Paying the citations for the camping mishap had all but cleaned them out. Elliot was far from his original goal of buying Forest’s Bridge by the end of the season, but the prospect of another year in Timber Creek didn’t sound so bad to Lainey anymore. They’d stopped talking about how or when their arrangement would end, and consequently, she was starting to believe that it wouldn’t. She still craved a change deep in her bones, but something about her life these days was comfortable. Routine. She was happy. She was discovering that there was a distinct difference to being happy with her life and being happy in it. Nothingwas quite what she wanted, but she was sharing it withthe personshe wanted, and for now, that could be enough.
With Lainey’s car still out of commission, Elliot was figuring out how to make a little money driving for Uber while Lainey worked on circumventing the bureaucratic red tape that was keeping the county from reissuing their rental permit.
“Maybe it’s just the bangs I want.” Bree analyzed the same photo from the same celebrity magazine she’d plucked from the same mahogany table three months prior. You’d think for the rate he was charging per hour, Mark could spring for aPeoplesubscription. Though, she supposed, she’d never paid her bill. Maybe he had a whole stable of clients with similarly shaky financials.
“Trust me, you don’t want bangs. I regret mine all the time.”
Bree pursed her lips. “I need some sort of shake-up in my life.”
“You’re about to have a child. You don’t think that’s enough of a shake-up?”
Bree inhaled through her nose and returned to her magazine, giving Lainey the distinct impression she was missing some crucial bit of information that might make the notion of bangs more persuasive.
“You.”
Lainey looked up to find Mark guarding the waiting room exit like a hound presiding over the gates of hell.
“This will only take a second, Mark, I swear.”
“Haven’t you done enough?”
“You know, I’ve tried very hard to make everything up to you. I made you a birdhouse, which you still haven’t thanked me for, by the way.”
He raised his cast with great import.
“Okay, how could I have possibly had anything to do with that?”
“Where do you think the splinter came from?” he gritted out.
“Oof, that’s bad luck.” Bree sucked in through her teeth. “Well, I’m certainly going to be paying you enough soon to earn a little goodwill, and my friend needs fifteen minutes of your time.”
Lainey looked at Bree curiously. Mark glared at Lainey, motionless.
“Ten minutes,” Lainey countered to no one. “And then you’ll never see me again. Ever.”
“Can I have that in writing?” he asked, then gestured for them to follow him to his office. They found their seats among the familiar piles. Mark opened a drawer and pulled out a pill organizer. He popped open the yellow lid of Tuesday p.m., unhinged his jaw like a snake, and poured the horse pills into his mouth. “Because of the splinter from your ‘birdhouse’ ”—he saidbirdhouselike someone else might saymeth laborcobra pit—“I’m on an aggressive antibiotic to fight off an infection that’s spread to the bone.”
Never before had a sliver taken such a dramatic turn.
“We don’t want to take up too much of your time, Mark.” Bree signaled with her eyes for Lainey to hand over the envelope of documents.
“We’ve run into a permitting issue with the rental property.” She placed the manila envelope in front of Mark, giving him a wide berth.
“Her business partner shops at EZ Gas,” Bree explained.
“Is he a tourist or a degenerate?” Mark asked genuinely, his eyes scanning the documents.
“Uh, neither. Is there some way we can move this along?They’re trying to claim that there’s an issue with the deed, but you already helped me sort that out. The house belongs to me, free and clear.”
“Yes, but it looks like you signed this document that gives Mr. Hodges the right to restore the original plat of all real property brought into the marriage, in the event of a divorce.”
Bree stiffened beside her as something that felt suspiciously like dread coiled around Lainey’s throat.
“Restoring what? What’s the ‘original plat’?” Bree asked.
“It’s the first recorded version of the division of land.”
Lainey’s throat turned to sand. “But we already knew he owned the land. So what difference would that make?”
