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I chuckled in spite of myself. “My brother who clearly wants something.”
“Hey. That doesn’t have to be true.”
“All right. It doesn’t have to be. But it is. What’s up? It’s late and it’s been a long day.”
Austin paused. “Are you okay? Kayla said you had a good time tonight and that the store had steady business.”
I closed my eyes and breathed in, reminding myself that it was good that I had a brother who cared. “I’m fine. Just tired.”
I dropped my bag by the door and hooked my keys on pegs hung for that purpose before checking that I’d turned the lock.
“Maybe I’ll come talk to you at the store tomorrow instead. In person might be better, anyway.”
“I have an author coming in the afternoon—at two—so if you do, come in the morning.” I’d rather he just spit it out. I also didn’t want to argue with him. Maybe there was still time to give Cody a call and see if I could get him to talk to me. I heard Kayla in the background, but didn’t catch her words. “Or you can just tell me the gist and come talk tomorrow anyway.”
“We need to talk about the townhouse.”
I headed into the kitchen and pulled out a chair. “Okay. What about it?”
“Our lease is up in January. The landlord is nagging about whether or not we’re going to renew.”
“It’s only November. Barely November.”
“Sure. But if he has to rent it, he needs lead time. It’s not unreasonable.”
Maybe not. I’d never really lived on my own in something not owned by a family member. I mean, at the start, we’d paid Grandma rent, but if we’d needed to flex on the deadline a little, it wasn’t like she got fussy about it. “Okay?”
“Well, here’s the thing. What would you think about switching with us?”
I’d hate it. That was the immediate answer that sprang to my lips. Thankfully, I was able to clamp my mouth shut before they got blurted out. Was he really asking me to go from a townhouse within walking distance of my store to a one-bedroom apartment that would force me to drive?
“You’re quiet.”
“I’m thinking.” And I was. I was thinking about how much I hated the idea. How we’d talked about this in the late spring when he and Kayla decided to get married and at that point, I would’ve been fine with it. Ish. But they’d been so sure they were okay in the apartment and it was closer to the learning center and blah blah blah. And even then, the other idea had been that we’d all three of us live here. I couldn’t help noticing that wasn’t an option Austin was floating. “Why the change?”
“Apartment living is not exactly joyous.”
I scoffed. Understatement of the year. He’d been positive he’d be able to handle it though. And now he’d made it what, six months? “Way to sell me on the idea. Sure. I’d love to move into a non-joyous living situation. Thanks so much. Hard pass.”
“Megan—”
“Stop. If the two of you want to move in here, I’m still cool with that. I like cats. I don’t see the problem. You both get up earlier than me, so if anyone’s schedule is going to be inconvenient for the other, it’s not you two who’ll have the problem.” Maybe there were downsides. I wasn’t sure I wanted to live with newlyweds. Maybe they didn’t want to live with me, either. But I was a lot less willing to give up my home than I had been when we first talked about it.
Austin sighed. “I guess we could look for someplace to buy. I just figured with you and Cody together, you’d probably be moving out soon anyway, and then I wouldn’t have to own two houses.”
“You realize Cody and I have been dating two months, right? We’re not at the get married portion of the program.” I paused. Should I ask? “In fact, did he seem off at poker tonight?”
“Maybe a little quieter than usual. I figured he was trying to keep a low profile so Wes didn’t start.”
I winced. The girls had gotten over the drama. “Was it bad?”
“Nah. I feel like Wes and Cody must have had a talk, because Wes only cracked two jokes, one of which he immediately took back because it was basically bros before hos and he didn’t want to call you a ho.”
I snickered. “I appreciate that.”
Laughter lined the edges of Austin’s voice. “Wes then went on a rant about how that was a case in point for why the two of you shouldn’t be together and I said that if it kept us from making misogynistic jokes that we’d never found funny before, then I didn’t see the issue.”
“Go big bro.”
