Creed smiles. “My dad picked out the playlist. He’s always had a thing for classic rock.”
It’s wrong to acknowledge liking anything that man does. “You can’t beat the classics.”
“Are you planning on having any company over soon?”
Company here? “Probably not soon.” Though I’m going to have to host one of the meetings soon or all my friends will just show up one day to see how things are going.
“Not even family? Like your grandfather?”
My grandfather almost never comes out of that mausoleum he calls a mansion. Why would Creed ask about my grandfather… “You mean Rothswyler. The man who gave me the keys to my new house?”
“Rothswyler?” He quirks up an eyebrow.
How do I explain Rothswyler without sounding like a stuck-up heiress? “Rothswyler is my lawyer. My family has used him since I was a child.” He’s more like family to me than my actual family.
“He’s your lawyer? I didn’t know lawyers bought houses. Isn’t that usually real estate agents?”
“Usually. It’s just easier to have him do both jobs, and then we always know he has our best interests at heart.”
Creed grins from ear to ear. “That makes sense. I’ve got to go to school.”
Now, ask him now. He doesn’t even have a toaster pastry this morning. “So I, um, made some breakfast burritos this morning. Way more than I could ever eat. Would you like one?”
“Sure.”
***
“How have your first few days in Silent Valley been?” Cordelia swirls icing on a mini cake with precision that is mind-boggling.
“Weird.”
“How so?” Round and round she goes in fluid swoops.
“Let’s see. My neighbor hates me—”
The piping bag almost slips out of her fingers. “What? No one hates you. Literally, I don’t know a single person in our entire lives that’s ever even been mad at you, let alone hated you. How did that happen?”
“No idea.” I shrug. “I brought a cake over to introduce myself to his family, and he lost his mind. Like lost his mind and slammed the door in my face.”
“What cake?”
Of course, that would be what Cordelia asked. “The caramel apple one you gave me the recipe for.”
“No.”
Exactly. “Yes.”
“It’s impossible. I’ve had a half-dozen marriage proposals from that cake alone. Did he see the cake before he slammed the door? No man slams the door on my caramel apple cake.”
“It wasn’t the cake.” At least I don’t think it was. “He just seemed to immediately hate the sight of me.”
“Your neighbor is crazy. Should we have Winnie pay him a visit? Or maybe Dylan’s boyfriend…husband—I can’t believe she just went off and married a guy in a motorcycle gang. They’re going to be back in town soon, so we can get all the details. You’re going to love her. I really think she should be inducted into the spinsters’ club as an honorary member.” Cordelia starts back to swirling, then stops. “I bet he wouldn’t mind ‘talking’ to your neighbor.”
Why do I think she means the kind of talking Winnie does when people disappear from the face of the earth? “I was actually thinking of turning Rothswyler loose on him.”
“Really? He’s that bad? It’s one thing to get a thrashing. It’s another to set Rothswyler on anyone. The last person your parents sent him after came back begging for forgiveness.”
She’s right. That doesn’t feel fair. Whatever problems this guy is having, he doesn’t need Rothswyler added to it. “Probably not. He has a really nice kid.”
