“Wait. Are you the nursing student she hired in a few years back?”
“That’s me,” I said with a grin.
“Girl, you are too cute. I come into the floral shop all the time and bring Emilia lunch. You’re always whistling in the back. I can’t whistle like that.”
“Hah! I didn’t think anyone was listening to that kind of stuff.”
“I was. Emilia and I go way back, so if she trusted you to work there, then you’re alright by me,” Ivy said with a
giggle. “Look, if you need a room, it’s yours. I’ll draw up a quick contract and you can rent it however long you need.”
“I really appreciate that a lot.”
“When were you looking to move in?”
“Soon, since I’m staring at a floor full of boxes.”
“Yikes. Well, I’m technically out of town right now at a design show, but I can call the front desk and have them leave you a key for the apartment. It’ll be the key you take with you anyway. So you can move in whenever you’re ready. Is this your cell number?”
“It is.”
“I’ll shoot you the address.”
“You don’t want to run a background check or anything?” I asked.
“Are you telling me I need to?”
“No, no. Not at all. I just… didn’t think it would be this easy.”
“I know Emilia. I’ve known her for many years. And she doesn’t befriend people I don’t trust. There isn’t anyone she’s encountered and liked that I haven’t enjoyed in return. The rent for the room will be $650 a month, but that includes half of the utilities as well. Then you’ll be responsible for your own groceries and such.”
“I can do that,” I said.
“I’ll shoot you the address then call the front desk. And if you get there to move in and they give you troubles, call me. I’ll set ‘em straight.”
“Sounds good,” I said with a smile. “And thank you so much. This really helps me out a lot.”
“Just tell Grace I expect a percentage off my floral arrangements for whenever I eventually decide to get married.”
I giggled and shook my head as I looked over towards the door. I saw the shadow move underneath the crack of the door before Hayden’s wheelchair could be heard riding down the hallway. What in the world was he doing? What was his problem? Whatever it was, it wasn’t my issue any longer. He’d be some part-time nurse’s problem, and there was a small part of me that was relieved at that prospect.
A small part.
The tiniest part of me that was fed up with his antics.
“I’ll see what I can negotiate,” I said.
“I knew you were good people. Let me get off here and get you that address. You’ll be the room on the right side of the apartment. Behind the kitchen. You’ll see what I mean when you get there.”
“Perfect. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Message incoming!”
My phone lit up in my hand just before the call cut off. I was familiar with the road the apartment sat on. It was a nice enough area and I was thankful to have a place to stay, but I was sad to be moving out of Hayden’s place. I loved it here. The views. The luxuriousness of it all. The space to move about. And his library? Ugh, I would miss his library. It made me want to start a library of my own, and with the money he’d paid me over the past three months I could do that four times over.
And still have enough to invest for retirement.
I scooted myself up onto the bed and scrolled through my phone. I needed a moving company to help me out a bit. I wouldn’t be able to get all of these things into my car and across town. I found a local moving company that worked moving men into their final price, and I chose the smallest van necessary. I had a minimal amount of furniture that needed to be hauled from storage before the guys got to Hayden’s place. A bed, the frame, and a dresser. That was it. Besides the boxes of clothes and toiletries that surrounded me, that was all I had to my name.