Archer clapped a hand on my shoulder. “If you won’t let me play on the roof, and I’m still waiting on the stone to come in...”
“What kind of trouble are you going to get me in?”
“We’re in the middle of nowhere. There isn’t any real trouble we can get in.”
“That doesn’t stop you.”
Archer grinned. “Let’s get cleaned up and we can go check out that bar on Main.”
“The Spinning Wheel? That’s not on Main.”
“No. The wine place. We can have a bro-date.”
I rolled my eyes.
“You gotta get out of this house, man. And so do I.”
“Fine.”
“I get the first shower!” Archer hightailed it up toward the Airstream. Unfortunately for me, the trailer had a pullout bed in the living quarters, and he’d been camping out with me.
And he was not a great roommate.
I jogged after him and scooted Gizmo back into the trailer. I’d taken to keeping him with me since the banging going on at the house didn’t agree with him. Not that I told Dahlia that. She was already upset about him being in my care.
“What’s up, Holy Terror?”
Gizmo blinked at me then climbed my leg as per usual. I didn’t even feel the pricks from his killer nails anymore. I scooped him close to my chest and his purr increased. “Let’s find you some food, hey?”
His tail twitched, then he curled it around my wrist as I took him into the kitchen. The top cupboard was now his with a stack of cans that I took from the mansion each time Dahlia refreshed the food. I‘d started buying some on my own and found he was a poultry fan. I dumped a can into his bowl and set him on the counter to dig in.
I checked emails on my phone while I waited for Archer to steal all my hot water.
My chest tightened when I saw Dahlia’s name on one informing me of the furniture order for the tower room and primary bedroom. I transferred her the funds she needed and tossed my phone on the shelf.
I was the one who’d pushed her away, but it pissed me off that she still listened.
Our few interactions had been nothing but professional. Just as it should be.
I raked my fingers through my sweaty hair. And yet I missed her, dammit. Missed her smell, that sarcastic wit, and most of all, her skin.
It was just biological. Had to be.
Archer shut off the water and came out a few minutes later in a towel. “Even left you a little hot water.”
“You’re all heart.”
“I am.” He grinned then took the handoff, as Gizmo found Archer to be his second favorite person. He tucked the cat onto his shoulder as we shuffled around each other.
I took a quick shower and got dressed.
When I came back out, I found Archer scrolling his phone with the cat looking over his shoulder. He’d swapped his usual scruffy shorts and T-shirt for a white button-down shirt and dark-washed jeans.
“Well, shit. Did you dress up to go out with me?”
Archer looked up from his phone. “You know I like to make you feel special, baby.”
I shook my head, but I ducked back into my bedroom to swap my T-shirt for a black button-down shirt. “Should I put on cologne too?”
Archer’s cackle made me smile for the first time all day. He really was a good friend. One of the few I hadn’t dusted over the years. I stopped at the sink and turned off the water—damn cat—and pulled one of the cat’s favorite catnip snakes out of the cabinet.
Gizmo immediately leaped off Archer when I waved it at him and tossed it on my bed. He trotted after it and settled on one of my pillows like the little prince he was.
We took Archer’s beater truck he’d bought in his second week in town. The stonework on my place was a long-term project, but there was a fair bit of downtime while waiting on renovations to move along. Archer was happy to do some of his own sculptures in between.
All in all, he was happy to be freeloading.
I didn’t mind it. He kept me from spiraling as I had been on the west coast.
Watching him work stirred something in me I’d thought was long dead. But before I could actually pick up my torch, the impulse had scattered like sand on the shoreline.
“So, you really think you’ll be good living in this little-ass town forever?”
“Sure, why not?”
Archer draped his arm on the top of the steering wheel. “I don’t know. We can drive through your town in like seven minutes. Quite a bit different from living in Los Angeles.”
“I like the quiet.”
