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"He sent a proxy," Noah explained. "A fancy lawyer guy who made all kinds of stipulations but promised he would never be a problem in any way."
"Uh, that rent thing seems like an issue," I pointed out.
"Mom, do you still have the lawyer's info?"
"I do," she said, rising and looking dramatically around the ruined kitchen as if it might be poking from between two destroyed tiles. "Somewhere."
"In the meantime," I said. "I need my place. I have a big pickleball tournament this week."
Drea actually snickered.
"I'm sorry," I said, turning to her. "Do you find my job amusing?"
"Wait," she said, stifling another chuckle. "I thought you played hockey?"
"I do. It's an all-star game. They're paying me to play."
"That's cool, man," Noah said. "I think Mrs. Tanner is playing in that tournament too."
"My boss? Lottie?" Drea asked.
Aunt Nattie nodded. "Lots of locals are playing. They paid some sports guys to come take on the local team. The Singletree Soup Slingers are pretty tough."
"The Sing..." I couldn't even repeat what she'd just said. I dropped my head into my hand. I wasn't even playing proper athletes? Lottie Tanner was nice, but she was pushing seventy and spent her days finding creative ways to add alcohol to baked goods. This was ridiculous.
"Sounds like you're not playing a lot of 'all stars,' so you'll be good without your usual beauty rest, champ," Drea said, and I had the urge to tackle her and tickle her until she gave in to my extreme charm. And also stopped making fun of my pickleball problem. But this was an issue. I needed her out of my house.
"You're family," Drea pointed out. "Can't Rock stay here for a week?"
"If we had a spare room, definitely," Aunt Nattie said. "But we might have gone a bit overboard with the demolition."
"I have a tent," Noah said, looking at me.
"No way in hell," I told him. The mosquitos in Maryland were bigger than my head.
"Can't you guys just share for a few days until I get Mr. Mulligan's lawyer on the phone?"
"Or you could offer to put Drea up in a hotel until then," I suggested.
"All my stuff is at your house!" she protested.
"At least you admit it's my house."
"Oh my god, you're a child. And you're the superstar pickleball player, why don't you get a hotel? I work at a bakery. I can barely afford rent as it is!"
"Oh honey, you should have told me," Aunt Nattie said, looking worried.
Noah stood. "I'll make sure Mom gets in touch with the vampire next door, okay? In the meantime, can you guys share without anyone getting maimed?"
Drea stood too. "Can't promise anything." She'd stopped arguing, I noticed. Maybe my charm was beginning to have an effect on her.
"I can if she can," I said magnanimously. "Temporarily."
"Good!" Aunt Nattie clapped her hands together and stood too, and something about the way she was looking at me made me think she'd picked up on my attraction to my new roommate. "Maybe it'll be better than you think." She had the audacity to wink.
"It won't," Drea said drily.
"Thanks for the muffins, darlings!" Aunt Nattie said, walking us back to the front door.
