When Zoya finished with  the Ark boxes and returned to the house, she had a message waiting from  Foster. They'd picked up a body, and the family wanted a quick burial, so  she'd need to work on Sunday. At least it'd get her away from Roman.  She'd avoided the subject, and he'd not mentioned kicking her out again,  which she attributed to the cooking. He'd already eaten half the pie.  Even without Mariana's help, or having lived with Charamel, Zoya could  tell just from the soiled pages of the recipe book, which selections  were favorites.

She'd watched him drive away in the new truck and assumed he'd return before dinner.  

The men who came to the  house today and construction plans she'd seen on the bedside table told  her there was about to be more activity than she wanted. But if she  complained, he might kick her out, meals or no meals. Dealing with the  mess and strangers would be a challenge, but she had no choice.

After locking her  bedroom door, she pulled the paint can from behind the chair. More  cooking meant more groceries. She'd done a meal-plan and market list for  the next two weeks. She removed the lid and peered inside. Her family  picture had always been on top, but now Dad was first. An odd feeling  crawled up her spine. Had Roman been in her room and found her hiding  place? He had no right. This was her stuff. She counted the bundles. All there. She was just being paranoid.

But a new location might  be in order in case he did search. Under the mattress? No. He'd look  there for sure. She stepped to the bathroom. The Catch had an  episode where drug dealers hid their goods in a plastic bag immersed in  the toilet tank. The thought made her queasy. She opened the cabinet  below the sink and spied a box of tampons. He'd never check there. She  made the transfer, placed the remaining tampons on top, and slid the  box back in its spot.

If he had snooped, then  why hadn't he said something? Her heart hammered. What if he thought the  money was stolen and had gone to the police? No. If so, they would have  already been here. Maybe he was waiting. But for what? Her mind raced.

The sound of a car door  got her attention. She peeked out the window. He was back earlier than  expected. Before he came in, she was in the kitchen. "Nice truck."

"Thanks."

She shoved a paper  toward him. "Here's a list of meals. If there's anything special you  want me to add, tell me so I can get the ingredients."

He barely looked at the sheet. "I need a drink."

From the cabinet he took  whiskey and poured into a glass she already had sitting out. Drink in  one hand and the bottle in the other, he walked to the back porch, sat, and  propped his feet onto the railing. He stayed that way until she called  him for dinner.

Something was going on  with him, but she didn't know what. He didn't speak during the meal and  she wanted to tell him she knew he'd been poking around in her room, but  his mood warned it wasn't a good idea.

An hour later, he left  again, and after cleaning the kitchen, securing the cats, she walked  through the woods to Mariana's house. Twilight winked through the trees,  and as she drew closer to the workshop, a pleasant odor drifted to her. 

Soap molds covered the  table where Mariana and Lemon were busy at work, removing and stacking  the bars. When the door opened, Mariana looked up.

"How do you like this scent?"

Zoya inhaled and smiled. "I like it. It's new isn't it?"

"Yeah. The idea came in  the middle of the night. I'm adding a men's line with aphrodisiac  fragrances. Sandalwood and vanilla. Cedar and honey. And here's the  biggie... cinnamon. Supposedly, it was used by the Queen of Sheba in  her seduction of King Solomon. I'm calling the selection, Stud Suds.  What do you think?"

Before she could answer,  Lemon chimed in. "I love it! The name conjures all sorts of results  without any advertising. I mean, if a guy's already a stud, will it make  him more of one? If he's a nerd, will the soap turn him into a stud  hammer?" She flapped her hands in the air as if directing the scent to  her nose. "Holy hell. Even if it doesn't, he'll smell good enough to  eat, or at least, lick."

Mariana rolled her eyes,  a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, and picked up a sheet of  paper. "I'm thinking it might be good to categorize the soaps instead of  just individual selections. I'll still have those but I'll also do Baby  Bubbles, with light, airy fragrances and maybe Sexy Scents for  females."

Lemon stacked empty  molds and carried them to a nearby rack. "If you come up with a bar that  smells like cash and a Corvette, you'll have women going wild!"

"Roman got a new truck," Zoya said.

Lemon blinked. "That  makes me think - since this is Louisiana, I may need to change my  suggestion to cash and truck. And don't leave the younger kids out. You  can do a line called Teenage Temptations. I bet that'd be a big seller." 

"That or Raging Cravings."

Mariana and Lemon stared at Zoya, then laughed.

"Holy hell! Did you make a joke?"

Zoya shrugged. "I don't know. Did I?"

Mariana grinned. "I think you did, and it was a good one. Speaking of Roman, how's it going with him?"

"He brought a girl home."

"Really? I didn't think he'd been in town long enough to meet anybody, but after what you told me, I guess he found one."

Lemon cocked her head. "Told you what?"

"Roman tried to scare Zoya into leaving by telling her he was horny." Mariana giggled. "I told her to bake him a pie."

"And I did. He ate almost all of it. He's been looking around in my room. Should I say something?"

"Is anything missing?"

"No."

