He walked quickly back to where he’d left Zoey with Phantom, feeling lighter than he had in almost a month. It wasn’t as if he didn’t appreciate that his pop had left him part of his legacy, but the truth of the matter was, he didn’t need it. Nor did he want it. He felt a little guilty about taking anything from his dad. He could’ve been a better son, and even though he was trying to get over the guilt for not coming home before it was too late, he was still struggling.
Simply seeing Zoey made him sag a little in relief. He couldn’t believe how much she’d come to mean to him in such a short time.
“How’d it go?” Zoey asked, rushing up to him in concern.
“It’s good. I need to call Kenneth and set something up, but I said I’d meet them at the lawyer’s office tomorrow around ten.”
“I’ll drive while you call him,” Phantom said, holding out his hand for the keys.
Without hesitation, Bubba handed over the keys to the rental. “Come on, let’s get out of here,” he said, putting his hand on Zoey’s lower back as they walked toward the door.
After saying hello to several people on their way out, and dealing with more condolences, Bubba was definitely ready to get to Zoey’s house.
He called Kenneth on the way, relayed his wishes, and the lawyer said he’d draw up the papers and have them waiting the next morning.
Phantom drove up a steep hill to the house Zoey had been renting from his father, and just like the first time he’d seen it, Bubba had to bite his tongue to keep his opinions to himself. The house wasn’t in the best shape. There were actual small trees growing out of the gutters. That wasn’t too surprising, since the area was wet most of the year, but Bubba wished the house Zoey had been living in had been better maintained. The shutters on the windows were falling off and the grass didn’t look like it had been mowed for at least a month.
There were old newspapers on the porch, and it was more than obvious to anyone driving by that the house wasn’t being lived in.
“Well, shit,” Zoey said as they pulled alongside it. There was no driveway, so Phantom parked on the side of the street in front of the house. “It usually looks much better than this,” she said with a frown.
“I thought you’d paid for someone to check on the house?” Bubba asked.
“I did.” Zoey sighed, and they all climbed out of the SUV. She took out her keys and made her way up the walk. “I thought it was all arranged. I’m going to have to call the real estate agent Tracy hired to look after the house and see what the hell happened. Maybe it was a miscommunication issue. Here’s to hoping the electricity is still on.”
She unlocked the door and started to enter, but Bubba gently stopped her. “Let me and Phantom check things out first.”
She frowned, but Bubba was relieved when she nodded and stepped back.
“We’ll just be a second.”
Zoey pulled out her phone and pressed a few buttons before looking at both him and Phantom. “I’ve got 9-1-1 at the ready. All I have to do is hit connect.”
Bubba would’ve chuckled, but Zoey was completely serious. He couldn’t help himself. It had been too long since he’d kissed her, and she was completely adorable right now. He leaned down and palmed the side of her neck and tilted her head up to him.
He kissed her long and hard, thrilled when she reciprocated. It wasn’t until Phantom cleared his throat impatiently that Bubba pulled back.
“You have your knife?” Zoey asked after licking her lips sensuously.
Bubba wanted nothing more than to push her up against the side of the house and taste her again, but he forced himself to take a step back. “Of course. I took it out of my checked bag as soon as it came off the conveyor belt.”
“Good. Okay, I’ll wait here.”
Nodding at her, Bubba turned to Phantom. “Ready?”
The other man had his own KA-BAR knife in his hand and looked more than prepared to kick some ass. “Ready.”
There was a saying, never bring a knife to a gun fight, implying that the person who brought the knife would be at a disadvantage, but both him and Phantom were more than lethal with their knives and had, more than once, either disarmed someone who had a gun or at least wounded them badly enough that shooting someone was the least of their worries.
Making his way through the house, Bubba kept his attention on clearing each of the rooms, making sure no one was lying in wait.
When they’d made it through the tiny house and they’d both put their knives back in the sheaths at the smalls of their backs, Phantom said, “Didn’t Zoey say she’d also been paying someone to start packing up her stuff?”
Frowning, Bubba nodded. “Yeah. Doesn’t look like much has been packed, that’s for sure. Fuck.”
Phantom clicked one of the switches and the room filled with light. “At least the electricity works,” he said with a shrug.
“Probably because she was paying the electric company directly,” Bubba grumbled. He headed for the front porch and let out a small sigh of relief when he saw Zoey standing exactly where he’d left her.
“Is everything all right?” she asked anxiously.
“Yeah, Zo. Everything’s good,” Bubba reassured her.
She nodded and pocketed her phone. “You say that, but your tone of voice says differently.”
“It’s just…whoever you were paying to get your stuff packed up most likely took your money and didn’t do a damn thing.”
Zoey simply sighed. “I was afraid of that. I’ll call the real estate lady tomorrow and see what’s up. I set up everything through Tracy, and she was supposed to get in touch with the realtor and they were going to see to it.”
“Tracy?” Bubba asked.
“The lawyer’s wife.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s right.”
“Sean offered to have his wife help. I should’ve taken him up on it,” Zoey said with a frown.
“I can also talk to Kenneth tomorrow and see what’s up,” Phantom told her.
“Thanks. I’d appreciate that.”
Zoey walked into the house and put her purse down on a table against the wall and wandered into the kitchen. “I’m guessing there’s not much to eat. Who wants to go out and get dinner?”
Bubba looked meaningfully at Phantom.
His friend smirked and said, “I guess that’d be me.”
“Do you like seafood?” she asked Phantom.
“Love it,” he replied.
“Good. There’s a place called The Salmon Spot, and it’s one of my favorite places to eat here in Juneau. I’ll call and order us a mix of stuff and we can all share. Is that okay?”
“Of course,” Bubba answered. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, grabbing his credit card and handing it to her. “Here, use this.”
Zoey didn’t reach for it. “I can pay,” she said stubbornly.
“I know you can. But you aren’t,” Bubba said sternly.
They stared at each other for a long moment, a battle of wills Bubba knew without a doubt he’d win. Then she sighed and snatched the plastic out of his hand. “Fine. But next time’s on me.”
Bubba didn’t agree or disagree.