But if the weather turned too brutal, people would stay off the streets. Then she’d start worrying. More than she was now.
Nora poked her head in the door, looking fit, trim, and tan. “Hey, sister from another mother. What’s going on?” She must have seen something in Becca’s expression, because she frowned. “What did he do?”
“Simon?”
“The Amazing Flash Flashman.”
Becca sighed. “Nothing. He’s fine. Linda Madison came to see me. Harris is raising my rent.”
“Well, you knew that was coming.”
“Yeah, but he used to increase it by about sixty bucks a month. Now suddenly it’s going up by one hundred and fifty dollars a month!”
“That doesn’t sound like Harris.”
Becca stared glumly at the center counter she’d just cleaned. “I doubt it’s his fault. He was probably too generous before, and with real estate values down, he’s not making what he used to. I wish he wouldn’t try to personalize it by sending Linda, though. I’d rather just get the shocking email.”
“Ah.” Nora gave her a sympathetic hug. “I bet she had something to say about you and Mitch.”
Becca glared at her cousin. “How the heck did you spread the word so fast?”
“I mentioned it to Marsha Gaines in passing yesterday. Now everyone knows.” Nora laughed, then coughed when she noticed Becca not laughing with her. “Oh, come on, Becks. You’re a success. You can get through this rent debacle.”
“Debacle?”
“I’ve been working that word into casual conversation all day. It’s for an article I’m posting tomorrow.”
“Sure.” Nora’s job as a magazine editor and social media content provider paid the bills. Hmm…
“Hey, do you need help posting social media? I could maybe work part-time if you needed help.”
Nora stared, wide-eyed. “Are things that bad, moneywise?”
“Well, not yet, but I like to be prepared.”
Nora let out a relieved breath. “Oh, right. It’s been such a long time since you had a breakdown that I forgot how you get. The sky is falling… ‘Oh no, wait, we’re good. I just thought I’d announce the apocalypse just in case.’”
“I don’t find you amusing today.”
“Yeah, well, I’m a humdinger of an entertaining lackwit. No, wait.Lackwitisn’t what I wanted to use there.”
“Another of your words of the day?” Becca tried not to laugh. Her cousin was a doofus. “I’d say lackwit suits you just fine.”
“It means imbecile.”
Becca stared. “I know what it means.”
“Oooh.I’m feeling aburrrrn.”
Becca chuckled. “Okay, you made me laugh. That’s something.” But she didn’t think she had the energy to deal with Mitch later that evening. She’d see him and feel confused, try to rationalize why she could never be with a man so funny, good-looking, sexy, and wealthy, then grow more depressed. She’d reschedule for Friday night, when she’d hopefully be in a better frame of mind. No need to drag him down in her cesspool of emotions. “I still haven’t heard the whole story of your time in Maui. Why don’t you come over tonight and tell me over popcorn and Hallmark movies?”
“You’re on.” Nora scrounged a cookie from a tray in the sheet pan rack. “And you can tell me all about how you and Mitch happened in the first place. My money is on the night we all went swimming at his place.”
Becca sighed. “It’s sad that you have nothing better to do than gossip about my love life.”
“Yep. I was right. Deacon owes me twenty bucks.”
“And you can tell me how you and Mitch’s big brother are getting along.”
“Then you’d better add a few bottles of wine to popcorn night.”
