"Okay," he said, nodding. "Okay, well, why didn't you tell me about your building?"
"What?"
"You sold your building," he pressed. This was not the easygoing and friendly Archer. He was abrupt and mean.
I was flustered and on edge. "Again,none of your business."
"Oh, except it is my business because you tricked me into buying your building."
Right, what Terrence had said—he was selling my former building to the Svenssons.
"It wasn't a trick," I stammered. "I just—there was this thing at the bank."
Archer was staring at me, his gray eyes flat.
I was getting tongue-tied. "I just, you know." I waved my hands, flailing. "I'm not sure how it works. There was a law passed, and I wanted the building to go to a good home. It seemed like it might be for the best. Maybe I could come by if you put a hotel in it. You know, for old times' sake. I could run a restaurant or something or, I don't know, do the room service thing. Sorry, I'm not making any sense. Do you want some pasta?" I offered hopefully. I needed to start over. I sounded like a lunatic.
"No, thank you. I understand perfectly well," Archer said, his voice a low snarl. "McKenna was right. Apparently, you just wanted me to buy your building and let you play entrepreneur."
"I wasn't playing restaurant!" I snapped at him. "How dare you? You saw how hard I worked!"
"I saw what you wanted me to see."
"Get off my property!" I screeched at him and ran inside. I watched through the window as he walked angrily to his car, slamming the door after he sat inside. I watched in horror and confusion as he drove off. What had happened? I spent the next half hour staring at a wall until the smoke alarm went off.
Meg came home as I was pulling the pasta out of the oven. It was a little burnt. I set it on the counter and stared at it. Then I remembered what McKenna had said—that Archer had been using me and would find some dumb excuse to dump me and make it all my fault. I wiped tears away angrily with the oven mitt.Screw him.
"Hazel, what happened?" Meg cried, dropping her purse and running to me.
"That stupid Svensson," I choked out, pushing her away and running upstairs. "Dinner is on the table. I'm not hungry."
I was looking at flight tickets to Seattle when Meg came upstairs, followed by Minnie and Rose.
"I had Minnie buy you some donuts to cheer you up," Meghan said, opening up the box to show me.
"I love donuts," I said and started sobbing. "I'm moving to Seattle. I'm going to live with Melvin."
"I can't believe you're leaving!" Minnie yelled. "How can you do this to us?"
"It's just for a little bit. You can come visit me," I said, feeling guilty.
"I'm never coming to visit you!" Minnie declared, crossing her arms and not looking at me.
"This is why I told you two to stay away from the Svenssons," Meg said to Minnie and Rose.
"Yeah, I see that now," Rose said. "Screw Archer. Screw Hunter. Screw all of them."
"I told you, you can't trust the Svenssons. They only care about themselves," Meg said.
"I guess I should have listened to you," I said, my voice rough with tears. "I just thought…"
"You thought he would be the answer to all your problems and that he would be there for you? Yeah. I know that feeling," Meg said, rubbing my back.
"But I didn't want a handout," I told her. "But the whole time he was treating me like a child, like someone he could buy off when I became inconvenient."
"He used you and tossed you away. Sounds really familiar," my sister said angrily. "So you're just going to turn tail and run?"
"I guess I am."
