It wasn’t much by any stretch of the imagination, but he understood what Annalise felt. This was probably her first real home. The one place she called her own.
He left the apartment, heading downstairs to load up the case into the back of the truck. Vinny did the same. Gabe had to check on some fencing back at the ranch, which was why he couldn’t come. The landlord was on the doorstep, and Annalise placed the key into his palm and even offered him a smile.
Archie watched as the older man squeezed the key within his fist, looking downright fucking gutted.
He wanted to know what was going on there. A landlord shouldn’t look unhappy when they were given a damn key and the room was still in decent shape.
“You see that?” Archie asked, looking toward Vinny.
“See what?”
Annalise came toward them. Her sweet smile stole his heart.
“I’ll be right back,” Archie said. “I’ve just got to check on something.” He nodded at Annalise, then at Vinny, before heading toward the building. The door was still wedged open. The summer they were experiencing was a fucking killer. He was constantly sweating his balls off.
“Hey,” he said, following the landlord.
The man stopped and turned around. “Can I help you?”
“Yeah, I’ve got a question for you,” he said. “Why toss a good tenant?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He went to turn away from him, but Archie was already close and stopped him with a hand to his arm.
“Wait, you know what I’m talking about. Annalise was a good tenant. She’s been here forever. What’s the deal? Is this just about the bottom line? You sell to a builder or something?”
“Look, it’s none of my business. I don’t get involved in family disputes. This is all I have, and I take pride in offering decent places for people to live at affordable prices. I can’t afford all the red tape if the inspectors come down hard on me. I never wanted any of this. I’m sorry for Annalise. I truly am.”
The landlord pulled away, and Archie frowned.
“Who wanted you to kick her out?” Archie asked.
“Her stepfather.”
Archie nodded. “Is he someone we’ve got to be worried about?”
“I don’t know,” the landlord said. “All I know is that he threatened to have me shut down for rental violations, as well as citing the building. He carries a lot of weight, and I can barely put food on the table. At first I didn’t believe him, but then I got hit with a city council warning. Believe me, be careful.”
“Thanks.” Archie didn’t see a reason to prolong his meeting with the landlord. He had a hunch about the eviction, and he was right.
He was going to have to talk with Vinny and Gabe, but he wasn’t going to worry Annalise, certainly not yet.
“Is everything okay?” Annalise asked as they met back at the truck.
“Perfectly fine.” He looked at Vinny, who raised an eyebrow. He gave him the signal that he’d talk about it later.
It was way too hot, and they didn’t have A/C in the truck. It was time they headed back out toward the ranch. He turned on the radio and listened to some country tunes.
Annalise’s stepfather was making waves, but why? He didn’t get it. He knew they weren’t close to each other. Anyone could see that.
Why go after Annalise? As far as he knew, she’d been on her own and supporting herself for most of her life.
They arrived back at the ranch and started to unload her belongings.
“It can just go into storage,” Annalise said.
She had a couple of bedside tables, a couch, and then a couple of boxes of books, and meager belongings, which included her clothes. Not a lot of stuff.
“Don’t worry about it. We’ve got plenty of room,” Archie said.
Gabe headed toward the barn. “This everything?” he asked.
“Yep, everything.” Archie and Vinny carried the couch into the living room. They only had three chairs, and even though it didn’t exactly fit in with the rest of the furniture, they’d never been one to care about the aesthetic of a room.
Stuff was stuff. When you came from nothing, anything was a prize.
They carried the rest of her stuff up to her bedroom.
She’d only been with them a short time, and already the room smelled like her.
****
“This doesn’t have to mean anything,” Gabe said.
Annalise had already been settled in for the night, and there was no sign of her. He kind of missed that.
Archie though, seemed to be looking for trouble, which he didn’t like.
“Maybe it’s something we should take a look into,” Vinny said. “Without Annalise knowing, of course.”
“Does Annalise even know?” Gabe asked.
He watched Archie run his fingers through his hair with a shrug. “I don’t know what she knows. She looked sad about moving though. The old man seemed to like her.”
“She might have seen this coming. We don’t know her that well. For all we know, she could be a huge bitch.”
Archie snorted, as did Vinny. Gabe didn’t believe his words either. Annalise was no bitch. He was a good enough judge of character to know that. Whatever her stepfather had against her, it was his own deal.
He leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. “Look, there’s not a lot we can do right now about any of this. We’ll keep our ears open and our mouths shut. See what happens. For now, we’ve got a new housekeeper, so hopefully you assholes will stay off my case.” He got to his feet. “I’m tired and we’ve got a lot to do tomorrow. Stop worrying about shit that you don’t even know what is real or not and focus on what you truly know to be fact. We’ve got a ranch to run. Not to think about the what-ifs of life. Got it?”
Gabe waited until he got confirmation from his friends before he let them be. He headed upstairs, ignoring the very door their new housekeeper now slept behind.
Damn it.
She wasn’t supposed to matter. This was one of the many reasons why he didn’t care for a housekeeper. Women were trouble, that was his experience with them all at least.
Ignoring the door and the desire to knock on it, just so he could see her, he went straight to his bedroom. He’d already taken a long shower before Archie demanded his presence downstairs.
There was a book on his bedside table. He made a habit of going to the library once a month to get a title, and so far, he hadn’t been able to get into that one. It probably didn’t help that their housekeeper had also been with them for over a week. Running a hand down his face, he tried to focus on work.
The fences were an easy fix. Owning a ranch, he’d come to realize that fixing things was pretty much a full-time job. It was all he did, from the fences, to the barns, to the house. He was never too far from any tools, which he didn’t mind. He loved to build things. It was the one area of his life where he didn’t feel like a constant screwup.
He changed into a pair of shorts and kept his shirt off. The house was still too damn warm. He had the window open in the hope of getting a nice breeze. Nothing.
Lying down on his bed, he picked up the book and opened it up to the first page.
Gabe read the words, but none of them sank in. His thoughts returned to the woman a few feet away from him.