."

"Because he didn't ask you to marry him?"

"I kinda freaked out. His surprise was a sex toy. What kind of surprise is that after four years?" She gave a harsh laugh. "Then again, I might enjoy things a little more if I let him use the toy."

My eyebrows shot up. Well, that was definitely a surprise present.

"I'm just being a bitch now. Bobby is a sweet guy—at least he is most of the time. Maybe too sweet, you know? He didn't have a lot of confidence with the whole bedroom thing, but we did okay. Mostly."

I pressed my lips together. Okay wasn't how a woman should react about sex, but I knew what she meant. Sometimes it wasn't the most important part. The companionship stayed when the sex faded.

Who was I kidding? I needed the hot sex for a complete relationship. Period.

"Anyway, I didn't react very well to the toy. And I asked when we were going to do the ring thing, you know? I don't want to wait forever, and he said he wasn't ready."

"Ouch."

"Yeah, exactly. How much more ready do you have to be after four years?" She cupped her boobs. "I'm wasting prime hot body time on that idiot?"

I laughed. "Amberly!"

"What, I'm serious? I'm almost twenty-eight. It's harder to keep this body every year, dammit." She was a knockout, that was for sure. I was actually a little jealous of her wavy blond hair that fell past her shoulders. Even after crying all night and wearing sweatpants and a hoodie, there was no denying she had a banging body going on.

As thirty was staring me in the face, I understood eating a salad every once in a while didn't keep the curves at bay anymore.

"Well, it is impressive."

She gave me a watery laugh. "Thanks. I am about to go eat my feelings for a week."

"So, I guess you kicked Bobby to the curb?"

"I sure did. Kept the toy, though. At least I can give myself an orgasm."

I laughed. "You're going to be just fine."

She sighed. "Probably finer than I should be after four years, but it still hurts."

"Well, I'm in for a sappy New Girl binge watch on the roof with ice cream and homemade chocolate chip cookies whenever you want."

"Aww." Her eyes filled again. "You're really great, you know that?"

"Thanks for not hating me about the water damage. I'll still get you that new bed set."

She nodded. "New sheets that don't remind me of Bobby would be really good."

Inspired and hoping for a little forgiveness, I went for broke. "I could redo your room if you wanted."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. It's what I do."

Her eyes filled again. "That would be really amazing."

"Then we'll make it happen." I linked my arm with hers gingerly. Dammit, these scrapes were no joke. "Now I have to face the firing squad of Deb and Davis."

"Deb's not so bad. Davis, not so sure there. He growled at me to get the hell out earlier. Probably didn't help that I was crying like a lunatic. I'm going to go take a shower and sleep." Amberly gave me a watery smile over her shoulder as we split off. She lived on the first floor and disappeared down the hall.

I blew out a breath and headed into the lobby. Deb was behind the desk talking to one of our usual delivery guys. I gave her a little wave and sat at one of the tables near the coffee machine. I didn't have the brain power or the energy to make a cup of coffee with the fancy machine. While I waited for her to finish, I glanced around the gorgeous glass and greenery of the massive windows.

All three sides of the lobby were pure tinted glass with a great view out to Kensington Boulevard. Either side of the room gave peekaboo slices of the busy street but also had huge planter boxes staggered down the windows with gorgeous greenery and pops of red flowers.

I'd fallen in love with this place when I'd been apartment hunting. It was at the top of my price range, but the architecture and location couldn't be beat. The Heights originally had been a run-down apartment building that needed TLC. And just like Kensington Boulevard, it had shown out beautifully with a little love and a whole lot of money.

Royce Warner had bought up a bunch of the buildings on this end of the Boulevard. Kensington Square was a small city compared to the nearby Syracuse. It was exactly what I loved about a city while still having the charm of a small town. There were tons of places to eat, and shops mixed in with more professional buildings like law, real estate, and insurance.

On nice days, I could actually walk to my job if I really wanted to, but by the end of the day, the idea of walking a mile was usually too much. As safe as this area was, walking in the dark wasn't the smartest idea. My workdays definitely didn't end at five o'clock like most people.

A mug of coffee slid in front of me before Deb sat across from me with one of her own and her ever-present tablet. "Hey, kiddo."

Only Deb could call me kiddo . With her short red waves brushing her shoulders, she angled her head and gave me a sympathetic look. She always wore tinted glasses that were just a little too big for her face along with a ready smile. A face full of freckles, laugh lines, and crinkles at the corners of her eyes made her look entirely too approachable. I put her somewhere in her forties or fifties—I could never tell. She wore her usual gray pant suit, today with a mint camisole in deference to the heat.

