My Beautiful Neighbor (The Greene Family Book 1) by Piper Rayne (android based ebook reader txt) 📗

life who has more emotional issues than I do.

She shakes her head. “I’m selling him all wrong.”

“In my experience, if you have to sell him, there’s a problem.”

She nods. “True, but he is my best friend’s brother, so I feel the need to tell you one small thing about this town.”

We walk back into the store, and I’m not gonna lie, I feel a little defeated looking at this mess. “That being?”

“Cade is a Greene and there are a lot of Greenes in Sunrise Bay. So maybe just watch what you say in front of people.”

I nod. No talking shit about Cade Greene to anyone. Easy-peasy. I’m not a shit-stirrer anyway.

“I’ll help you pack all this up. I might want to keep some stuff if that’s okay?” Clara asks.

“Of course.” I look up from a pile of patterns. “I really want you to have your money for your half of the building, but I can’t afford to buy you out and renovate this place to be what I want it to be. Still, I can’t allow you to just give me your half.”

She takes a moment and looks around then shrugs. “I don’t really care about the building. I mean, it’s where my mom did her business, but I have the house, so let’s just call it even.”

It doesn’t sit right with me, so I make a mental note to figure out some way to pay Clara back.

“What are you thinking you want to do with this place anyway?” She sits on a table.

“I think I should do an inventory of what Sunrise Bay already has. And the shops in the neighboring towns.”

“Definitely. That’s a great idea.” She hops off the table. “I can totally—”

We’re interrupted when the bell rings. An elderly woman with hair as white as fresh-fallen snow comes in with another woman who has the bluish tint a lot of older women have in their hair, followed by a third woman with dark-rimmed glasses.

“Presley Knight?”

“Grandma Ethel.” Clara walks over to the woman with white hair.

My throat closes up. Another grandma I didn’t know about?

“Clara dear, how are you? The news just hit Northern Lights Retirement Home, so I told Dori and Midge here, we need to get over there and figure this all out.”

Clara laughs. “I’ll admit at first—”

She’s cut off by Ethel, who approaches me. “You two look so much alike.” She holds my upper arms as though she’s getting a good look at me. Almost as if she’s appraising my worth. It’s a tad creepy. “Welcome to Sunrise Bay. I heard Denise left the two of you this building.”

“Yeah, Jed and—” Clara gets cut off again.

“Rumor is you might be staying. Opening a place of your own,” Ethel says.

I catch the dark-rimmed glasses granny walking around and inspecting the spools of thread, and I watch as she shoves one in her purse. What the heck? “Yeah, I’m not sure what I’m going to do with the space yet.”

“Not a sewing store. You’re much too young,” the one I think is Dori says.

Midge sticks another spool of thread into her purse and my eyes widen.

“Presley was just saying that she was going to go around town and see what we already had, and I suggested that maybe Lake Starlight—”

Grandma Ethel doesn’t allow Clara to finish, and Clara huffs at the third interruption.

“That is a great idea. I have just the person to show you around.”

“Oh, I was going to Uber or rent a car,” I say.

Dori waves. “Duke Thompson doesn’t have time to take only one client around all day.”

“I could rent…” I stop, seeing Dori’s lips twist in displeasure. “Or not?”

“You need someone who knows where to take you,” Dori says.

“I can—” Clara raises her hand, but Dori takes Clara’s wrist and lowers her arm.

“You’re much too busy at the library, Clara dear. I have just the person.” Dori looks around the room. “We definitely need to get this project started as soon as possible.”

“Um, I think I’d prefer to go by myself,” I say.

Grandma Ethel smiles at me. “This is Alaska, dear. You’re not familiar with the roads. What happens if something happens to your rental car and you find yourself face-to-face with a bear or, heaven forbid, a moose?”

“Rental cars are never reliable,” Dori interjects.

I look at Clara and she shakes her head as though I might as well just give in. I’ll admit the bear or moose attack idea is a little scary.

“It’s just half a day. Believe me, you’ll be happy to have someone show you the ins and outs,” Ethel says.

It dawns on me that I have no idea who these two could be offering up to show me around, and hanging out with them might be preferable. “Okay, but maybe you two could show me around? I mean, you must know this area the best.”

Ethel looks at Dori and nods. “She has a point.”

“She does,” Dori says.

“Okay, we heard you’re at Glacier Point? We’ll be there tomorrow at nine in the morning.” Ethel pats my hand.

“Perfect. I’ll be ready.”

Ethel smiles. “We should go. See you tomorrow, Parsley.”

“It’s Presley.” I smile.

“That’s what I said. Maybe wear some sensible shoes too, all right?”

“Okay.” I look at my heels.

“But those jeans are keepers.” Dori points and places a ten on the table. “For Midge. She’s a bit of a kleptomaniac.”

They leave the store, and I feel as if I’ve been run over by a bulldozer.

“What’s up with the grandma gang?” I ask Clara.

She’s biting her lip, staring after their departure. “That’s Ethel Greene and her friend, Dori Bailey. Midge is new. I haven’t met her yet.”

“Greene as in…”

“Cade Greene’s grandma.”

“Great.”

She laughs. “Well, they do know the area best, but I’d make sure you have your cell phone fully charged. I have no idea where you’ll end up.”

If Midge comes along, probably the county jail.

I’m at the kitchen table, eating breakfast, when Fisher walks in wearing his sheriff’s uniform after a long overnight shift.

“You okay, man?”

He nods. “Just beat.” He