California Girls

Right on time, he knocked on her front door. She let him in. He smiled at her as he handed her the ever-present folder.

“Done and done,” he told her. “You are released from all your contracts. Glen will live the rest of his life as a moron and years from now, you’ll look back on this and be grateful.”

Just seeing him made her feel better about everything. “You are so right,” she said. “I’m done, too. The gifts are all sent back and my to-do list is reduced to nothing.”

They walked into her small living room. Daniel sat on the sofa while she took the chair.

“You doing okay?” he asked, studying her.

“I’m fine. I’m sleeping more, drinking less.” She was still eating for twenty, but figured she could give herself another week of indulgence before she had to rein that in. “I’ve come through the worst of it. Thank you for all your help.”

He looked good, she thought absently, with the three-day beard, jeans, a long-sleeved shirt and motorcycle boots. Under other circumstances, she would be pretty excited to have such a dangerously handsome man in her living room, but these weren’t other circumstances. Daniel had been sweet to her and they were friends. She wasn’t going to be stupid—something she wouldn’t have even had to think if not for Finola. Sisters!

“What are you thinking?” he asked.

She flushed. There was no way to tell him, so she mentally scrambled for a lie. “That, ah, I admire your negotiating skills. Mine totally suck. I do okay at work, but I really wish I’d stayed in college and at least gotten my associate degree. Plus I don’t really believe in myself and after this whole thing with Glen, I feel even more unworthy.” She shrugged. “Like the clock.”

“What clock?”

“My mom has this grandfather clock. I know it’s old-fashioned and big, but I love it. She’s getting rid of stuff because she’s moving to a small bungalow, so she wants us to take things. I asked for the clock and she told me no. No one else wants it, so she’ll get rid of it one way or the other. I mean seriously? She’d rather give it away than let me have it?”

“Did you take her on?”

She rolled her eyes. “I think we both know the answer to that.”

“Does that attitude also explain why the kitchen table and chairs are gone?”

“No!” She stood up and glared at him. “That is so desperately unfair. You’re sitting with your back to the kitchen. I did that on purpose. How did you know?”

“I saw they were gone when I walked in.”

“And you didn’t say anything? You just waited to pounce.”

“I’m not pouncing.”

“It feels pouncy.” She dropped back into her chair. “Fine, yes, they’re gone. I couldn’t get in touch with the lady who bought them and when she called me, she was so excited. She and her kids have been homeless and now they have a place and she talked about how they would do their homework on that table. I couldn’t say no.”

She felt both defiant and stupid. Daniel stood.

“Get your purse and your keys. You’re coming with me.”

“Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise.”

She wasn’t worried he would take her anywhere bad and it was only five in the afternoon, so it wasn’t even late. Maybe dinner, she thought, thinking wherever Daniel picked out would be better than the takeout she had planned. One of these days she was going to have to start cooking again. Once she got her act together, she would go back to the whole cooking on Sunday afternoon so she had healthy food for the week thing she used to do. Okay, not do, exactly. But think about doing. Sometimes.

They got in his truck and they headed east. When they reached the outskirts of Burbank, she glanced at him.

“Please tell me we’re not visiting my mother. Not that I don’t love her and all, but I’ll be seeing her this weekend when we have to spend more time going through the house.”

He smiled. “We’re not going to visit your mother. We’re going to my place.”

“Oh.”

That was unexpected. His place. She’d never been there. She tried to remember what Glen had told her. She knew Daniel’s business was a success, plus he’d done well racing. She thought maybe he had a house up in the hills.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, they’d passed through the flatlands and were heading up into the foothills. Condos gave way to small houses. Small houses gave way to bigger ones. The road narrowed and turned and twisted until they were in a very exclusive part of town.

“Well, this is fancy,” she murmured as he pulled into the driveway of a large two-story house with a four-car garage. He hit a clicker and one of the garage doors opened.

The first thing she noticed was the motorcycles. There were four parked in two of the spaces.

“You take this motocross thing very seriously,” she said as she got out of the truck.

Daniel shook his head. “They’re street bikes.”

“I knew that.”

He looked at her.

She grinned. “I did not know that, but I do now.”

He motioned to the empty fourth bay. “This is big enough for all your stuff. Boxes, furniture, assuming you don’t give it all away.”

She saw what he meant and realized why he’d brought her here. Good thing she hadn’t said anything about them maybe having dinner or something.

“You’re assuming I’m going to move in with someone, which makes sense,” she said. “This is so nice. You’re saving me storage fees. Thank you. That’s very kind.”

“Ali, I’m not just offering you a place to keep your things. I’m offering you a place to live.”

“What?”

“Follow me.”

Live? As in...live? With him? In his house? With him?

“I don’t understand.”

He kept moving, forcing her to trail after him. They entered the house through a mudroom. To the left was a large laundry room and in front of them a gorgeous kitchen.

There were huge windows and dark cabinets and an island the size of her former bed and gleaming appliances, some of which she didn’t even recognize.