"Then maybe you  shouldn't bring it up. You're hanging by a thread getting to stay there.  He may have done it to start an argument. Then it'd be easier for him  to kick you out." Mariana wiped the countertop, raking soap shavings  into the trash can. "Remember, he just got out of prison and probably  doesn't trust anyone, and since you were a big surprise, you're at the  top of that list. He's not.." Mariana turned around to look her in the  eye. "He's not a bad guy. I was friends with his sister. He  raised her, would do anything for her. He's always taken care of people  he cared about. He's been burned, and he's putting up this asshole front  of his, and he does it well."

"I saw construction  plans in his room. He's building onto the house. Yesterday, a plumber  and electrician came. I don't want all those strange people coming and  going, and I hope he doesn't keep finding women."

Lemon laughed. "You make it sound like he's hunting Easter eggs."

"Again, he may be doing  this to make you want to leave." Mariana removed her apron, folded it  and put it under the counter. "Y'all stay as long as you like but Andrew  is picking me up in an hour, so I've got to get ready."

"I've got to go, too."  Lemon pulled photos from her purse and handed them to Zoya. "I took some  shots of my latest creations. Thought they might help you get an idea  of the products I have planned. No hurry. I'm just in the beginning  stages. See you later."

After Lemon left, Zoya  gave Mariana the grocery list and money. "I hate to ask you to shop  again this soon, but if I cook every day, I'll need more things."

"I don't mind a bit. I'll get them for you tomorrow."

"Thank you."

"You're more than welcome."

Once Zoya was alone,  she worked on new drawings for her friend's latest brainstorm. Baby  Bubbles came easily. She drew fledglings sitting in an ark-shaped bubble  bath. Mariana wanted to play up the Arcadia aspect of the business. The  original design of the goat in the tub would be the logo shown on the  back of each wrapper.

She spread Lemon's  pictures on the table. Besides the beer cap jewelry, she'd added the  same selections using shell casings, with colored crystals in the center  of each one. Bracelets, necklaces, rings made from different calibers.  Zoya couldn't believe it. They were pretty.

It was ten o'clock by  the time she headed back home, and when the old house came into view,  Roman's truck sat in the drive with the same car from the night before  parked behind it. Zoya's stomach somersaulted. Why couldn't she take him  to her house instead of coming here?

Zoya spun around and  went back to Mariana's to sleep in the barn. She raked fresh hay into a  pile, then curled into it. Good thing she wasn't allergic. Getting  settled, she thought about Roman and what she should do. As much as she  hated her situation, she didn't see an alternative—unless...they traded  bedrooms. That way, he and his guests would have access to the bathroom.  With that final thought, she drifted to sleep.

The next morning, she  woke early and hoped the visitor had left. If not, Zoya would come back  here, shower, and borrow something to wear.

She took her time  walking through the woods and wished the treehouse had a view of the  place, that way she wouldn't have to go all the way home before she knew  if the coast was clear. Just as she feared, the woman's car was still  in the drive. Zoya took a deep breath and as she started to leave, the  stranger came out.

She drove away and Zoya  thanked her stars she'd not had to listen to the wails and moans of the  couple. She eased the door open and tiptoed inside. No need to wake the  sleeping giant.

After a quick bath, she  dressed for the day, took care of the cats, and wrote a note. She got  the peanut butter from the pantry and the jelly from the fridge. Lost in  thought, she didn't hear her roommate until he spoke.

"What the hell are you doing?"

She jerked upright. "Making a sandwich."

"Are you sure, because I've been standing here five minutes and with you bobbing up and down, you look like you're dancing."

"I'm checking to make  sure the layers are even and all the way to the edge of the bread." This  was her opportunity to use her word of the day. "Peanut butter is so  unctuous. That means smooth and greasy."

He walked to stand next to her. "No shit. Well, it looks okay to me."

She slid the knife along  the crust. "No, see that white strip." Gliding the blade across the  filling, she pushed it to the outer border. "Now, I'm ready for the  jelly." She spooned out a glob and swirled it. After a full minute of  smearing grape from one side to the other, she backed away, leaned  forward until she had it at eye level, and focused like surveying a  piece of land. Satisfied with the results, she pressed the two pieces  together, cut them in half, and put them in a sandwich bag.

He stepped away. "Where were you last night?"

"Mariana's. Is that woman your girlfriend?"

He chuckled. "Not hardly."

"Well, if you're going to keep bringing women here, I think we should trade rooms."

"An even better idea is you getting your own place."

"Not just rooms. Furniture, too. Maybe some of those men you have coming will help."

"I'm sure I can get them to help load your stuff."

"Why would they do that? I live here."

"Yeah, about that. Went  to the bank yesterday and see you've continued to pay rent each month,  but you know what happens when you get a new landlord."

She turned to face him. "What?"

"Rent goes up. Starting next month, it doubles."

She swallowed hard. Not paranoia. He knew about the money.

Guess Roman is still trying to get rid of his unwanted housemate.

TEASER: "Well, fuck me. Didn't know I had to alphabetize."