At Josie’s urging, Eve had reconnected with several of her relatives. As it turned out, they’d had no idea what happened with her parents and thought Eve had left the family by her own choice. Last month, a couple of her cousins came to visit her here in the city, sharing thirteen years’ worth of laughter and tears as they caught up on everything they’d missed in each other’s lives.
Eve had begun a new chapter in her life on so many fronts, and it was all thanks to the woman beside her.
Josie let them in through the back of her building, checking her phone. “Right on time.”
“The thing you want to show me has a time?”
“Yes. An appointment of sorts,” Josie said with a mysterious smile.
Eve followed her up the stairs, intrigued. She honestly had no idea what Josie had up her sleeve. Her confusion only intensified when Josie passed her door and kept climbing to the third-floor apartment, the one she rented out. She stopped at the door and knocked, listening for a few seconds. When no response came, she pulled out her keys and unlocked the door.
Eve grabbed her elbow. “What are you doing? You can’t just walk into their apartment.”
“Actually, I can,” Josie told her. “I’m their landlord. A few days ago, they gave their notice. They’re moving out at the end of the month. So I told them I had a prospective tenant coming to see the place this morning at eleven.”
“Me?” Eve felt her eyebrows rising. “I’m the prospective tenant?”
“No.” Josie leaned in to kiss her. “We both are.”
“What?”
“We could live here together. It’s bigger than either of our current apartments. There are two bedrooms. I could use the second one for rescuing kittens.”
“Hey, what about me?” Eve asked playfully, rapidly warming to the idea. “I could use space for an office, you know. Then I could move out of theLife & Leisureoffices.”
“I know. That’s why I thought you could use my old apartment downstairs as your office space.”
“Oh.” Eve swallowed. “Really?”
“Yes. What do you think?”
“I think…it’s perfect,” she told Josie.
“Don’t you want to see this place first?”
“Well, yeah, but my answer won’t change.”
“Okay,” Josie said with a laugh.
Together, they walked around the living room. It was large and open, with high ceilings due to its location on the top floor. The back wall was exposed brick, with wood beams on the ceiling just like Josie’s apartment. They went down the hall to see the two bedrooms and the bath. The space was warm and inviting, with more than enough room for Eve’s artwork and all of Josie’s kitten pictures.
“So?” Josie asked.
“I was wrong. My answer did change,” Eve told her.
“Oh?” A wrinkle appeared between her brows.
“It’s not just perfect, it’sridiculouslyperfect. Seriously, Josie. This place is amazing.”
“Good,” she said with a satisfied smile. “I can’t afford to lose the income from this rental on my own, but if you give up your apartment, it should work.”
“Definitely. Between the two of us, we make more than enough to afford this place. Then you’ll own and occupy the whole building, just like you and your dad did before he died.” She gave Josie’s hands a squeeze.
“Yeah.”
“We’re going to need to go shopping,” Eve told her. “New art for the walls, furniture, accessories…”
“I can’t wait.” Josie grinned, revealing the dimples that had always been Eve’s undoing.
