I leaned forward and slapped my forehead on the kitchen table.
I didn’t want to leave this house. I loved it. I had always loved it. The fact that Grandma had given me this small piece of independence had kept me going through that crappy job.
Unfortunately, I needed the capital from the house if I wanted to finish my college degree, and I was going to need that degree if I wanted to find a job I could tolerate.
Maybe.
Probably.
Best not to take any chances.
At least I would know the house would be in good hands with Cole. He would always remember to change the air filters. He’d paint the exterior on a regular basis and do a better job of keeping weeds out of the lawn. Yeah, the house would be better off in his hands anyway.
I might as well walk around the house and say goodbye to all of its nooks and crannies. The elf said I had to do something selfless. Maybe I wasn’t being entirely selfless because I was going to sell the house for money, but it sure as heck was going to hurt.
Oh, screw the elf. Screw the Not So Naughty list. Luck didn’t really exist.
This was all just Aubrey being Aubrey.
16
Cole
Iwas beginning to worry about Aubrey.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d think she’d been avoiding me.
Yeah, because you’ve been avoiding her.
Okay, sure. I’d been avoiding her. I still didn’t know what to say to her. I knew what I wanted to say, “Hey, Aubrey, let’s try dating. Maybe if it goes well, we can get married and have at least two kids!”
But that wasn’t the thing you said to your best friend’s sister—at least that’s what I’d heard. Besides, Deidre had visibly recoiled when I laid out my plans for us. What if Aubrey did the same?
Well, it’s Christmas Eve, so you’re going to have to do something.
Three o’clock on Christmas Eve, to be exact. I could’ve left the office at noon, but I still had no idea what to get Aubrey for Christmas. I only knew I had to get her something special. Jewelry? Too intimate. Rhinestones for her crutches? Too temporary. She hardly used them anymore.
I mean, I had an autograph from Ezekiel Angelo. I’d secured that once I got the contract ironed out to his specifications, but that wouldn’t be such a big deal now that she’d played one-on-one with the guy and ridden in his limousine. Besides, he’d signed the cards that came with her flowers, so she already had his autograph.
I packed up my satchel—including the autograph—and prepared to leave my office for the last time that year. I wasn’t going to figure out a gift for Aubrey in the office, and I had to think of something.
Art supplies? She was always doing something in the basement, but I was afraid I would get the wrong kind of supplies. She experimented with so many different mediums. I guess I could get her a gift card to some art store, but that didn’t feel personal.
How about gardening supplies? No, it was too cold for them at the moment, and I didn’t even know if she actually liked planting the petunias or if she just did it because Mrs. Potts enjoyed them.
There was so much about Aubrey Longfellow that I somehow still didn’t know.
But I wanted so desperately to find out.
I grabbed my satchel and headed out the door. Should I take her out to dinner? No, that was an excuse to take her on a date without having to ask her on a date because I was afraid that she’d say no if I did. Movies? A concert?
The elevator dinged and I stepped inside with a deep sigh.
Wait. There it is.
On the wall, someone had taken a picture of a box of kittens. They were free to a good home, and along the fringe at the bottom of the page were numbers you could tear off and call.
The first month we’d lived together, she bugged the snot out of me to get a kitten. I’d originally said no because Deidre was allergic, but I also didn’t want to have to clean up the litter. At the time, I’d thought Aubrey wouldn’t be responsible enough to do it, but now I knew she was perfectly responsible enough to take care of people and pets. I’d just believed what her brother and parents had told me rather than looking for myself.
