TOUGH ROMANCE || scoups || BOOK ONE

12

Hani

Unsure how I felt leaving Mimi in a room with two grown men who had been grappling in the road mere minutes earlier, I reluctantly followed Jennie in a dark dining room.

The wallpaper was a deep green in a pattern I couldn't quite make out. The furniture was heavy and rustic. The wide plank table stretched on for nearly twelve feet and was buried under boxes and stacks of papers. Instead of chafing dishes or family photos, the walnut buffet was stacked high with bottles of wine and liquor. Bar glasses were crammed into a nearby hutch so full the doors didn't close.

I itched to dig into this mess.

The only light in this room came from the far wall where an arched opening led into what looked like a sun porch with floor to ceiling glass that needed scrubbing.

"You have a beautiful home." I ventured, gently shifting a half dozen plates stacked precariously on the corner of the table. From what I'd seen so far, the house had buckets of potential. It was just buried under dusty drapes and stacks of paper.

Jennie straightened from the buffet, a bottle of wine in each hand. She was short and soft on the outside, likes anyone's favourite grandma. But Jennie greeted her foster sons with chores and gruffiness.

I was curious what was said about the two men that family relationships didn't make it into introductions. If anyone had a right to avoid claiming their family in this town, it was me.

"I used to run it as a small lodge." She began, setting the bottles on top of the buffet. "I don't anymore. Guess you'll want to stay for a while."

Okay, so she's not big on small talk. Got it.

I nodded. "It's a lovely cottage. But I understand if it's an inconvenience. I'm sure I could come up with an alternative soon." That wasn't exactly a truth so much as a hope. The woman before me was my best chance of creating a little stability in the short term for my niece.

"Don't bother. It was just sitting there, going unused."

"That's very kind of you. If you don't mind, I'd like to discuss the rent and security deposit."

She shoved a wine bottle at me. "Opener's in the drawer."

I opened the tope drawer and found a bunch of tools but finally managed to find a corkscrew.

I went to work on the bottle. "As I was saying, money's a little bit tight."

"That's what happens when you got yourself a sister who steals from you and a new mouth to feed." Jennie said, arms crossed.

Seungcheol or Jeonghan had a very big mouth.

I said nothing and popped the Cork free.

"I'm guessing you'll need work too." She predicted. "Unless you work from home or something."

"I recently left my job." I said carefully.

And my home. My fiancé. And everything else in that life.

"How recently?"

People in Riperia were not shy about sticking their noses into other people's business.

"Yesterday."

"Heard my boy drove you out here with a wedding dress flying like a flag out the window. You're a runaway bride?" She set two glasses next to the open bottle and nodded.

I poured. "I guess I am." After a full year of planning. Of choosing everything from the cocktail hour appetisers to the colour of the table runner on the charcuterie table, it was all over. Wasted. All that time. All that effort. All that planning. All that money.