"In your day, Ida, the majority of these properties were vacant, and unemployment levels were some of the highest in the nation. We're trying to do better in Harrogate. We can't have RVs and campers just parked everywhere."
"This place has become so bougie," Ida complained. "It's those Svenssons. Though they are good-looking." The old woman looked thoughtful.
I slumped down on the steps of the tiny house, fighting back tears. "What am I going to do?" I groaned.
A sleek black car pulled into the parking lot and slowly crept toward us. We all peered at it. A window rolled down.
"Josie!" Henry called, waving at me.
The driver's door opened, and Mace stepped out. He was so tall he just unfolded from the car. He buttoned his suit jacket as he walked toward us.
"Is everything all right, Officer?"
"She cannot park the house here," Susie explained.
"I say she can! It's my property," Ida exclaimed.
"You and Meg just have it out for my family, don't you?" Mace asked, his face dark.
Susie didn't seem perturbed at all by his threatening expression as she looked between Mace and me. "Is she a Svensson sister? A Svensson cousin?"
"She's the future Mrs. Svensson," Ida said.
"Ida—"
Mace didn't look as upset at the idea as I thought he would. His face remained neutral. "She's my employee," he said finally.
Susie looked down her nose at Mace as much as she could since he was so much taller.
"She cannot park here. She needs to move in the next five minutes, or I'm having this tiny house impounded."
I started crying. I was not a cute crier; I was an ugly crier, and I preferred to do it in private, not in front of my attractive boss. "I don't have anywhere to go," I said, gasping through my sobs. "I'm going to be homeless and then kidnapped and eaten."
Mace sighed the sigh of a long-suffering man. He stared up at the sky, a pained look on his face. "I guess." He looked down at me. "I guess you can come stay at my place."
22
Mace
"Ican't believe I'm doing this," I muttered. Taking Josie to lunch was one thing. Having her live at my house. Well.
"We're having a sleepover!" Henry sang.
"She's not sleeping in the house," I warned Henry. "She can park her tiny house monstrosity on the property.Temporarily."
I wondered what Hunter was going to say.
We made a strange caravan, Josie following me in her clanking historic truck towing the wobbly tiny house. Henry squirmed in his seat, trying to see out the back window. Using a remote, I opened the gate to the property, and Josie chugged in behind me. We parked in the roundabout.
"This is amazing," Josie said, standing in front of the large manor house.
"It was originally the Harrogates’ estate. They made millions in steel and manufacturing in this town and had this huge estate built."
"How did you buy it? Are you related to them?" she asked.
"No," I replied as I unbuckled Henry. "The Harrogates lost their fortune, and the property was in disrepair when Hunter bought it. He landed a good deal on it. There're hundreds of acres out back. We can put your house there for the time being."
She looked down at her feet then up at me. "Why are you helping me?"
