* * *
My younger brother,Archer, was waiting in front of Hazel’s restaurant, the Grey Dove Bistro, when I pulled up.
“Damn, Hunter,” he said cheerfully as he helped me unload the car. “I can’t believe Meg agreed to move in with you. After all this time, you finally did it!”
“I amnotmoving in with him,” Meg yelled out of her car window as she parked haphazardly on the street.
“You’re going to get a ticket for illegal parking,” I told her mildly.
“You’re driving me crazy!” She slammed the car door.
“You’re moving in with Hunter?” Hazel, Meg’s sister, asked.
“Absolutely not. Now give me my box of baking supplies back,” she said, rummaging in my car.
“Meg, stop kidding yourself,” I told her, tugging the box back from her. “You have nowhere to stay.”
“I do,” she insisted. “I found a sublease. The current resident is out on business for a month, and I’m renting from her. It was just posted online.” She waved her phone at me.
“You can’t just live in some stranger’s house,” I said.
“It’s an apartment,” Meg said, grabbing the box back from me.
“It’s probably bug infested.”
“It’s a nice building. I’ve been there before. They have a pool. It’s off of Ninth Street.”
Hazel wrinkled her nose. “Isn’t that where that guy with all the dead cacti lived?”
“You dated someone who had a dead cacti collection?”
“He spray-painted them different colors and put little hats on them,” Hazel informed me.
“Why are you dredging the bottom of the lake when you could have me?” I asked Meg.
“Because you’re a liar and a cheat.” She walked back to her car.
I finished unloading the bags then jumped back in my car to follow her. I found her parked in front of a familiar apartment building, struggling to unload all her things. I grinned as I walked up to her.
“Leave me alone. Stop harassing me,” Meg said as she wrestled her stuff through the tall glass doors.
“Oh, I plan on being here quite a bit,” I replied.
“No, you’re not! I’ll report you to the police for trespassing,” Meg threatened.
My smile grew broader. “You can’t trespass on your own property.”
“What?” she sputtered and dropped the mixing bowl she was carrying. I picked it up then took the box from her.
“This building is one of Svensson Investments’ early property developments from before you moved back to Harrogate.”
Meg looked around wildly.
“It’s fate. We’re meant to be together,” I said, sweeping into the building. “But honestly, Meg, how much are you paying for this unit? Wait, let me try and remember the rental rates for this property. Somewhere around fifteen hundred a month?”
“Only a thousand,” she countered as we walked through the lobby.
“So you’d rather pay to live on my property rather than live on it for free.”
