“I…no. Not really. It was a moment of weakness. He hurt his hand…uh…and yeah, I caved. He said he hoped we could get along and maybe even be friends. I asked him straight up if he was sent by Pappy S, and he said no. I don’t know whether I can believe that or not because he could be lying. He said he was just there for the room.”
“Hmm, well, maybe he is. Maybe Pappy S screened everyone really thoroughly, found the right one, and sent him along without even telling him about you so that things could happen naturally. Maybe he’s going for a different tactic.”
“Who knows,” I groan. “But I’m going to be stuck with him for the next six months if I can’t chase him off.”
“You could put your spider in his bed. That should get rid of him fast.”
“Except I love my pets and would never risk one of them getting hurt for petty revenge. I mean, I did think of it, but I know poor Hector would probably get squashed, which would be horrible.”
“You could get a fake spider and put it in his bed. But make sure he knows you have a real one. That could do it.”
“Hmm, that might work.” Sometimes you just have to appreciate Vera’s devious mind.
“It would totally work!” Vera exclaims as she pulls out her phone. She has a short, retro yellow dress on today, so I can’t imagine where she stuck it. She browses for a few seconds and holds up her phone triumphantly for me to see. “There! This one looks pretty real! Get this one! I bet he’ll be gone the very next morning!”
I nod slowly, seriously considering it. It wouldn’t really harm anyone, would it? And Wilder would probably leave. I already told him Hector gets out of his enclosure.
“Oh, and when he’s packing up, do you think you could ask him for his number then?” Vera asks hopefully.
“No,” I say flat out. “No, I definitely won’t.”
“Oh, fine then. Be that way.” Vera pretends to be mad at me, but I can tell she’s not. And to prove it, my phone dings a second later with the link to the fake spider for me to purchase.
Monique gives the dust a minute to settle, then reaches under the coffee table for our favorite board game. She thinks we like it, but Vera and I just play along for her. We actually hate it. It’s a trivia game about—you guessed it—books. We suck at it, whereas Monique obviously rocks at it.
“Are you guys up for a game?” Monique asks with a huge, hopeful grin. She’s so animated now that it’s impossible to deny her.
Without even exchanging a look, Vera and I both nod in unison.
CHAPTER 7
Wilder
After the rough start, I guess I can say I’ve settled in. The tricky part is to do something during the day to make it appear like I am actually scouting the market, doing some kind of research, etc. I even find it not that bad after I discover a decent coffee shop not too far from the house, where I can do my real work. I’m working remotely, mostly the paperwork and design and whatnot, and I can do all of it without being in Pittsburgh. My dad might not understand my need to do this, but he eventually relented to me working out of the office and even got me a laptop capable of running all our software.
I do my work there for a few hours during the day, consuming an alarming amount of expensive coffees just so I feel like I have a right to sit in the place. Sometimes I explore the area, and I also do check out the markets and competition here, all while keeping myself busy with walks. The city is beautiful. There’s no denying that. But I don’t know if I can keep this up for six months. I already had to lie to Esme once, and it was hard because I’m not a good liar. I hate lying to people. It’s not built within me to be dishonest, and telling her I had nothing to do with her great-grandfather’s schemes was hard on me. I could barely get the denial out, and when I did, I was completely eaten up by guilt.
The first week passes just fine, but I can imagine myself getting bored of this real fast. I’ll have to find a different coffee shop soon and some hobbies or something to keep me busy.
Or I could talk to Esme and try to get to know her.
Unfortunately, it seems like the last thing she’d want me to do. When I’m home, she’s always in one of her rooms. And if she’s in the kitchen or living room, as soon as I come out, she runs back to the safety of somewhere else in the house or makes an excuse to go out into the backyard or to run errands somewhere.