“We can set up a crib in your room if we move out some of your equipment.”
“Sure.”
“Unless…” He looks across the room to his fiancée. “Unless you’d like to stay with me and Honey. We have that spare room.”
I shake my head. They’re having their own baby soon. They need that space. “I’m good here.” I look to Rhett. “If you’re okay hosting one more. She probably doesn’t eat that much.”
My oldest brother smiles at my pathetic joke. “The more the merrier.”
He’s a good liar. We’re filling up fast here in the main house. I’ll need to save up some money so I can find my own place.
Behind me, Paige whispers to the kids in the kitchen, who are the quietest I’ve ever heard them. I carry Layla over to them. “Y’all have a new cousin. This is Layla.”
Standing her on the table, I hang on to her as she bounces on her toes.
“She’s pretty,” Gabe says.
“How did this happen?” Austin asks. “Did you inseminate someone? Dad says the bulls inseminate the cows and that’s how we get calves.”
Jesus, the shit kids say. I chuckle and avoid the question. “I am as big as a bull.” I make a muscle, and the kids laugh.
I’m gonna need that laughter in my life.
Especially when I tell my bandmates I can’t do the tour.
6
RORY
I keep checking my phone,but the mayor’s office hasn’t returned my calls. I had to close the library, obviously, but I can’t order repairs without permission and a budget from the city council, and they don’t meet for a week. Am I supposed to hang out and wait?
How long does it take to return a phone call? It’s been nine days. If we don’t get started on the cleanup, we’re going to have a massive mold problem. I hauled out most of the rubble and mopped up what I could, and I also bought a fan from the tractor supply store, but that’s a drop in the bucket.
Half the town must have heard what happened by now, so I don’t understand the radio silence from city hall.
With a heavy sigh, I stare at the giant hole in the ceiling.
At least the upstairs is drying out now, but what am I supposed to do if it rains again? This is a hundred-year-old building, and I have no idea the last time it got a new roof. My stomach cramps when I think about my upcoming six-month review. Will this affect my job?
I start mopping again so I don’t freak out. Around lunch time, the front bell rings. Dang it, I forgot to lock the door. “Sorry, we’re closed.”
“It’s us. We’ve come to take you to lunch.”
When I see Baylee and Paige, my shoulders slump. “I don’t think I can go. I have too much work to do.”
Baylee takes the mop out of my hands. “We’ll help you if you come with us.”
“I don’t have a budget to pay you.”
“We’re your friends. You don’t have to pay us, but we do have a proposition for you.” She gives Paige a funny look.
“A proposition, huh?” I wipe my sweaty forehead with the back of my arm and push up my glasses. “Should I be scared?”
Paige hooks her arm through mine. “Nope. It’s just something to help you out with your living situation.”
“You found an apartment for me?” Thank God. I was starting to get desperate.
She winces. “Not exactly, but it would solve your housing crisis.”