Damn. Half the people in the bar were waiting for something.
“Maybe I should find some guy with great genes and ask him to donate some sperm,” Courtney said, half in jest.
“Maybe you should get a cat.” Arwen’s eyebrows lowered in her signature look of disdain.
“I don’t want a cat. Getting a cat would be like, I don’t know, surrendering or something.”
“But do you want to be a single mother?”
Courtney shook her head. “No. It’s hard to believe, but I’d like to have the whole nine yards, you know: the doting husband, the three-bedroom house, the two kids. I suppose I could settle for somebody.” She cast her gaze toward Ryan Pierce and wondered about his demons. Could she lead him to the altar?
Did she even want to was a better question.
“I see where you’re looking.” Arwen said. “Do not even think about going there. I know he’s adorable, but he’s not the guy you’re looking for. I don’t ever see him with 2.3 kids and a minivan.”
“You’re right. On the other hand, he might be just what I need in order to mess with Matthew Lyndon’s head.”
“In what way?”
“Well, it’s only been a few days since Matt and I had dinner at the Union Jack. He’s sent me the obligatory three texts, designed to let me know that he’s still interested, but it’s too early for him to call. I figure he’ll reach out to me on Tuesday night, when he’ll either ask me out for drinks or in for Netflix. So that means I need to be busy next Wednesday night.”
“You know, Matt is a puzzle actually. I can’t decide whether he’s a jerk or just unsure of himself.”
“Unsure of himself? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Yeah, I know. But the thing is, he’s got this way of BSing people when he doesn’t know what else to do. He’s good at winging it, sort of like a politician.”
“Well, duh. He comes from a long line of politicians. It’s probably in the Lyndon genome. And besides, all politicians lie.”
“He surprised me last night though.”
“You were out with him last night?” A shiver ran up Courtney’s spine. Arwen was too smart to fall for Matt Lyndon, wasn’t she?
“Yeah. We had a meeting with the Dogwood Estates Tenants Association, and your old buddy Sid Miller ripped him a new one. Justifiably so because Matt had missed something obvious. But once Sid made him see the truth, Matt got all passionate about seeing justice done.”
“Sid is a good judge of character. If he ripped him a new one, then Matt deserved it.” Sid Miller and Courtney’s father had been lifelong friends. As boys, they’d fished together. As men, they’d worked at the same hardware store. They’d married two best friends, and until Mom had passed away, Sid and Barbara and Mom and Dad had played bridge together. After Mom died, Barbara had stepped in to help Dad raise Courtney. It had pained Courtney when Sid had sold his little house on Rice Street and moved into Dogwood Estates. That was a little more than a year ago, right after Barbara died. Her long battle with cancer had taken whatever small savings he’d put away.
“Yeah, you’re right.” Arwen leaned back in her chair, and her thoughtful expression morphed into one of pure delight. And then, for no apparent reason at all, a wicked gleam lit up her eyes. “I just had a devious thought.”
“About Matt Lyndon? Do tell.”
“I think you should get him in a dark corner, all revved up and ready to go, and then ask him if he’d be okay being your sperm donor.” Arwen could hardly finish speaking before she started laughing uncontrollably, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Oh my God, what if he says yes?” she managed between giggles.
What if he says yes? The idea had a certain weird appeal, which was frightening. “Shut up,” Courtney said. “I’m not going to ask Matt Lyndon to be a sperm donor. Can you imagine the scandal that would cause in this town?”
“You should do it just to blow his mind.”
“No. That’s too crazy.” Courtney twisted in her seat. “But I do need to ask Ryan out for Wednesday night.” She looked back at Arwen, over her shoulder. “Unless you’re planning to do next Wednesday’s open mic?”
Arwen shook her head. “No. My brother’s going to be in DC that day. I’m meeting him for drinks in the city.” She paused a moment. “How can you be so sure that Matt’s going to ask you out for Wednesday?”
“Because he’s a Hook-up Artist who’s made a bet with a Nice Guy Not. Trust me, there’s a timeline for his seduction. And my guess is he’ll ask me in for Netflix. I intend to be otherwise engaged.” She pushed up from the table. “Give me a second. I’ll be right back.” She scooped up her half-finished Manhattan and headed toward Ryan and the bar.
Matt needed a beer. Thursday had been a difficult and depressing day at work. He’d started by taking the Dogwood Estates file apart, reading every single document in it. Then he’d pulled up the Jefferson County code and read through all the provisions regarding building health and safety. He also shamelessly used his last name, and like the lobbyist he had been, he made a few cold calls to various county government employees.
The picture his research painted was grim. That old guy, Sid Miller, had been right. A few days after the tenants had set up their legal escrow account, the Jefferson County building and fire inspectors had paid a visit to Dogwood Estates, after which they’d notified the landlord of the repairs needed. The landlord was given thirty days to bring the property up to code, but he’d done nothing.
Forty days later—last Monday, to be precise—the government had fined the landlord and placed a lien on his property.
It was clear that the landlord didn’t
