"I'm a mess," I said.
"Yeah, but it's adorable," he said with a smile.
"No," I shook my head. "I'm really a mess." I took a deep breath. Time to come clean. "Anke cost me all of my life savings. She convinced me to pay for all our expensive stuff like hotels and her clothes and fancy restaurants. I went along with it because I wanted to finally, for once, live a glamourous life. At the end of it all, I had maxed out all of my credit cards, and I had alotof credit cards. I had to start paying off the debt, and I used up my life savings just to keep the credit card companies from taking me to court. I'm still up to my tits in debt."
"I could have helped you," Mace said, stroking my arm. "That's what family does—we help each other."
"I'm not after you for your money," I snapped. "I really like you. In fact I think I love you. That's why you really should find someone better than me. I love you, but I don't deserve you. You are a good man. I'm a mess."
"But was it real?" Mace insisted.
"What?" I was confused.
"I don't know, all of it—being with my brothers, with me, going out, joking. Was it real?"
"Of course it was real!" I said, insulted he would think I would fake that.
"Then it will be okay," Mace insisted. "Henry's fine. Adrian will hopefully be fine if I can keep Garrett from throwing him down a trash chute or something. I told you I didn't want to lose my family." I nodded, and he stroked my cheek. "You're part of my family. I don't want to lose you."
"I'm going to screw up," I said. "I always screw up everything. I don't want to mess you up."
"Josie," Mace said. He sounded a bit exasperated. "Have you met my family? I think I'm already messed up. But you make me less messed up. Just come home. I miss you. Also my brothers miss you, and I think there will be aLord of the Fliesstyle revolt if I show up without you. So either we're both going to wherever you were going to take that horrible little tiny house, or you have to come back with me."
The look on his face was so open. I couldn't help but smile, and Mace leaned in to kiss me. He pushed me back into the seat. "I love you, Josie," he murmured as he broke the kiss.
"I love you, Mace," I whispered.
Motion caught my attention, and I looked past his shoulder. The door to the tiny house shook, then the lock popped, and the door opened.
"What the—" Mace turned around, and we gaped as Anke shut the door, saw us in the car watching, then sprinted to the pickup truck cab.
"My purse is in there!" I shrieked.
"And apparently your keys are too," Mace remarked as the truck roared to life, and the tiny house groaned as Anke took off down the road.
"She's stealing my house! Where's your phone? I'm calling the police!" I hollered.
"There's no need," Mace said.
"She'll get away," I insisted as Mace drove after Anke.
"No, she won't," he said. "Look." He pointed up ahead. I could see flashing lights in the distance. "The FBI set up roadblocks on the main roads leading into and out of Harrogate to try and catch Anke and Payslee."
Anke saw the roadblock, but I knew from experience that there was no way she was going to turn the tiny house around on the highway. Instead she gunned the engine.
"She's going to ram them," I gasped.
"She can try," Mace said grimly.
There was a pop and a screech. "They shredded her tires," Mace said. Sparks flew as the axles on the truck and the tiny house trailer scraped against the asphalt.
"You mean they shredded my tires," I groaned.
64
Mace
"Ican't believe they confiscated my house!" Josie complained when we returned home from giving our statements at the police station. "All my worldly possessions were in there."
