She took a step inside, and he and his heart had a firm, silent communication about its recent behavior. This visit wasn’t anything special. She was the last neighbor in the building, and obviously he wouldn’t be left in peace until they all came through. It was like ticking a box; that was all. Easy.
“So,” she said, casting her eyes around the space. She didn’t seem quite as familiar with the place as Jonah had been, and that was strangely comforting to him. “Now you’ve met everyone.”
“Everyone but Emily,” he said, gesturing toward the plants.
Nora shrugged, reaching out a hand to gently touch one of the largest one’s leaves. “She’s shy.”
“I’ll give you credit,” he said, bending down to pick up his still nearly-empty Toss box. “It was a good idea.”
“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean by that.”
He held up the box. “Would you like to see how far I’ve gotten with cleaning out the kitchen? Or if that doesn’t appeal, I could tell you about Benny’s starter wort, which slowed me down quite a bit. That’s wort with ano, if you weren’t aware.” He hadn’t been, and for a good ten minutes he’d thought Benny was asking him for his professional opinion. “It’s got to do with beer. I learned a lot today.”
Her face flushed. “It wasn’t really—” She cleared her throat. “We only thought it might be nice to welcome you to the building.”
There was absolutely nothing so interesting about that plant. She was avoiding his eyes.
“I’m not sure it worked as you intended,” he said, and her mouth pulled to the side.
“Jonah’s manners are a little rough, that’s all.”
“It wasn’t just Jonah. Marian thinks I use my medical license for bribery-related poisonings.”
She finally looked up at him, her mouth curving into a closemouthed smile that she was clearly trying to keep from spreading further. Watching her wrestle it under control—full, pink lips, a small dent in her left cheek—was not easy.
It was a goddamned impossible delight.
“Marian likes a conspiracy theory,” she finally said.
“I gathered. She thinks I did something illegal for the permit.”
The almost-smile dropped from her lips. “Did you?”
“No. I had some help. A friend of mine keeps a few properties like this.” He wasn’t exactly sure if it was fair to call Sally a friend, but last night when she’d texted to ask him whether he’d gotten started yet, she had included a selfie with the hotel’s buffet spread as a backdrop. That seemed friendly.
Nora rolled her eyes. “Of course. Is that your plan, to make a business out of this? Any other property-related inheritances you’re expecting?”
“No. I didn’t expect this one. I told you, I didn’t know him well. I’m as surprised as you all apparently are about it.”
She furrowed her brow, crossed her arms over her chest, looking around again. She’d talked a good game the other day, about Donny being a member of this family she kept talking about, but seeing her now, he had to wonder. Her eyes kept landing on things—that box on the recliner, the stack of newspapers beside it, the black-and-white photograph of Wrigley Field hung above the flat-screen television—like she was looking for answers.
“Aren’t you curious?” she asked, her eyes coming back to him. “I mean . . . if you didn’t know him. Aren’t you curious why he left it to you?”
He shoved a grubby set of dish towels into the Toss box, keeping his head down.Curiouswasn’t the right word. He was frustrated, full of resentment. Being curious about Donny felt like a concession, and he didn’t want to concede anything.
“Not really. And even if I were, he’s not here to answer my questions. Not much use dwelling on the past, I’ve always thought.”
She wrinkled her brow. “That’s going to be pretty impossible, for a while.”
“What’s that mean?”
She took a step forward, peered into the box Jonah had dropped off, then moved again, past the recliner and closer to where he stood, by the long kitchen counter that overlooked the living area. Her eyes ran over the space—the pots and pans he’d pulled from the cupboards below, the few stacks of dishes he’d managed to take down from the ones above.
“It means you’re surrounded by the past. His past, specifically.”
He swallowed, his neck heating. He thought of the haul-away companies, the cost of their most comprehensive packages. If he could’ve afforded it, he would have had them in here sorting through all this, leaving him well out of whatever was in Donny’s past. He didn’t want any part of it.
“I’ll move quickly,” he said gruffly, and then he looked up at her. “If you’ll let me.”
