It wasn't any deep, lingering loyalty to Midge. She was a nice neighbor, always up in my business, but I didn't owe it to her to look after the niece she'd never once mentioned.
I didn't have to care. I didn't know why I did.
It annoyed the hell out of me.
"All things equal, I'd rather not have your bats looking for a new home next door," I replied. It was a weak response seeing as bats did not behave that way and nocturnal pollinators were pretty much essential for the ecosystem but it was better than grabbing this woman and shaking some sense into her the way I wanted to.
"Are you going to reach up and pluck them from the sky? Maybe you'll just shout at them until they decide it's not worth the trouble. Is that how it's going to be? Unless that's your plan, I can't see why you need to park yourself in my presence."
"Lin, maybe we should—"
I held up a hand to silence my brother. "The water heater kicked the bucket at some point and flooded the basement. Everything down there is trashed and you don't have hot water. There's a small but steady roof leak in the main bedroom." I folded my arms over my chest. "Maybe if you hadn't waited two years, the place wouldn't be in shambles."
Jasper looked me up and down, her gaze severe and her lips pressed tight into a smile that offered no warmth. Any minute now, she'd open up the ground and get rid of me for good. Part of me couldn't wait to see it happen. "Where I have or have not been over the past two years is not subject to your concern."
"What my brother is trying to say"—Ash gripped my shoulder and forced me back a step—"is this house doesn't seem safe or comfortable for you."
"That's not for him to determine."
Ash tightened his grip on my shoulder, saying, "I would suggest it wasn't as much his decision as the collective decree of the water heater, the bats, and the roof."
Jasper shifted to face the house, her hands propped on her waist. She stared for a long moment before a sigh rippled through her body, rustling her wavy, whiskey-hued hair. Turning, she said, "I've worked with worse. Thank y'all for your consideration, though I'll manage just fine."
"What?" Ash shook his head. "No. That's not—"
"Please don't give it a second thought," she interrupted.
Funny thing, she said all these nice words and she made them sound sweet as hell but she was actually slapping you back into your place. If I wasn't totally fucking annoyed about everything right now, I'd admire it.
"It's a little more rustic than it used to be but it's nothing I can't handle," she continued, giving the house another glance. "After the drive I had, the last thing I want to do is hop in the car and start another journey."
"You can stay with Linden."
I pivoted to face my brother. "She can fucking what?"
"Oh, come on," he replied. "You have the space."
"Care to tell me where?"
"You have a foldout sofa in your den," he said, scowling at me like I was the troublemaker here. "It would be fine until Jasper can get a plumber in and any other stray animals out."
I stared at him, my mouth open but words failing me. Of all people, Ash knew how closely I guarded the peace and quiet that came from living in a one-bedroom cottage on the edge of a forest.
"While that offer is extremely kind," Jasper started, "I really will be fine on my own. I might not look like someone who makes a practice of roughing it"—she gave a self-deprecating laugh—"but I'm well acquainted with such things. This isn't nearly as bad as you might think it is."
She couldn't stay at Midge's house. Even if she was capable of crushing bones and opening chasms, she couldn't stay there. And this had nothing to do with any degree of chivalry, seeing as I possessed none of that. I wouldn't stay in there and I'd stayed in many questionable locations over the years.
"I can't imagine you boys have all day to see to my troubles," Jasper said. "I feel terrible for keeping you."
"Great," I said, taking a giant step backward. "I have appointments this afternoon. My schedule is jammed. Completely jammed. I don't have a single free minute the rest of the day. But the bat guy will be here soon. He'll be able to give you a referral for a plumber. Probably a roofer too. And that should take care of everything."
She couldn't stay there. She couldn't. That was all there was to say about the situation.
"I'll just let y'all let me go," she said, that warmth flooding her words again.
"Yeah, and I have to get back to the city," Ash said. "Please consider the offer to stay next door, Jasper. He's all bark and no bite. You're welcome to the den if you want it. He keeps the back door open if you change your mind."
She couldn't do that either. Not an option. To start with, I didn't have the space. My den was a glorified pantry. This woman and all of her…well, whatever she had with her wasn't going to fit in there. But more importantly, I didn't want anyone in my space. It was my space, for me, and I loathed the idea of strangers hanging out in my home. I could put up with Ash—in small doses—and my mother came and went like this was an extension of my childhood house, and all of that was tolerable. I could tolerate it.
Inviting this maybe-burglar, probable-problem into my space was not tolerable.
"Your offer is very gracious," she said, her gaze fixed on Ash like she was making a point. "Though I swear I am quite content with Midge's version of shabby chic over here. Heavy pour on the shabby, garnish with the chic."
Because I just couldn't help myself, I asked, "Where do the bats figure into that?"
"Chic for sure," she replied easily, like she'd anticipated that question from the start. "Spooky is always chic. It's why we love vampires."
Ash saved me from digging into that comment when he said, "Okay, I'm actually late now and—"
"—and that makes you itchy," I said.
He rolled his eyes. "Don't you have appointments? Isn't your totally jammed day the reason we had to meet before noon? Where are you even going today?"
"It is very jammed," I said. "I'm supposed to be down in Hyannis for a consultation, then Milton for a tree warden visit, and then a swing through Plymouth to check on two golf courses."
"By all means," Ash said, gesturing toward the street. "On your way. No one is stopping you."
"I will just as soon as"—I glanced over to resolve this issue of inviting Jasper to wander through my back door whenever she pleased—"where'd she go?"
"Inside, probably. Come on, I need to grab my bag from your kitchen."
I stared at Midge's house for a long moment while Ash crossed the yard and went in through my front door. I wasn't sure what I expected to see here or why everything that'd occurred left me feeling terminally unsettled, but it required Ash beckoning me toward his car to finally get my feet moving off Jasper's driveway.
"Hey," he called over the roof of his vintage Porsche. "I'll call you later to discuss the partnership proposal Magnolia has developed. Before you go off about your compulsive need for independence, I'll remind you the primary changes you'll see from this merger are efficiencies in operating costs and the benefit of support staff for scheduling and billing and the like."