Sleigh Bell Dreams (Mistletoe Meadows Sweet Christmas #1)

Chapter 6

Terry stepped inside, wondering what in the world she’d gotten herself into. The man seemed...nuts.

Of course, he was still entertaining the idea of renting to her, after she poked him in the face. So, she supposed he had every right to be a little bit strange, but...she’d never met anyone so...different.

She wasn’t getting any bad vibes from him though. Not that she totally trusted her sense of intuition, but she did rely on it to give her a feel for what was going on. She’d even learned in med school that a person’s subconscious picked up things that their conscious brain might not. So, even if a doctor couldn’t see anything, if they’re thinking that there might be a problem, more tests might be a good idea.

It wasn’t exactly something they had been tested on, but she’d seen it happen over and over.

He closed the door behind them, and she looked around where they stood. It was a shared foyer with steps that led upstairs.

“I live on this side.” He pointed to a door on the right, right at the bottom of the steps, then indicated one on the left. “That would be yours. You’ll have to get a key made for the lock. I don’t have one.”

“There is no lock?” she said, unable to keep the incredulity out of her voice, before she remembered that it was Mistletoe Meadows. And she probably sounded ridiculous. She bet half the population didn’t lock their doors.

“There’s nothing over there. The outside door has a lock, but I’ll have to find the key. And you might have to get a duplicate made since I don’t have extras.”

“All right. If you’re going to lock it, I’ll get a key made.”

“We can leave it open. It’s up to you.” He shrugged his shoulders. He was acting a little bit more normal now, although he still didn’t seem like the most talkative person. Maybe that’s why she didn’t really remember him. Even though they must have been in homeroom together, if they graduated the same year. But for the life of her, she couldn’t remember. She spent most of her homeroom studying. It wasn’t that she didn’t have friends or never talked to anyone, but she was trying to get the best grades she could.

“The kitchen’s at the end of the hall.” He pointed down the hall, past where her door was.

“So... We share a kitchen?” she asked as he pointed to the opening at the end of the hall. She could see a table with a couple of chairs, and a counter beside the sink, and a window. The window faced the back lot, which had a gorgeous view of the mountains she could see from here.

The view pulled at her heart, and she almost started forward. She could stand at the sink and look out at the mountains. That wouldn’t be a hardship.

“Aren’t you going to look at it?” He indicated the door to her left.

She didn’t say anything but turned to the left, opening the door. It creaked open, although it wasn’t dusty, like she would have expected.

The room inside was completely bare, big windows that faced the street and windows on the side. A fireplace at the far end. She could imagine cozy winter nights with a cheerful fire crackling in the fireplace, while she sat in a chair cozied up and reading, or just relaxing after a long day at work, and petting her dog, not goat.

What had that been about? Had he been serious?

She shook her head.

“Nice big room,” she said. It would be chilly away from the fireplace, unless the heat was on, but there was plenty of room for bookshelves and another chair or two.

She pointed at the door at the end. “Does that go into the kitchen?”

“No. It’s an office.”

She glanced at him, and when he didn’t move, she walked into the room, looking around, appreciating the high ceiling and the chandelier that hung from it.

That was a little dusty, which didn’t make sense. Why would it be dusty when the floor wasn’t?

Odd.

But she kept walking, curious about this office.

As she opened the door, she realized that it must have been built off of the kitchen, since there were huge floor-to-ceiling windows that gave the same view that she had just seen over the sink. The mountains in the distance, with the rolling hills in the foreground and foothills off to the left. There wouldn’t be much room for bookshelves in this room, since two of the walls were mostly windows. But she loved it.

“This is nice,” she said. She supposed she’d find out if she actually needed an office or not. Probably to do payroll or at least figure it out. But the receptionist would process insurance claims, according to Dr. Vivik, and she hopefully wouldn’t have a huge number of things to do at home.

“There is no way to get in the kitchen from this room,” she said, although she assumed he already knew it.

“No.”

She didn’t like that. If it were her house, she would put a doorway from the living room into the kitchen.

