Who Pissed Off Ivy Dell? (Ivydell Book 3)

7. Jensen

Jensen

April’s list is the only one I haven’t tackled yet, but I can’t put her off any longer. Thankfully, there’s not much to be done. I have a feeling some of what she’s asking for is unnecessary at this point, but it might be easier to do it than argue with her. I’ll do anything that’s not absolutely ridiculous, but knowing April, some of her list will be.

I knock, and she calls out from the other side of the door to say she’ll be a minute. A horned toad sunning itself on a rock lifts its head as if it doubts her estimated timeframe, too. I smile, thinking of Ivy’s laundry encounter. She probably needs to do her laundry again by now. I wonder if she’s gone to the laundromat to avoid using my machines.

I’ll clear the lizards for you again if you need to do laundry.

If you want me to come over, you could just ask.

I wish. I’m at April’s to tackle her repair requests.

Don’t mention Josephine. She doesn’t like her.

Yeah, someone should’ve warned you about that. Sorry.

I snap a pic of the horned toad on the rock and send it to her.

They’re so much scarier in person.

Kind of like April.

The door opens, and she catches me smiling at my phone.

“If you’re looking at porn, please shut that down before you come inside.”

“It’s not porn. It’s a text.”

“From your new girlfriend?”

She says girlfriend like it’s a perversion of its own. “What do you have against Ivy?”

“Nothing. She seems okay, I guess. Terrible taste in friends, but she likes Wizard. He likes her, too, so she can’t be all bad.”

I spot the huge cat sleeping on April’s bed, and for some reason, that makes me smile all over again. I’m sure Ivy does love that overgrown fluffball.

“There’s no need to repair the fireplace crack,” I say. “You can still use it. I marked that off your list, but I brought you a new showerhead.”

“I want the fireplace repaired. It looks ugly, and I still live here, Stinger.”

“You really want me to patch that for no reason?”

“I shouldn’t have to look at a big, ugly crack every day, whether I’m lighting a fire or not.”

“It’s unnecessary, and I’m not doing it. Show me the broken floor tile.”

She points out a tile in the kitchen where the floor meets the wall.

“No. I’m not chipping that tile out and replacing it because of a hairline crack. It’s not a trip hazard. Even if it were a huge crack, it’s by the wall. You’re not going to walk over that. It’s fine.”

“As long as I’m paying rent, this place should still be maintained.”

“I’m going to install your new showerhead. Is anything else malfunctioning? I’ll fix mechanical issues, just not cosmetic shit.”

“I’m going to complain to Petra if you don’t at least fix the crack in the fireplace.”

“Knock yourself out. I’ll be in the bathroom if you think of anything else.”

The new showerhead is bigger than her old one. She should be happy about that. It works great. I test the faucet on the sink to be sure it’s not leaking. Works like a champ. Toilet flushes fine. No cracks in the mirror.

As soon as I come out of her bathroom, she tells me the seal on her patio door is worn out. The last damn thing I want to do today is replace the seal on a sliding door, but I check it. Technically, it probably does need a new seal. I caulk it.

“Is that a temporary fix?” she asks.

“Everything’s temporary, April. Even us.”

“You’ve been spending too much time around Cujo.”

“Didn’t come here to talk about Cujo.” It’s definitely time for me to leave.

“Is their relationship serious?”

“None of my business.”

“He confides in you, though.”

“I don’t know why you think that.”

“She just doesn’t seem like his type.”

“Right. Independent. Tattoo artist. Does her own thing.”

“I’m an independent artist who does her own thing, too. Why not me, Stinger?”

Aw, shit. I knew better than to engage in this conversation. “There aren’t rules about who people are attracted to. Anyway, I don’t know that she wants anything serious any more than he does. That’s probably part of the attraction for both of them.”

“I half expected him to be gone already. He’s always talking about moving on.”

“He will soon.”

“I know. It just sucks to think maybe he stuck around longer than he’d planned because of her. It’s been a year. That’s a long time for something casual.”

“We’ve probably all stuck around longer than we intended.”

“You got big plans for the future?”

“Nothing solid. Your shower is good to go.”

“Thanks. I’m still going to complain to Petra.”

“I’d be shocked if you didn’t, April.”

Wizard rolls over and meows. I wonder how much Ivy will like him when she finds out he’s a chipmunk killer. She roots for the underdog. Undersquirrel, whatever. April definitely won’t like Ivy if she finds out about the gentle nudges she has planned for Cujo.

she’s just nudging him about a tattoo all she wants. I know exactly what’s going on in her pretty head. And all too often, I think she knows what’s going on in mine, too.