Page 48 of Comforting the Grump

I ended the call, clutching my phone. That was it, then. I officially was screwed now. Oh god, what was I gonna do? I had maybe two or three months until I wouldn’t be able to pay my mortgage. If I told my parents, they’d step in, but that couldn’t last indefinitely. I needed to find a new job, and I needed to find it fast.

My hand hovered over Marnin’s name in my phone, and then I hit the call button. Somehow, I needed to hear his voice. He was good at being analytical. Maybe he could help me find an angle to focus on, something to take hope from.

“Ennio? This is unexpected,” he said, a hint of warmth underlying the surprise. “What’s up?”

No small talk for Marnin. The man was so predictable. “Marnin, I…” My throat tightened. “I’m in trouble.”

“Trouble? What’s going on?” I could picture his brow furrowing, his analytical mind already whirring into motion.

“I lost my job.”

“Mrs. Coombe fired you?”

“The Lodge was sold, and the new owners don’t want any of us. We’re all out of a job.”

“Goddammit.” He let out a sharp sigh. “That sucks. I’m sorry, Ennio.”

“So am I.”

“But you have savings, right? Enough to tide you over for a bit?”

I took a deep breath. “Not anymore. I trusted the wrong person, and now it’s all gone.”

I told him about Rudy Catanzaro and how I had thought I was making an adult decision, a smart one to invest my savings. My voice broke more times than I cared to admit, but once the dam broke, there was no holding back the river of fear and uncertainty that followed.

“You’re telling me someone swindled you out of your life’s savings?” Marnin’s voice, usually so controlled, now thundered with unrestrained fury.

“Everything,” I whispered, my throat aching as if the words were shards of glass. “He stole twenty-seven thousand dollars from me. I’ve got nothing left.”

“That fucking bastard!” He let out a growl of indignation that sent shivers down my spine. “I hope the FBI catches him and nails him to the wall.”

“Even if they do, I still won’t have my money back. God, Marnin, I don’t know what to do,” I admitted, feeling raw and exposed in a way that terrified me. “I’m so scared. I could lose my house, everything.”

There was a beat of silence, and for a moment, I feared I’d pushed him too far, asked for too much from a man who kept his emotions locked away like priceless artifacts.

“Hey, hey, breathe, Ennio. I’m here.” Marnin’s tone shifted, something fierce and protective simmering beneath his words. “We’ll figure this out together, okay?”

His words were a salve to the open wound of my vulnerability. “I need another job. I have two weeks left, but Mrs.Coombe said she’s willing to let me go sooner if I find something else. But where? I haven’t heard of any openings in Forestville or towns around us.”

“Come to Seattle. There’s plenty of jobs here.”

“I know, but where would I?—”

“You’ll stay with me.” His tone left no room for argument. “Tell Mrs. Coombe to go suck a dick and get your ass over here. My place is your place for as long as you need it.”

His offer slammed into me like a tidal wave, overwhelming in its suddenness, leaving me gasping for air. That, too, was Marnin. Oh, his walls were almost impenetrable, but once you’d scaled them, once he’d adopted you into his tight circle of friends, he was as loyal as they came and so goddamn generous. “Marnin, I?—”

“No,” he interjected, the crisp click of what I imagined to be him pacing across the hardwood floors of his Seattle apartment in the background. “Don’t give me any of that ‘I couldn’t possibly’ nonsense. This is what friends do. And beyond that, Ennio, I…” He trailed off, and I could almost see the internal struggle, the way he battled his own emotional restraints.

“Thank you,” I managed, the two simple words heavy with all the gratitude swirling inside me. “You have no idea what this means to me.”

“Actually, I think I do.” His tone softened, a rare moment of tenderness breaking through his usual armor. “Hang tight, okay? We’ll get through this together. I promise.”

A surge of warmth flooded me, a stark contrast to the bone-deep cold I’d felt since hearing the devastating news earlier that day. “I’ll need to talk to my parents…and Auden.”

He muttered a soft curse. “Can you let me break the news to Auden? About you staying with me, I mean. He’ll have an opinion on that, and I don’t want you to get caught in between. Best to let me handle that.”

I chuckled. “I’d be happy to let you have that particular conversation. The one with my parents is gonna be tough enough as it is.”

---