She walked back to where he still stood at the entrance to the living room.

“I’d like to see the kitchen,” she said, and he jerked his head, waiting for her to go through, and if she wasn’t mistaken, there was a bit of humor in his eyes as she walked past. Maybe thinking about her punching him when he had opened the door, and he was staying out of the reach of her fists.

“I really didn’t mean to,” she said as she started down the hall.

He laughed, and that’s when she knew she was right on about what he had been thinking.

The kitchen was huge. With a big table that seated six or could easily do eight with more chairs. It seemed a little newer than the rest of the house.

“And we would share this? Are there rules for the kitchen?”

He opened his mouth.

She cut him off. “Other than no goats.”

“That’s rule number one. Always. For every room in the house,” he said, like he was teaching her something.

“Thanks. That really is going to be a hardship for me, but...I’ll follow your rules. If you insist.”

“I fear I must,” he said. His eyes twinkled again.

She noticed his lips didn’t seem to move up much, but she could tell that he was smiling because of the twinkle in his eyes.

She hadn’t read about any conditions like that, where a person couldn’t smile, but she also wasn’t so na?ve as to think that she actually had learned about every condition that was known to man. Of course, he might not have a condition at all. It might just be the way he was.

“This is lovely.”

“I don’t have much in the fridge,” he said, and she assumed that that meant she could put anything wherever she wanted to.

“I probably won’t either.” Cooking for one didn’t require a lot of groceries. She’d gotten okay at it over the years. At different times, she’d shared houses and apartments with roommates, but almost always, they cooked for themselves and didn’t have a cooking or cleaning schedule. Each person was just responsible for themselves.

She still was trying to get over her surprise that it was an actual duplex. Did she want to share a kitchen with this man?

“Bedrooms are upstairs,” he said in a monotone, and she followed him back out of the kitchen. Knowing very well that the bedrooms were upstairs, but wanting to see them. Although, did it matter? Seriously? Was she going to say no to this and move in with her mom and her brother and his wife and their three kids and descend into the whole cancer thing?

She didn’t think so. Right now, her brother needed their mom’s full attention, and their mom didn’t need to be worried about her.

She climbed the stairs first, and he followed. The banister was beautifully carved and seemed old, along with the rest of the house, which had wood floors that seemed like maybe they had been recently sanded but not stained.

As she got to the top, she saw a bathroom right beside her and a hall with two doors on the left and one door on the right.

“My bedroom’s on that side. It takes up the whole side of the house.” He pointed to the two doors on the other side. “There used to be two bedrooms, but someone took the dividing wall out, and now it’s just one room.”

“It must be huge,” she said. If it took up the entire side of the house, it would be the same length as the living room and the width of the kitchen.

“This side isn’t tiny.”

Opening the door, she looked, and indeed, the entire room was massive. And it already had a bed. There was just a bare mattress on it, no box springs, but it was a bed. She wasn’t going to have to try to find one, figure out how she was going to get it moved, and that was really all the furniture she needed. Although need was relative, since she could have slept on the floor. Would have. Even use an air mattress, rather than spending a lot of money on something that she wasn’t sure she would keep. Once things shook out with Gilbert and his wife, she probably would move back in with her mom. Her mom had been by herself after their dad died, and she assumed that she must have been lonely. She had said so multiple times, and every time, it made Terry feel bad that she wasn’t able to move back.

Regardless, she wasn’t in the market for a house. Not right now.

“The closet’s pretty big.”

Judd wasn’t one to talk a lot. If she were showing the house, she’d probably be talking a mile a minute, telling them every wonderful thing about it, but he really didn’t need to say anything. There were huge windows, letting in a lot of light, and the ceiling in the bedroom was just as tall as the one downstairs. She loved the old houses with the high ceilings. There was a large fireplace that probably backed against each wall although she’d have to check the other bedroom to be sure.

She had already started walking to the closet, and he was right, it was a big walk-in closet with its own light.

Not that she had that many clothes. But she wouldn’t need to buy a dresser.

