“Not recommended.”She snorts.
I smile.Barely.
“I don’t want to lose my grandmother’s house or this shop,” I whisper.“It’s all I have left of her.The creaky floors.The backyard lilac bush.The dent in the kitchen cabinet where she bumped it with her hip while baking cookies… I can’t sell it.And the shop, this town needs it.I need it!What would I do for a job otherwise?”
“Okay,” she says, shifting into Problem-Solving Mode.“I have an idea.A radical idea.”
“Go on.I’m desperate.”
“You should get a roommate.”
I blink.“What?”
“Someone to rent the spare room at your house.You have space.You need help with the bills.It might be the perfect solution.”
“Living… with someone?”My stomach flips.
“Preferably not a serial killer,” Alexi adds.“But yes.”
“I’m disorganized,” I warn.“I shed bobby pins like confetti.I hum to myself.I talk to my dog.”
“Your dog is the best thing about you.”
“Rude.”
“You love me.”
I do.
I sigh again.
“Who would want that as a roommate?”
“Lots of people!”Alexi assures me.
A roommate.Could I really?Could I afford not to?
I picture the house; the faded blue siding, the flower boxes, the sagging porch swing.My chest tightens.
“I’ll try it,” I whisper.
“YES!”Her voice blasts through the phone.“Okay, post goes live tonight.I’ll help you screen them.No jam-band hippies.No ferrets.No creeps.”
“Wait, why specifically ferrets?”
“Have you ever smelled a ferret?”
“…no.”
“Exactly.”
I laugh again.It helps.A little.
“Call me later,” she says softly.“We’ll manifest someone amazing.”
“I’ll take someone who pays rent on time and doesn’t steal my conditioner.”
“Dream big, babe.”