She took a sip from her mug and gave me a reassuring smile. "So, tell me what happened."

I sighed. "Did you know the sinks have been a slow drain lately?"

"We're starting there?"

"Well, I did notice it. And so did Amberly, so I'm not the only one."

Deb pulled her mini iPad close to her and flicked it on. She scrolled through our app for the building. We put in our maintenance requests and paid our rent through the building app. Her brow furrowed. "Okay, you might not be totally making excuses there. I have a few requests regarding slow drainage. I'll talk to Davis. But you know that's not what caused the water damage."

"No. But it definitely didn't help." I cupped my fingers around my mug, happy to have something to keep me from nervously picking at my nails. "I know we aren't supposed to have cats..."

"Nope. We don't allow pets here."

"Not even cats, though? They're so quiet. Gizmo is the sweetest boy, really."

"Except when he turns on faucets?"

"There is that." I took a sip of my coffee. Deb did have some sort of magic when it came to making it, that was for sure. "I couldn't leave him at the work site I found him at. I kept trying to find him a home and the shelters are just busting at the seams, and I was afraid he'd be euthanized."

"I know, kiddo. I sympathize, but it's in your license agreement, no pets."

I braced myself. "So, what now? Do I get evicted?"

"We're not going that far."

Relief washed over me.

"We'll have to use your security deposit for the damage. Some should be covered by your renter's insurance. Did you have flood damage on it?"

One thing I didn't mess with was policy coverage. Being in the rehab business, I knew that was stupid, even if it meant my premiums were a bit higher than the usual. "I have the max coverage, actually."

"Good, then it should just be your deductible that will come out and some things that won't be covered, I'm sure. We'll figure it out, but you'll have to find a home for the cat."

"Yeah, I figured." I already loved him so much. The idea of giving him to someone else made my heart hurt.

"Now, tell me why you look like you've been trying out for a disaster film."

I laughed. "Do you get out to the lake much?"

She lifted a shoulder. "I'm usually working too much to get out there, but I have driven around there a few times."

"The old Barrows house on the lake? The green Victorian..."

"Oh, right. The haunted one."

My jaw dropped. "You've heard of her too?"

Deb laughed. "Yeah, that's why no one has bought the old place. Every time someone does, they get driven away by the ghost."

"No…" I leaned forward. "Really?"

She nodded. "One story I heard was that all the power tools stopped working when they tried to replace the roofline. The ladders kept getting toppled over and the workers would get stranded on the roof."

My eyes widened. "That's crazy."

"Yeah. Wild goings on at that place."

"How have I never heard about this? I love that house. I've done all the research about Harriette and her family."

"Think you're missing the important parts of the research. Check the haunted Reddit pages. You'll be in for a wild ride. Is that your next job?"

I nodded. "A man by the name of Nolan Devereaux bought the property. I'm trying to convince him to let me rehab it with my company."

"Well, from what I've heard, the ghost doesn't like a lot of change."

"How the heck did you hear about this?"

She shrugged and gave me a secret smile. "I know things."

That was a fact. Deb Gordon was one of the few people who had stayed on after Warner had bought the building. He'd dismissed most of the old employees—all except for Deb. She knew everything about this city and the surrounding towns of Crescent Cove and Turnbull.

She patted my hand. "I expect updates from you on that house. I love all those ghost hunting shows. I gotta get back to the desk. Davis will be working on your kitchen tomorrow. He's finishing up patching Amberly's place today."

"Okay. How long do I have to find a home for Gizmo?"

"A week."

I winced. "Okay."

"Just keep him away from the faucets."

My cheeks reddened. "Got it."

"Take a shower, sweetie. You're a wreck."

"Thanks, Deb," I said wryly.

"Call ‘em like I see ‘em." She winked and gathered her tablet and mug of coffee. "Have a good night."

I was too tired for the stairs, so I headed for the elevators on the right side of the lobby. I lived on the second floor which had six one-bedroom apartments, three on either side. It was quiet since most of my neighbors were still at work.

I unlocked my door and slipped inside. Gizmo met me at the door, winding around my ankles. "Hey, buddy." I bent to scoop him up and his purr made my chest ache as I cuddled him close. He bumped my chin with the top of his head, nuzzling me before his little sandpaper tongue rasped over my neck.

How on earth could I give him up?

I had to figure out something.