Page 5 of A Roommate for Ronny

“I deleted it and the number. Just tonight.”

“Oh dear. Do you have any way to reach them? A name?”

“Not really. I—” My phone chimed with a notification.

“You’d better check that.” Karma picked up a water bottle and took a sip. “I’ll wait.”

Narrowing my gaze at her in suspicion, I slid my phone out of my pocket and swiped the screen. This late at night, any messages were likely to be some kind of scam but with Karma looking so interested, I wondered…

“What does it say?”

“They want to know if I am interested in taking the role or if I am passing.” A nobody like me never got a second ask. Even I knew that.

“And?”

I typed into the screen. “I’m accepting.”

“Good choice.” She stood up. “Warren is going to come look for me if I don’t get going. Let me know when you’re leaving, and please keep us up to date on your adventures. It can get dull around here.”

Dull at Animals where shifting indoors was allowed and all were welcome, even humans? Never. But she knew that too.

“I don’t know how you managed it, but thank you.”

She waved me off. “It’s just a pet sitter.”

It was so much more than that.

“Karma?” Her mate, the other owner of Animals, stood in the doorway. “Can I walk you home?”

“See?” She winked at me and strolled across the office and into the big bear shifter’s arms. “I told you he’d be looking for me. Yes, dear, you may walk me home.”

I watched them leave, as always touched by their devotion to one another. Karma was human, or something close to it, but she was a shifter’s mate through and through. He was one lucky bear to have someone who loved him so much.

Was there a mate out there for me? For now, I’d be grateful for the opportunity to practice my craft. Fate had different plans for us all.

Chapter Four

Brach

Jones was the best. He insisted I stay at his place until I found one of my own. In exchange, I’d been doing handyman jobs around his house, things that had been neglected over the years. I’d have loved to do more, but until I found a job, it was the best I could manage.

My first order of business was finding a job and then an apartment whose management didn’t care that I had an eviction on my record. Both were proving to be a tall order.

All my work experience had been in hospitality, and not at the management level. I was good at what I did, but so were thousands of other people. I’d applied for every job I came close to being qualified for and so far heard nothing but crickets. I didn’t blame them. Who wanted to hire someone with no permanent address and no current job.

I was feeling good about all I’d been accomplishing for Jones. So far, I’d repaired his garage roof, caulked his tub, and painted his bathroom. It didn’t feel like enough for all he was giving me. But it was a start.

The cot he gave me to sleep on and the food to eat and a place to regroup were all great. But what meant the most to me was probably something he hadn’t thought twice about. It was going for walks with him and Leroy and drinking tea together as I listened to him talk about his late wife.

We were two lonely people who’d each found each other at what felt like the perfect time.

This morning, he seemed a little off, and I wanted to surprise him with a treat. On my way back from the hardware store, where I grabbed some liner paper for his pantry, I pulled into a little teahouse to pick up a special blend for him.

Jones wasn’t the kind of guy who had the same tea every day. One of his cabinets was filled with boxes of random teas he’d collected over the years. He had everything from herbals to black tea to teas from around the world.

Jones had told me story after story about him and his late wife, and every one of them included tea. It had been their thing, and I felt honored that he had made it our thing too.

I was shocked at how busy the shop was. I’d thought of tea shops as quiet and laid-back, but this place was hopping. There were people in line to get cups of tea to go. Another line for people to get seats to be served. And a third for those wanting to bring tea home to brew. They were very efficient.