"I was under the impression," he said, "that the house would be vacant."
"I'm sorry," I said in a distinctly unapologetic tone. "But why on Earth would you think that?"
"Because according to our agency, the lease ends tomorrow." He craned his neck as if trying to peer into the house.
Lease? So the Parkers didn't own the house? This had to be some kind of mistake. But all these so-called mistakes were adding up. And in spite of Mrs. Parker's assurances, I'd be incredibly naïve to believe this was all some weird coincidence.
Looking at the man, I had no idea what to say. So I said nothing.
"Did you decide to renew?" he asked.
Oh, screw it. "I wouldn't know," I said, "because I'm not Mrs. Parker."
"Oh." His brow wrinkled. "Is she home?"
"Not at the moment."
"How about Mr. Parker?"
"Nope."
He reached into the lapel of his coat and handed me a business card. I gave it a quick glance. It identified him as Chad Flemming of Executive Properties.
"Will you please have one of them call me the moment they return?" he said.
"Oh, it'll be before that," I assured him with a smile that felt stiff enough to crack my face.
When that shiny red sports car disappeared down the road a couple minutes later, I tried to call Mrs. Parker again. Somehow, I was incredibly unsurprised when it went straight to voicemail.
Chapter 46
Distraught by this latest weirdness, it was impossible to fall back asleep. So instead, I spent the next few hours alternating between anger and worry. Something very wrong was going on here, and I had no idea what to do about it.
The more I thought about it, the more I decided that Mrs. Parker's explanation was a steaming pile of crap. It was pretty obvious that no money was coming, at least not in the near future, and I couldn’t afford to support things on my own.
If this kept up, I'd be feeding Chucky out of my own money. Forget buying groceries for myself.
And Lawton was back in town. We were spending the day together. It was every girl's dream. My dream. But my house-sitting nightmare kept intruding.
A little before noon, I got dressed in casual clothes and grabbed Chucky's leash. With Chucky lunging ahead of me, I trudged to Lawton's house feeling so weighed down, I could hardly move.
If I were someone like Brittney, I'd probably just ask Lawton for some money and be done with it. To be all nicey-nice about it, we'd probably call it a loan. But we'd both knew the truth.
And then, what exactly would he be paying me for? Sex? Companionship? Obviously, he could get all of that for free. But I didn't want to be one ofthosegirls, a dependent, a hanger-on, a groupie. I wanted to be something different.
When I reached Lawton's front door, I rang the bell and waited. Chucky was already going berserk, straining at his leash and pawing at the door like he couldn't wait another minute to get inside. I knew the feeling.
Although I'd never want to burden Lawton with my troubles, the thought of feeling his strong arms around me was almost enough to keep me going.
But when a minute went by, and he still hadn't answered the door, I looked around, feeling awkward as hell. It was such a contrast from that one night, when he'd answered before I'd even touched the bell. Had the newness worn off? So soon?
I gave it another minute, and then reluctantly rang the bell again. A couple minutes later, Lawton finally answered. But instead of a face filled with anticipation, what I saw was so different and foreign, that I took a small step backward.
Oblivious to Lawton's demeanor, Chucky bounded forward. Whining and yipping for attention, he pawed at Lawton legs. With a half-smile, Lawton crouched down to ruffle Chucky's fur.
"Hey Buddy," he said. "I know whatyouwant." Standing, he reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a silvery bag. He shook it at Chucky, who went absolutely nuts. With a low chuckle, Lawton pulled out a handful of treats and let Chucky devour them down to his heart's content.
And then, as he crouched down with Chucky, he looked up. Our eyes met.
