Mr. H.O.A., Carina Taylor [uplifting book club books .txt] 📗

worry, we’ll make sure Dad gets voted in as the next HOA president."

I tugged on Bane's hand, and he reluctantly followed me down the hall toward the kitchen. Jan had moved to Corvallis so that she could live close to her son who lived in the freshman dorms at Oregon State University.

She happily sold the house to Bane and me. Turns out, he wasn't joking about paying for things with cash. He legit wrote Jan a check for the entirety of the house. I nearly choked on my tongue when that happened.

Luckily, we happened to know a decent real estate agent who dropped his regular fee. He opted for a kiss from me. And he remained the president of the HOA.

Dad didn't think it was necessary to explain things to the neighborhood since Bane had only been living in his father-in-law's house.

And now that Mom was home from her trip? We'd established a weekly nine o'clock brunch at our house every week. We'd been moved in for a whole month now. It would be our fourth brunch. Bane, introvert that he was, was such a sweetheart with each breakfast. My parents adored him, and I had to admit it felt great to spend time with them again. I had a lot of lost time to make up for.

"Good morning!" My mom sang as she first hugged me and then Bane. Did anything beat my mom's hugs? They were a constant in my life, and I loved seeing her make Bane squirm with her overly affectionate ways. I was convinced if there were more of my mother, the world would be a much happier place. She loved on everyone who came within reach.

"What's for breakfast?" Dad asked as he stepped into the kitchen.

"Oh, you brought him today too!" I pretended to be surprised. Something sharp pinched me, and I turned around to glare at Bane. "I was just teasing!"

When my parents went to the coffee counter to make their own cups, I caught Bane around the waist and leaned up to whisper in his ear, "You pinch me again, and I'm going to make you pay for that."

His eyes practically sparkled as he leaned down and whispered, "Is that a promise?"

I smacked his arm and turned around to pull bacon from the oven.

Breakfast consisted of bacon, croissants, and fruit salad—heavy on the grapefruit.

We spent the next hour sitting at the table, eating breakfast and drinking coffee. Bane and I played a not-so-subtle game of footsie while my mom and dad openly held hands any chance they got. My dad really had missed her when she was gone.

"Nola, I have some news," Dad said as he set down his orange juice glass.

I hurried and swallowed my bite of croissant. "You're not sick, are you?"

"No! Why would you say that?" he asked defensively. "Do I look ill to you?"

"Hey now! You made it sound so ominous. What did you think I was going to assume?"

"Children!" Mom cried.

Bane was busy draining his orange juice glass that I suspected wasn't just orange juice.

Dad sighed. "I have some news about Riley."

I leaned forward and rested my elbows on the table. "What did you find out?"

"You're not going to like it."

"Dad. Just tell me. Is she okay?"

He nodded, picked up his croissant, and buttered it generously. "She's fine. She's working. Your brother found her. She’s raising her sister. She's still in Oregon."

"What?" I was genuinely shocked. Riley had had so many grand dreams. Places she would go, things she would see, all the things she would accomplish over her life. I knew that she would do well for herself. She wouldn't fall into the same pattern that her parents had lived before her. Even if she was raising her sister, it was shocking that she was still in the same state as me. "Where does she live in Oregon?"

"This is the part you're not going to like. She's living in a trailer park in Burnside."

"Give me her address." I thumped my hand against the tabletop. "She's been so close this whole time?"

"Nola, sometimes people don't want to be found. If she hasn't reached out to you..."

"Dad. Remember the time I went on that date with the boy Riley didn't like?"

"Wait, what boy are you talking about?" Bane suddenly seemed interested in the conversation.

"He was a creep." I waved a hand through the air. "Riley refused to let me go alone. I was so mad at her. But you know what? She was right. And that's what you do for your friends. You stick with them even when they don't want you to. I want that address."

Dad nodded and pulled out his phone, texting it to me.

Bane stood up and grabbed his keys from the key hook on the wall, nodding to me. "Let's go."

I stared at him. His lean body towered in the doorway leading away from the kitchen.

No questions asked. He knew I needed to see my friend. Right then. "Really?"

He smiled softly. "Really."

I tossed my napkin on the table and called, "Mind locking up after us?"

"Sure thing, honey," Mom called.

I followed Bane to the garage, where he opened my car door for me. "You ready for this?"

Nodding, I buckled my seat belt as he closed the door and hurried around to the driver's seat to start the car. "I feel as though it's been hanging over me for years. I thought it was my fault. I thought it was my dad's fault. I thought it was the system's fault. I feel as though I need answers on why she disappeared."

"And we'll get them. I know how much this means to you," Bane told me as he pulled onto the main street in Riverly.

I leaned across the middle consul and kissed his cheek. "How did I ever get so lucky to be married to you?"

He shrugged. "You bought too many grapefruit."

I threw my head back and laughed. "You will never let me live that down, will you?"

"Never. I plan on reminding you for the next fifty years." He