Mr. H.O.A. by Carina Taylor (readera ebook reader .TXT) 📗

fixing the lawn mower," Nola said as I helped her put the groceries away in the fridge. "I’ve been dying to talk to you."

I shoved the milk jug into the fridge then slammed the door. "What’s wrong? What happened? Are you okay?"

She looked at me in surprise. "I just meant that I missed you. I’ve missed talking to you."

I grasped her hand in mine, tugging her closer. "I’ve missed you too. I have been worried about you."

"You have?" She asked softly.

"I have. I know things have been crazy this week—especially with our new roommate. But I didn’t forget what this week was."

Nola pressed her lips tightly together.

"Maya went home this week, didn’t she?"

Nola nodded stiffly.

I pulled her against my chest and rubbed small circles on her shoulders. "I’m sorry. I wish I could make it better."

"It’s okay. Actually, it’s not. It hurt to say goodbye. But Bane, she was so happy. She was so, incredibly happy to be going home with her mom. Both of them were. I want to be glad for them."

I twisted a lock of her hair around one of my fingers. "You will be, someday. Right now, it’s okay to be sad she’s gone."

"Hey!" Sally’s loud voice echoed through the house, breaking us apart. "I could use some help."

"Moment ruined," Nola grumbled.

I couldn’t have agreed more...

After I finished helping Sally sharpen the blades on the lawn mower, I took on the task of mowing the yard. When that was finished, Sally and I did a little yard work together.

It was something I liked about him. He wasn’t afraid of work and he'd jumped right in helping around the house.

Propping the shovel against the house, I knelt down and pulled the rest of the weeds by hand. This was getting out of control. I was the head of the HOA. Why did I suggest the HOA pay to lay bark dust in front of all the houses at the last meeting? Because I was an idiot, that's why.

Sally pushed the wheelbarrow past me, full of the old shrubs that we'd uprooted. If we were going to lay bark dust, we might as well replant the new up-to-code shrubs. Turns out, I was a code violator with the oversized shrubs in the front flower beds.

"Whew, we should have done this early this morning." Sally swiped at the sweat on his forehead as he sat down on the porch steps next to me. I tossed a few more weeds into the wheelbarrow.

"I never knew I hated gardening so much."

He chuckled. "Not one for good honest labor?"

I shrugged. "I grew up in an apartment building. Never really had the chance to do outside work."

Sally frowned at that. "Well, that's a shame. Every kid should have chores to complain about."

I nodded. I agreed. That was why I hoped my future children would have that. It was never a complaint I voiced to my parents because they had enough on their plates. But my lack of a yard and space to play had given me pretty clear ideas on what type of growing up I wanted my kids to have.

Nola's stories of playing outside all day had seemed so charming. Her dad taking the time to teach her how to repair things. Skills that I'd never learned. I hoped I’d be able to meet her parents, some day.

"You know, sometimes I wonder what she sees in you."

"Sees in me? What are you talking about?" I stood up and grabbed the shovel that leaned against the house.

"Nola."

"Eh?"

"I was asking what Nola sees in you."

"A roommate."

Sally chuckled. "No, definitely not that. She's got other ideas for you."

I grinned at that. "I think she’s a special person myself."

We worked for another fifteen minutes. Sally was oddly quiet.

"Have you found anything out about the deposits?" I asked as I put away the tools in the small garden shed.

"I looked into that man you told me to. Sterling Parsons. I found something interesting. He and my apartment manager are brothers-in-law."

"What?" I slammed the door with a little more force than necessary. "How is that possible?"

"Sterling is married to Chippy’s sister. Here’s another interesting piece: Sterling Parsons owns the wrecking company that was recommended to me." Sally cleared his throat. "Mercier is being overcharged, and when I drove by the site, the work is stalled out."

"You're going to talk to him today?" I asked.

"Yes, but I'll be going with a summons and a sheriff," Sally said as we walked into the house.

"Why is that?"

Sally smirked. "Because Chippy stole the deposits. I think he might be splitting those profits with Sterling. Their demo crew is being paid minimum wage."

"Aha. The classic apartment manager thieving bit."

"Yup." The 'p' popped on the end of the word. "It’s even worse that Sebastian Mercier hired Chippy's brother to head up the demolition of the building without checking more thoroughly."

I couldn't fight the chuckle. "Keeping it all in the family, I see. Well, Mercier's bound to feel like a fool if this is true."

"I agree with you on that." Sally grabbed the keys to his truck from the kitchen counter. "Care to come with me?"

I snagged my coat off the chair. "With pleasure."

Following Sally out to his car, I took a moment to lock the front door, since Nola had headed over to Tori’s.

"You're pretty careful with this house, aren't you?"

I shrugged. "Well, technically it's not mine, so I should take even better care of it than I would my own property. I'll drive."

Sally's eyes narrowed on me as I unlocked my car. "You're something else, aren't you?"

I ignored his comment and started the car, rolling the windows down to let some fresh air in. It wasn't miserably hot yet, but it would get there eventually. Ten in the morning was when it usually started warming up. We pulled out of the neighborhood and I stopped at the gas station next to the supermarket. I pulled out a couple twenties and paid the attendant to fill it up.

"You pay cash for a lot of stuff, don't you?"