Page 28 of Forget That Guy
“Two,” he answered. “I have Jetty staying up to keep an eye out today, though. With both dogs down…”
“Jetty, as in the same boy that is dating Joe?”
“One and the same,” I grumbled.
“How’s she doing?” Holly asked. “She looked good when I was here for the cows.”
“Good. Puking her guts up. She thinks that she’s going to start homeschooling.”
“Not a bad idea,” Holly admitted. “That’s what I did when I felt like the high school couldn’t offer me enough challenge.Nor were they willing to work with me on my ultimate plan to graduate early.”
“Jesper County is a great school and all, but I feel like they’re a bit behind the times. You can do dual credit, but only when they approve the students,” I grumbled. “Joe was able to do whatever she wanted dual credit-wise. Meanwhile, Jetty, who’s smart as a whip as well, but not as well-liked by the teachers and staff, wasn’t able to do dual credit. Despite having passed the testing required to make sure that you’re ready for dual credit.”
When we got to the empty stall that the dogs liked to use, I gently laid Greta down in the straw.
Holly walked to the water bowl and took it out of the room.
When she came back, she had a scoop of dog food in one hand and the water bowl in the other.
I took the food from her and filled the empty bowl up while she set down the other.
Only when Greta was taken care of did Holly say, “I’ll take the room you have available if you don’t mind.”
If she’d smacked me upside the head, I would’ve been less surprised.
I’d offered her this room before, and she’d said no.
I’d also offered her several rentals in town that I owned, which she’d also said no to.
And now she was coming here telling me she wanted the apartment over the barn? Why?
So I had to satisfy my curiosity.
“Why?” I asked. “You have your apartment in town.”
With one of the worst old ladies in town…but I wasn’t going to touch that.
“Caroline is kicking me out,” she sighed. “She’s decided to sell, and the person she’s selling to doesn’t want me as a renter.” She shrugged. “I don’t know. But I only have thirty days to move out. And I want to stay in town.”
I wasn’t exactly in town.
I was outside of town.
But I was near where she’d grown up and loved.
“It’s yours,” I answered before I could think better of it. “You know that I need help with the animals?”
She nodded as she looked around the barn. “Inside only? Or outside, too?”
“Inside for now,” I said. “Outside wouldn’t really be conducive with you having a job.”
She snorted. “No, I guess it wouldn’t, would it?”
“I’d heard that a bunch of places were being bought up by an out-of-town company,” I said. “But I’d thought it was only businesses. Hadn’t heard that it was homes, too.”
“This was the first that I’d heard anything about anyone buying up anything,” she said. “When can I move in?”
I jerked my head toward the stairs. “Do you want to look at it first?”
