A Brand New Ending (Page 7)

Ethan glowered. “Challenging? We’re dying over there, Tink. There’s nowhere to sit anymore. He writes on his laptop on the couch, muttering stuff like some kind of whacko at all hours of the night.”

“Well, he’s a writer. He’s always been that way when he’s involved in a project.”

Mia cleared her throat. “Yes. With more room, it would be fine. But there’s the issue with one bathroom. Since there’s not a lot of privacy—”

“Mia saw him naked!”

Ophelia choked on the bread. “What?”

Mia stroked her brother’s shoulder as if soothing a wounded beast. “Not completely, baby. See, we started to do some renovation on the bathroom, and the door doesn’t close properly. Wheezy and Bolt wanted to see him, so they bashed their heads against the door and it flew open—”

“And Mia saw him naked!”

Mia sighed. “I saw his rear. That’s it. And it was probably more embarrassing for him than me.”

“I doubt it. Mia can’t get any work done because they’re on top of each other, and he seems to emerge at midnight like some kind of wombat and eat everything in the damn refrigerator.”

Ophelia winced. Yeah, Kyle was a bit of a night owl. He’d miss too many meals during the day because he’d be immersed in his work, then raid the fridge in a crazed orgy of food. She’d gotten used to it, but at the bungalow where every sound echoed, she bet it wasn’t easy.

Not her problem. Not her problem.

She kept the mantra up and tried to concentrate on the perfect firmness of her ravioli with creamy ricotta cheese filling. “I’m really sorry, guys. Do you think he can stay with Harper?”

Their sister lived in a small apartment down the road from the horse stables. Her Spartan lifestyle lent itself perfectly to caring for and training the horses, since she preferred practically living at the stables rather than her own place.

Ethan shook his head. “Already checked with her. She likes Kyle, but isn’t comfortable sharing her space. You know how she relishes her privacy and solitude.”

Yeah, their sister was really only social with creatures who had four legs.

Ethan continued his entreaty. “I know you said you had some type of fight back in California. But that was what, eight years ago? We grew up with him. Why won’t you be reasonable and give him a chance to make amends?”

“We don’t want to push you or make you uncomfortable, though,” Mia said firmly, forking into her salad. “It’s none of our business why you don’t want him to stay with you. If you don’t want to change your mind, we respect that. Right, Ethan?”

“No.” Her brother stabbed his fork in the air. “You’re one of the most forgiving people I know, and it’s time to put words into action. If you don’t take pity on us all, Kyle is going to get seriously hurt.”

Ophelia rolled her eyes. “Dramatic much?”

Mia shifted in her seat. “Umm, well there’s one additional problem.”

Wariness cut through her. “What is it?”

“Hei Hei hates him,” Ethan said flatly.

Ophelia burst out laughing. “Funny.”

“He’s serious,” Mia said. “I know it’s crazy, but I think Hei Hei views Kyle as some type of intruder rather than a guest. Hei Hei is stressed out and always on guard. I think he’s trying to protect me.”

Ophelia reached for her wine and took a healthy gulp, thinking the situation was getting out of control. “You know he’s all bark and no bite. He’s never hurt anyone before.”

“He bit Kyle’s foot yesterday,” Ethan said. “Just charged him and took a nip. Drew blood.”

She gasped. “What? I can’t believe this. Kyle grew up on a farm—animals love him.”

“Not Hei Hei,” Mia said glumly. “Between the dogs and my crazy chicken, we’re having a hard time being in such close quarters—and it’s only been four days. I don’t think we can continue like this, but I don’t want to tell Kyle to leave. This script is so important to him. Plus, Ethan said your mother treated him like family.”

The misery in her voice choked Ophelia with guilt.

Oh, this was worse than she’d thought. How could she let Mia continue like this?

She’d just moved in with Ethan a few months ago and they were confronting so many changes together. They didn’t need additional stress.

Ethan must have sensed her weakness, because he went straight to begging. “Please let Kyle stay with you. He can stay in his room. You’ll hardly have to see him. You won’t have to cook anything for him or treat him like a guest. Just let him hole up and write for three months. You’ll never even know he’s there.”

Their hopeful gazes caused her steely resolve to tremble. The problem was that she would know he was there. His presence would haunt her on a regular basis, mess with her head. She couldn’t admit the truth to her brother. Still, Mia was important to her, and this wasn’t her problem—even if Ethan had been the one to get them all into this mess.

“I’ll check the schedule and see what I can do,” she finally said. “I’m completely full this weekend, though. I had two couples already scheduled, and then today I received a call from a group of skiers for a last-minute weekend trip. Great for business, but I’ll be slammed for the next few days. Maybe next week I can try to work out an arrangement.”

Mia reached across the table and squeezed her hands in gratitude. “That’s all we’re asking. Maybe he can stay with us if the inn gets overbooked. We can be like a backup.”

“Just not a permanent residence,” Ethan said.

“I’ll check the schedule,” she said again. “Maybe next week I can find him a room to write in during the day, and he can stay with you at night.”

“That’d be great,” Ethan said quickly, putting up his hands. “We decided to head to the city this weekend anyway, so Kyle will have the place to himself until we get back.”

“How does Hei Hei feel about that arrangement?” Ophelia asked in amusement.

Mia winced. “He’s going to be pissed at me. But I’ll have Harper check in to make sure Hei Hei doesn’t kill Kyle.”

Ophelia laughed, silently cheering on the chicken’s bad behavior.

Serves the man right for thinking he could just waltz into her home and declare he wanted to write his screenplay, expecting her to fall in line like she used to. Hell, no. Not anymore.

They were finally on her turf and playing by her rules.

She concentrated on her dinner. She figured she’d work something out with her brother when he returned, but no matter how bad she felt for him, Kyle Kimpton would not be staying permanently at her inn.

“Stop staring at me. I can’t work.”

Kyle glared at the chicken currently giving him the evil eye. His clawed foot scratched at the floor and his head feathers crooked to the right, reminding him of a Stephen King–inspired killer fowl.

He’d been trying to work on the script since Ethan and Mia left for the weekend, but between the dogs and crazy chicken and the small space, he couldn’t get in the zone.

Muttering a curse, he got up from the too-saggy couch that swallowed his ass and walked to the window. Ethan said he’d talked to Ophelia, who was apparently finally considering his request. Something told him she was harboring a bigger grudge than he’d originally imagined.