SUTTON
If I thoughtI was exhausted before, it had nothing on today. Every part of me felt as if it had taken a beating. And maybe it had.
I’d gotten up at three this morning to make sure I got all the baking in before I had to leave to look at apartments for Luca and me. Thank God I had Walter and Thea to fill in and get Luca to hockey practice. Having to ask Evelyn for one more favor likely would’ve crushed me.
Rolling my shoulders back, I tried to alleviate some of the tension there. No dice. Whether it was from all the baking or stress because I was about to uproot Luca’s life again, I wasn’t sure. But it certainly hadn’t helped that every apartment I’d seen so far was an absolute dump. Nothing I would feel comfortable moving Luca into.
I stared up at the small apartment building in an area of town I wasn’t all that familiar with. Frowning, I took in the chipped paint on the siding, the grass growing through cracks in the pavement, and the door propped open in a way that meant anyone could get in. My stomach hollowed out. I didn’t have a great feeling about this oneeither, but it was my last stop before heading to pick up Luca from camp. Maybe it was better on the inside.
Turning off my engine, I climbed out of my small SUV. I shut the door and beeped the locks before glancing down at my phone. The building manager had texted, telling me to meet him in 4F, saying he’d be showing the unit all day.
Taking a deep, steadying breath, I started for the building. With the door propped open the way it was, I didn’t have to buzz to be let up. Maybe that was because the apartment was being shown. I hoped so.
There was no elevator, even though the building was four floors. And, of course, this apartment was on the top. At least that meant no overhead noise.
As if the Universe had sensed that thought, shouts sounded from down the second-floor hallway, and they didn’t sound all that friendly. My chest tightened as I forced myself to keep climbing. I paused when I reached the fourth floor, listening for more noise. I heard music and the sounds of TV shows, but nothing overtly loud.
Good.That was good. I said it over and over as I walked down the hallway to a door propped open with a crumbling cement block.
“Hello?” I called, peeking my head inside.
A guy in his mid-forties pushed up from a lawn chair, stubbing out a cigarette in an ashtray. The scent of cigarette smoke clogged the air, and I couldn’t help wrinkling my nose.
“Sutton Holland?” he asked, his gaze roaming over me in a way that made my skin crawl.
I nodded, the motion jerky. “Ben?”
He grinned. “That’s me. Manager extraordinaire.” His gaze dipped to my cleavage and stayed there. “Ready for the tour?”
I cleared my throat, and Ben’s gaze moved to my face, but he showed no shame in being caught ogling me.Great.
Squaring my shoulders, I stepped inside. “I think I’ll just show myself around.” It wasn’t as if the space was large.
Ben stared at me for a moment longer. “Gotta do my job. Plus, I’m a gentleman.”
I fought the urge to snort. I’d just bet he was.
Ben began talking about rent prices and utilities, but I already had that information from the management company. So, I moved around the space, trying to survey as much as possible. It did have decent light, but that only exposed everything wrong with it.
The linoleum flooring everywhere was peeling and torn in places, and the floorboards beneath didn’t look in good shape. A small peek at the carpet in the smaller bedroom, which was closer to closet-sized, was stained with…I didn’t know what. The bathtub had a brown stain around the drain rim that had me fighting not to heave. And when I stepped into the primary bedroom, the stench of smoke, sweat, and something I couldn’t identify was almost too much for me to take.
“It’s a steal,” Ben said, stepping into the bedroom behind me. “Won’t find another two-bedroom apartment in Sparrow Falls this cheap.” His gaze roamed over me again. “But we might be able to work out an arrangement that gets it even cheaper.”
My jaw went slack. Was he suggesting what I thought he was?
He crossed the space as I moved backward, and my heart hammered against my ribs.Shit, shit, shit.I fumbled for my purse. I had the mini pepper spray Thea had gotten me in there. If I could just?—
“Ben.” The single word cracked like a whip, and I nearly wept with relief at the familiar face in the doorway.
The manager whirled, redness creeping up his neck at the sight of Trace in his sheriff’s uniform. “What d’you want?” Ben griped.
“First, I want to know why you were backing a woman into a corner,” Trace growled, fury streaking across his expression.
An indignant look took root on Ben’s face. “I was doing my job. Giving a tour. You gonna try to arrest me for that now, too?”
Trace’s eyes narrowed on the manager. “You missed your meeting with your parole officer.”
Ben’s eyes shifted to the side. “I had to work. Can’t lose my job, or I lose my parole.”
