Free The Trouble With Snowmen by Dorlana Vann Page B

don’t you?”
    He remembered the night of the séance the way the apartment felt so right, and he had met Haley. For some reason being here again gave him his first bit of happiness since Haley had left. “No, I don’t hate it.”
    Regina said, “The house has been in my family since 1925. I’m a third generation Houstonian. I renovated it into these apartments about ten years ago. I replaced all the appliances about two years ago. There is a laundry room, but I had to convert an attached building out back. So it’s a little inconvenient. Here, let me take you on a quick tour.”
    Brenda wrapped her arm in Larry’s as they followed Regina down the hallway.
    “As y’all know,” Regina continued, “there are four separate apartments. We’re a little family here, and I really hate selling . . . hate leaving. You see, my boyfriend asked me to move away with him, and I said yes. Gosh, I hope it stays a family around here.” She sighed. “Anyways, I’m going to show you Maximilian’s apartment first. Miss Fisher said y’all know each other? That’s neat.”
    Larry nodded, not believing how much he’d rambled on to Brenda without even thinking about it.
    They bypassed the apartment where he’d attended the séance and went to Apartment Three. She poked her head in. “Hey Maximilian! You around?” She closed the door. “I guess he’s not here. We’ll go to another apartment, and I’ll text him,” she said, getting out her phone, “and see what’s up.”
    Regina typed on her phone and kept talking as they headed back down the hall toward the entrance. “We’ll take a look at Apartment Four, the so-called haunted apartment. I know you’ve already seen this one, but there have been a few changes.” She opened the door and entered first.
    As Larry stepped inside the apartment, he was taken aback. It looked completely different than it had the other night. The curtains were open behind a large, shiny, dark-brown desk. In the living room to the right, matching black leather furniture sat on an oriental rug.
    “Surprise!” Brenda gleamed. “This is all for you. It’s like you, manly and professional.”
    Heat rose from Larry’s neck and set his face on fire. “When did you do all this?”
    “Yesterday,” Brenda said. “I’ve been dying to tell you. The bedroom stuff will arrive later today.” She bounced her eyebrows suggestively. All Larry could think was love shack for her mistress.
    “There’s something wrong.” Brenda’s face fell. “Do you want different furniture?”
    He wanted to shout, “There’s a helluva lot wrong with the situation.” But he couldn’t tell her right then, with Regina standing right there and with Brenda so excited with the gift she had given him. He didn’t want to decline the gift and humiliate her all at the same time. Besides, maybe it would be a great place to write for a little while. Brenda was not a clingy woman. As soon as he told her it wasn’t working out, she’d probably say something like “It wasn’t working out for me first.”
    “It’s fine,” Larry said. “I mean, awesome. Thank you.”
    “And I didn’t forget my keys this morning. I went back to get this.”
    She opened a satchel, which he just now realized she’d carried, and took out his laptop, and set it on the desk. Then she revealed his wallet.
    “I had your little assistant—Neal, is it?—drop it off at my office yesterday.”
    He’d never heard anyone call Neal little before. “What about my car?”
    “I figured I’d have it towed if you really need it right away.”
    “You thought of everything,” he said.
    “Of course.” Brenda gave Larry his wallet and smiled, locking her arm in his. “Okay, Regina, if we could go ahead and peek at the other two apartments quickly, I have an appointment.”
    “Sure, sure,” she said and led them back out into the hallway. “This one here belongs to Haley. I’m going to go in for a second and see if she’s up to company. I