Of course, he likes the ones with the most frosting too.Essie bit her tongue to keep from pointing out that her aunt was no longer alive.
“What do you want, Zander? Don’t you have work to do?” Essie asked. When he focused on the file folder sitting next to her, Essie moved it onto her lap.
“That’s not very hospitable coming from my new landlord.”
“Whatareyou talking about?” Essie demanded.
“Your aunt promised to sell Ferguson’s Folly to me. I’m assuming you’ve decided how you’re going to handle your aunt’s agreement with me?”
Sara cleared her throat meaningfully as she poured a cup of tea for Zander. Essie didn’t know who the housekeeper was warning about their manners, but Essie refrained from telling him off like she wanted to.
“Keep in mind, I’m not backing out, Zander. I didn’t agree to anything, so I’m not required to follow through on arrangements my aunt might have indicated she’d consider unless you’ve got a legal document that you can produce.”
He had the honesty to shake his head. “That I don’t have. I didn’t think paperwork was necessary.”
“Why do you want Ferguson’s Folly, anyway?” Essie asked, relieved he’d just confirmed what she’d hoped.
“I need extra land to expand my herds and fields to support them. Your aunt wasn’t using the back pastures and allowed me to graze my cattle there.”
“Did you pay rent?” Essie watched his face carefully, wanting him to say yes so she’d know he hadn’t taken advantage of her aunt. She surprised herself—she wanted him to be a good person.
“Yes, annually. I’ll continue that, of course. I planned to use the manor as well,” he said.
“Why?”
“Tomorrow, I’m homeless.”
Both Essie and Sara stared at him. “Homeless?” Sara repeated. “Did something happen to your home?”
“Bedbugs. Everyone has to get out for up to eight weeks while they seal the house and heat the entire frigging building to roast those creepy crawlers. Maybe longer if the weather doesn’t cooperate,” Zander said. “I’ve slept on a cot in the living room for three weeks. They kick me out tomorrow.”
“So go to a hotel. Don’t buy hundreds of acres and a mansion,” Essie said in disbelief.
“That’s how I ended up with this mess. Guests that came from a hotel with bedbugs in their suitcases. I may never travel again,” he said, shuddering. “And I’m already renting your land that borders mine. Why not own it?”
Essie wanted to laugh that big, strong Zander, who seemed totally undefeatable by any foe, was this weirded out by bedbugs. But, she also resisted the urge to scratch at the thought of teeny bugs in her bed. Essie stared at him, trying to keep her expression neutral. To her surprise, she sympathized with him.
“You can stay here if you want. We have lots of rooms,” Sara said.
“What?” popped out of her mouth as Essie whirled to stare in horror at the housekeeper. She tried to signal Sara to stop. Sara didn’t need to be this neighborly.
“Perfect. Thanks, Sara,” Zander said immediately.
“Wait. Zander, I’m sorry. Sara doesn’t know that I just scheduled a lot of maintenance for the manor. You definitely don’t want to sleep here. You’d have to endure noise and dust.”
“I can handle anything that doesn’t have multiple legs,” Zander said, brushing aside her excuses. He turned back to Sara. “I’ll go grab my things.”
“Wait!” Essie announced loudly. When Sara and Zander stared at her, she continued, “No guests until I’m ready.”
“Oh, Essie. You won’t need to disrupt your plans. I’ll get Zander set up in the green room,” Sara assured her, completely misinterpreting Essie’s words.
“The green room?” Her voice rose to a screech. That was the room right across from hers. She didn’t want him in her house, much less across the hall!
“Yes. That will be so convenient for me to pick up laundry and clean. A close stop to your room won’t add much wear and tear to these old bones at all,” Sara said, pressing a hand to her lower back as if it pained her.
What was she doing? Sara was in better shape than she was. Essie fumed.
“Oh, I can take care of my room,” Zander immediately offered. “I won’t be any trouble. Okay, with that settled, I’ll go arrange for a few things to be delivered this afternoon from the specialty cleaner who debugged clothing for me.”
