The Billionaire Boyfriend Proposal: A Kavanagh Family Novel Read Free

had been used
to great effect to highlight the clown's sad eyes and the teary
smudge through the white makeup. It was evocative, beautiful, and
made me want to give the poor clown a hug. I certainly didn't want
to scrub him off. Sadly, that's exactly what the man dressed in
orange overalls was doing.
    "Have the police seen these?" I asked, hoping
to delay the process just a little longer.
    Becky nodded and laughed. "You live in a
bubble, don't you?"
    "I can't see the street from the house." I
shrugged one shoulder. "It's isolated and peaceful."
    "Or lonely."
    I blinked at her, but she didn't notice. She
was waving at her sister and Reece standing at the Kavanagh gate.
They waved back. Becky took my hand and dragged me over.
    I steeled myself for my first proper
conversation with Reece since he'd called off the bulldozers. The
few minutes he'd spent telling me he would leave my house untouched
didn't count. I'd still been buzzing from the protest and my
encounter with Blake, and he'd been on a high after kissing Cleo.
Maybe he was going to tell me he'd changed his mind.
    Cleo embraced me before I could even get "Hi"
out of my mouth. I glanced past her to Reece and he gave me a
sheepish smile.
    "It's never quiet in Willow Crescent," he
said.
    "What a mess," Cleo said, pulling away from
me. She nodded at the clown. "That one would look good on canvas,
but it doesn't really suit the street." We all stood with our backs
to the Kavanagh gate and looked at the sad clown.
    "I don't know," Reece said. "There are a few
clowns living along here."
    "Mega rich ones," Cleo said, hooking her arm
around his waist. "I bet they're not crying."
    "Money can't buy happiness and all that." He
kissed the top of her head. She glanced up at him with so much love
in her eyes it hurt to be an outsider looking in. I felt like I was
intruding.
    "Apparently your mother thinks I had
something to do with this," I said, crossing my arms.
    Reece frowned. "No, she doesn't."
    "But she is wondering why my fence wasn't
targeted."
    "We all are," Cleo said. "But not because we
think you had anything to do with it."
    It was easy to fight with a Kavanagh, but not
when a Denny joined forces with them. I liked Cleo and Becky. I
didn't want to argue with them. I let the matter drop.
    "The police are inspecting the CCTV footage,"
Reece said, pointing out the security cameras attached to the
nearby gates. "They'll probably catch their suspect soon enough,
especially with that tag. It's pretty distinctive."
    "I just hope the poor kid gets let off with a
warning," I said. "Graffiti is hardly a hard core crime."
    "In that case, you'd better hope he doesn't
come back. There are some along here who want to see him given the
maximum sentence."
    Figured. The residents of Willow Crescent—of
Serendipity Bend for that matter—prided themselves on their
manicured lawns and perfect hedges. If the graffitist were a poor
homeless kid like so many of them were, they wouldn't care what
happened to him as long as he stopped. They had never had to worry
about where the next meal was coming from or how to keep themselves
warm in winter. I included myself in that. I may not be as wealthy
as everyone else in the Bend, but I'd always had a roof over my
head. I did hope that I was more sympathetic than most,
particularly to a talented artist which our graffitist clearly
was.
    "I was on my way to come and see you," Reece
said to me. "I've got a proposal for you."
    "Kicking me out already?"
    "I won't be going back on my word,
Cassie."
    I swallowed and didn't say anything.
    "I want to renovate," he said.
    "So you said yesterday. You haven't changed
your mind?"
    He smiled. "No. It needs work and I'm
worried— we're worried—it might fall down around you."
    I was under no illusion that I had Cleo to
thank for this change in his attitude. "You don't have to," I told
him.
    "I do. It's a landlord's responsibility.
Besides, I want to. If I let the property go now, it'll cost more
to fix it later.