His legal team had quickly put the kibosh on the crap about historical value that local societies had spouted. Anyway, he couldn't care less if the crown moldings had been handcrafted by early settlers of the area.
He wanted new. He wanted modern.
Squaring his shoulders, Tanner stepped inside his "new" apartment and looked around. The size of the place surprised him. A large living room was separated by a breakfast bar from a decent-sized kitchen. The appliances were extremely outdated, but the apartment wasn't as filthy as he was expecting.
Huge windows opened out onto the grungy street, but Tanner saw potential for the neighborhood, especially since every area except his building was cleaned up. The riffraff living in the building ensured that this particular neighborhood remained sketchy, but he'd been told that respectable businesses would come back if this building was replaced. Nearby, a new complex was in line to be completed next year. Things were improving here, dammit.
But he had to think about the here and now. And it could be worse. Down a short hallway, he found a roomy bathroom, again with outdated fixtures, but still decently clean. Then there were two bedrooms - with ridiculously small closets. Okay, maybe they weren't that small, but he was used to everything being larger than normal. That thought brought his first smile of the day. It quickly disappeared when he heard someone call out.
"Hello?"
Who in the world would be coming into his place uninvited? No one even knew he was here, not even his brothers and his sister. He hadn't wanted to tell anyone. If his siblings got word that he was being forced to don a Santa suit, they'd be first in line to point cameras directly at him.
His only consolation was that the judge hadn't listed where he was to do his community service when the reporters swarmed around him after the hearing was over. He didn't doubt that they'd figure it out, though. This would be too juicy a photo op for anyone in the media to pass up. He'd just keep his fingers crossed that it didn't happen.
Walking back out to the living room, he found a petite blonde with bright blue eyes looking at him, a welcoming smile on her face. Before he was able to say anything, she spoke.
"Your door was open so I thought I'd see who was in here. They've frozen any of the apartments from being rented, so … " Her meaning was loud and clear. She thought he was a vagrant who had found a warm place to sleep.
Jeez. She wasn't the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree to be confronting someone who could be a criminal.
He approached her. "I won't be here long," he replied, his manner stiff. "But I am living here for now. Do you always just walk into other people's homes?"
His unpleasant tone made her take a step back, and he had to give her a few points for at least being a bit nervous.
"Sorry about that, but like I said, your door was open and these apartments aren't being rented," she said, leaving it hanging in the air. When he said nothing, she continued. "How long are you staying?" She didn't look him in the eye this time, but instead looked around the empty room. Nothing in it except for one large duffel bag.
"That's undetermined right now," he told her. He'd learned never to give out too much information and he didn't care what this woman thought about him, so let her wonder how he'd managed to rent an unrentable apartment.
The woman looked at him with wide eyes and a wavering smile, but she still just stood there as if trying to determine whether she could trust him or not. What if he were a serial killer? Did she have no self-preservation instincts at all?
"I've lived here for two years. It's a great place if you can get past the mice," she said with a laugh. "At least there are a lot of storage areas."
"Mice?" Tanner looked around uneasily.
"Yeah, but I've named them, so I'm not so scared of the little critters anymore."
"Named them?" Tanner almost found it amusing that he kept repeating what she said. Almost.
"Yeah, you know, like in Cinderella. Or A Little Princess - but Melchisidec was a rat, and there's a difference, of course. I would say the Disney mice would help you unpack, but you don't have anything here. Were you making sure you liked the place first?"
Tanner realized that he hadn't ordered a bed, a couch, anything. He wasn't looking forward to being here, and he just hadn't thought that far ahead. Of course he would need some basics, even for only from now until Christmas. His assistant should have been on top of this. Maybe it was time to hire a new one.
"Everything will be delivered later today," Tanner said as he moved toward the door. Would this woman take the hint?
"Oh, that must be nice not having to move it yourself. I despise moving. It's so physically and emotionally exhausting and then you always lose something in the process - every single time, no matter how organized you are or how carefully you label the boxes."