“It’s perfect. If you’ll rent it to me, I’ll take it.”

She had said that before she was able to ask herself again, was she okay sharing a bathroom?

Because that’s what this would mean. A bathroom and a kitchen and an entrance.

“You haven’t seen the bathroom yet.”

“I don’t need to. Unless there are snakes in it, I’m going to take it.”

“Hold on a second, I’d better get Bowie out of there.”

“Bowie?”

“What I call my boa constrictor. Not very original, I know.”

“You said no goats.”

“Because goats eat snakes.”

“They don’t eat boa constrictors.” She shouldn’t argue with him. He was kidding, and she knew it. And he knew she knew it.

He lifted a brow, but still no smile, as he turned and walked to the door, holding it open until she had walked through and then closing it behind her, that same smirk on his face, in his eyes, if not on his mouth.

She walked to the bathroom, and it was simple. A shower and tub, a sink and toilet. A couple of racks to hang towels on and a closet at the back.

“I’ll take it.” She took a breath. “If you’re willing.”

“Maybe we should go over all the rules.”

He didn’t seem to be kidding. But his first rule was no goats, so he couldn’t possibly be serious, right? She never met someone who kept her completely off balance like he had. And yet, she found herself comfortable in his presence. If that was possible. He just...was different than anyone she knew.

“All right.”

“I’m not charging rent, and the utilities are together.”

“There are no separate utilities?”

“No. So I’ll take care of those.”

“What will I take care of?” she asked. She couldn’t take this place if she didn’t pay.

“We’ll figure it out. Those are all the rules.” He put a hand up. “Take it or leave it.”

Just like that? They weren’t going to discuss this? “Hold on a second. I can’t not pay rent.”

“All right. That’s fine, if you don’t want it. I wasn’t really looking for a renter.”

“But I’m not a renter if I don’t pay rent!” she said, getting a little huffy despite herself. The man was infuriating.

“Okay,” he said, walking back down the hall and starting down the steps.

“Hold on!” she said, her voice starting to screech just a little, even though she had no intention of allowing it to do so.

“You said you didn’t want it.”

“I didn’t!” The idea of moving in with her mother and overwhelming her kept her following him down the steps.

“All right. Fine. I agree.” She’d just leave cash sitting around somewhere, to pay him at least for the utilities. He couldn’t pay for everything; that wasn’t fair. She wasn’t asking for a handout. She was just asking for a place to stay.

“Fine. I can give you the key, once I find it. If you want to make a duplicate, and if you want to change your lock, that’s fine. Otherwise, I’m going to go get some breakfast.”

“Breakfast?” She looked at her phone. It was almost eleven.

What in the world did he do? Amy had said that he did odd jobs, but did he really sleep in until eleven? How was he going to survive if she wasn’t paying rent and...

“Is this going to get repossessed while we’re living here? Do you have a deed? Are you just squatting here?” The idea had just come to her. Maybe she shouldn’t have said it, but it slipped out.

That would explain why he didn’t have a key, why he wasn’t charging rent, and how he was able to afford it when sleeping in until eleven o’clock in the morning.

“No, yes, no.”

She had to think back about it and try to figure out what she had asked and in what order to try to figure out what his answers were.

The man was infuriating. No joke.

“All right. Well, I have my stuff in my car. There’s not much. But I’ll probably go and get some cleaning supplies and some food. Do you need anything?” She almost slapped her hand over her mouth. She wasn’t going to become his go-get-stuff girl. Except, he was allowing her to rent for free. She could buy the groceries.

“No. I’m fine. Thanks.”

Well, there went that idea. He wasn’t going to let her get anything. Which was probably just as well. Maybe she should cook for him, but she wasn’t that great of a cook. She could make enough food to keep herself from starving, as long as she didn’t mind eating a lot of salad, which she didn’t. She’d seen firsthand the effect of obesity and had voluntarily taken as many nutrition classes as they had allowed her to in college.

Well, it had been an interesting hour, but she did have a place to stay. And that had been the goal. She could consider the morning a success.