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Ryan’s staring at me like I just shot a reindeer in front of him

I force

“Oh, this staircase is so brown,” Mr Swizzle declares, co out to tap the historic ork that adds to the house’s charm Then, in a fit of inspiration, he declares, “I’ll replace the spindles ire cable It’s very on-trend”

That breaks so in Ryan’s brain I see it in the twitch of his eyes To be fair, even I recoil, but that’s not the point

“Excuse me?” Ryan asks Mr Swizzle

Mr Swizzle shrugs “I just hate old things”

“Who are these people?” Ryan hisses to me

I bite my lip “The only buyers I could find you as a last-h for you, Cityscraper?”

“Why are you selling this place?” Mrs Swizzle asks, co out of the kitchen “Total fixer-upper But if you’re trying to inflate the price—”

“He’s not Reindeer Fallshie at the insult that this house is a “fixer-upper” “And he knows it, so he’ll cut a deal with you to get out of town fast”

“What kind of a deal?” Mr Swizzle asks, intrigued

“Yes, what kind of deal?” Mrs Swizzle adds, clapping her hands together “Because I only want to use this house in December You know, a Christht now Turn-key would have been better, but we can have this place gut-renovated in time for next Christmas”

“Excuseto keep his voice steady “You only want to use the house in December? My uncle’s beloved pride and joy? This house is on the Reindeer Falls historic registry As a licensed architect I can assure you you won’t get approval for a gut renovation, which the house doesn’t need”

The Swizzles blink at him, confused by most of the words he just used

So he simplifies it down to two

“Get out,” he says, pointing at the door And then, just to me, he shakes his head Like he has the nerve to be disappointed in me