Her Better Half

“Good. You’ll do fine.” Erin grinned. “Though I’ve got to admit I’m having a hard time picturing you cleaning someone else’s toilet.”

I grimaced while she laughed at me. That was actually the only part of the job I didn’t object to. I wondered how Ava was going to feel ten years from now when she was married to a man she had nothing in common with.

Once Erin had left, I dug out the change to cover my own cup of coffee. As I dumped it on the counter, Murphy walked up from behind me.

“Is it broken?” He picked the alarm clock off the counter and looked it over.

“My daughter says it is. I thought maybe at the hardware store Denny could give me the name of someone—”

“You’ll end up getting charged enough money to buy a new one.”

Yes. He was probably right. I’d have to use part of the extra hundred dollars I was going to earn this afternoon to buy a replacement. I held out my hand to take it back, but Murphy ignored me.

“Our garbage dumps are full enough. Leave this with me and I’ll take a look at it. It’s probably something simple.”

“But—” Why would he offer to do something like this? I really hadn’t thought he liked me at all. Was it possible he truly was offering out of concern for the environment? “Thank you. I’ll pay you for your time.”

“Yeah? I wouldn’t make that offer if I was you.” He waved a hand at me. “Now get out of here. I’ve got customers waiting for that stool.”

He didn’t, the place was half-empty, but I left as requested.

At twelve-thirty, I took the bus to the subway and rode to the St. George stop. When we’d first moved to Dovercourt Village, I hadn’t taken the subway in years and had forgotten that the concept of personal space was meaningless on public transport. Now I was becoming accustomed to the smell of strangers again, and the distinction between the sway of the bus versus the rocking motion of the subway.

The truly great thing about transit, however, was never needing to worry about finding a parking space or encountering a snarl in traffic. When I emerged from the subway station, cars were at a standstill on both sides of the street. I blithely walked past the jam and headed north to the dentist’s condo.

With Erin’s piece of paper in hand, I stopped in front of an elegant stucco building and consulted the address again.

Yes, this was the right place.

I followed the brick path to the front security door. A well-dressed woman exiting the complex gave me a frown, then paused to make sure the door had closed completely before leaving me on the stoop.

I made a show of pulling out my keys. She glared.

“I’m the new cleaning lady for unit two.”

Clearly she didn’t believe me. I tucked my pearls back under the cotton T-shirt I’d worn for the gig, then slipped my key into the lock, praying it would work.

It did.

Ironically, just as I’d proven I had a legitimate reason to be here, I felt like the criminal that woman had obviously thought I might be.

This was so crazy. I was about to enter the house of a perfect stranger.

Cleaning ladies do it all the time.

Yes, but cleaning ladies don’t check for extra toothbrushes. They don’t make lists of their client’s reading materials and examine the contents of their kitchen cupboards. At least, they aren’t supposed to.

So you’re a snoopy cleaning lady. There’s no law against snooping.

Okay, technically I wasn’t breaking the law. But ethically speaking, I was still about to do something wrong.

If you’re going to be a wuss about this, maybe you should look for a different job.

I let the door close behind me. I was inside.

The building’s foyer was spotless and fortunately deserted. I followed the hallway to the left. Adam’s unit was the second one. As I let myself in, I heard a door farther down the hall open, then shut again.

A nosy neighbor? I closed Adam’s door behind me with relief.

The hardest part was over. At least I didn’t have to worry that anyone was watching me in here.

I surveyed the foyer, which was surprisingly tidy for a single man living on his own. All the coats were hung in the closet. A gym bag sat on a footstool next to an umbrella rack. Shoes were organized in a neat line on the floor under the jackets.

At least he was neat. But then, he was a dentist—what did I expect?

The rest of the condo was also neat, but not particularly clean. The blinds were coated with dust and the grout in the shower was suspiciously black.

I wondered how long it had been since Adam’s previous cleaning lady had quit. But that was at least a year’s worth of dust on the blinds. Which meant Adam didn’t keep very close tabs on his cleaning lady.

That should have been good news. It meant that I didn’t need to worry about doing a top-notch job.

Unfortunately, I didn’t think I could live with myself if I snooped and shirked my cleaning duties. Which meant I was going to be working very hard for my hundred dollars today.

CHAPTER 5

B y the time I made it home after cleaning Adam’s condo, it was already five o’clock. Jamie was prowling the kitchen on the search for something to make for dinner. A new postcard from her father had been tossed on the kitchen table.