“Why?”

“Just trying a hand at being friendly.”

“Well, don’t,” Emma said. “You scare me when you do that.”

Hurt bubbled up, which surprised Alison. She didn’t usually feel things like hurt. She drew a deep breath. Step 9: Try again, Google had told her. She drew a deep breath. “This is a big venture to take on by yourself.”

“Easier than finding a job that’ll allow me to take Hog to work.”

“Tell me about it,” Alison said. “My ex got custody of Killer for that exact reason.” She kissed Killer on the nose. “But we have today, don’t we, baby?”

“My ex got custody too,” Emma said softly.

“Of Hog?”

“No. My best friend. I’m pretty sure he fell for her because she didn’t come with any baggage, and I’ve got so much I should have to pay extra fees.”

“That part didn’t make the news,” Alison said.

“Nope.”

She narrowed her eyes. “If you’re playing with me, I swear—”

“It’s all pathetically true.” Emma shrugged with mostly just her right shoulder. “My ex was never a good multitasker when it came to relationships. The moment I get scooped up off the pavement by the paramedics, my life became one task too many for him to handle.”

“Wow, he sucks.” Alison sighed. “And dammit.” She pointed at Emma. “Okay, you win. But this is the one and only time.”

Emma looked pleased. “You aren’t going to scratch ‘bitch’ into the side of my car, are you?”

“Depends. Are you going to play nice?”

“TBD.”

“Then same.”

Emma laughed. “Good thing I don’t actually have a car.”

Damn. If she didn’t hate her, Alison might have even liked her. It wasn’t until later that night that she suddenly realized why Emma’s left arm not appearing to work as good as her right made sense—she was Simon’s new renter.

Chapter 10

Step 10: Be yourself.

The next morning, Simon woke up to his phone buzzing. He knew it was Alison by the level of annoyance in the cell’s vibration.

“Did I wake you?” she asked.

“Do you care?”

“Not even a little bit, since you didn’t call me back yesterday. I met Emma.”

Since he’d just been dreaming about Emma, dreaming about what might have happened between them if his dad hadn’t needed him, Simon drew a deep breath. “I didn’t call you back because I was swamped all day and then fell asleep.”

“Let me repeat—I met Emma.”

“And?”

“And she’s the girl who had me arrested in high school.”

Simon sat straight up in bed. “Run that by me again?”

Alison told him the story from all those years ago, and, boggled, he shook his head. He’d already been away at college when all that happened, and though they’d remained close, his cousin had never told him any of this before. “Why didn’t you tell me back then that you were having problems?”

Silence.

He sighed and answered his own question. “Because you’re an Armstrong and therefore stubborn to the bone.” He ran a hand over his face, hating that she’d gone through all of it alone, though he wasn’t exactly thrilled about the shit she’d pulled on Emma either. “Why did you vandalize her car?”

“Did I start this story with ‘let me tell you some great stuff about me’? No, I did not.” She sighed. “Look, it happened and she had me arrested. So I’m going to need you to be on my side.”

He needed caffeine for this. “You said the charges were dropped.”

“Yes, because they couldn’t prove it was me. And that’s not my point.”

Right. Alison liked her grudges. She liked to hug them, hold them close. This of course was why she had only him and his dad. People didn’t understand how big a heart she really had, and how easily she could be hurt. “Okay, well, since you’re already mad, you should probably know that Emma’s renting 2A.”

“Oh, I figured that one out for myself, no thanks to you.”

“Look,” Simon said. “It doesn’t matter what happened all those years ago. You need a tenant for that building and Emma wants to lease it. And you’re trying to be more open to people, right?”

“Maybe.”

“Definitely. So start with Emma. Just a suggestion.”

Alison told him where he could put his suggestions and disconnected.

Simon shook his head, rolled out of bed, fed his dad, let Jodie in, reminded his dad to keep his pants on until he got home, and then left. It was a PT day, which made it a good day. He got to the clinic early enough to get his own workout in first. He saw two patients in a row, then had a thirty-minute break before his third patient—Emma. So he was surprised to find her in the front reception area, sitting in a corner with a laptop and a mug of steaming tea.

Something in his chest warmed at just the sight of her. And that wasn’t his only reaction. He felt himself smile, like really smile.

You got it bad.

“Hey,” he said. “You’re early. On purpose. In the morning. Everything okay?”

She jerked and pulled out her earbuds. At her quick movement, Hog scrambled behind Emma, hiding.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sneak up on you guys.”

“No, it’s okay.” Emma reached behind her to put a hand on Hog. “I was about to throw this thing out the window anyway,” she said of her laptop.

Simon ruffled the dog’s big head. “Sorry, buddy.”

Hog licked Simon’s hand. He was forgiven.

“I’m stealing your internet,” Emma said. “I still haven’t gotten signed up at the apartment.”

“Feel free to use mine. The network’s Malicious Virus, and the password is cookies, no caps.” When Emma laughed, he smiled. “It’s the only password my dad can remember. What are you working on?”

“Getting a business loan. Oh, and I met your cousin Ali.”

“She let you call her Ali?”

“No. But I did it anyway.”

He laughed. “Because . . . ?”