Page 14 of Ghostlighted
Nobody knew better than I did that being self-employed meant that you could arrange your working hours to suit you, but when exactly was Ricky doing work for which he’dgetpaid? He sure wasn’t accepting any money from Sofia or me.
I sucked in a breath.
“Maz?” Ricky peered up at me. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Nothing at all.” In fact, things had just taken a turn for the awesome, because I could see how I could solve three problems at once. “We talked about holding Sofia’s party whether Liam was here or not, right?”
“Yeah.” He drew the word out, suspicion clear in his tone.
“We’re not thinking big enough. You won’t let me pay you?—”
“Non-negotiable.” Ricky folded his arms, his chin set in an obstinate angle at odds with his round face. “I’m not taking money from you.”
I patted the air. “Yeah, yeah. I get it. Hold on for a minute, okay?” I pulled out my phone and dialed Taryn, putting the call on speaker. “Hey, Taryn. You’re on speaker with me and Ricky.”
“This had better be good, Maz, or Haley’s going to have your scalp. We’re heading for a lunch reservation she’s had for a week.”
“Are you driving?”
“No. She is.”
“Then listen up.” I held Ricky’s gaze over my phone. “If you’d had to pay somebody for the house’s upkeep between when Avi died and when I moved in, how much would it have run?”
“At the going rate?”
“Let’s say a generous going rate.”
“Just a second. Let me crunch some numbers.”
I heard her murmuring something, after which Haley called “Hi, Maz. You have precisely ten seconds before I ban you from Jae-Seong’s Vietnamese coffees for a month.”
I chuckled. “No need for such dire threats. All I need is a number.” Taryn gave me one and I whistled. “Perfect. Thanks. Enjoy your lunch.” I disconnected the call.
Ricky scowled, an expression that rarely crossed his face. In fact, the only time I’d seen it was when we were talking about Liam.
“What was that about?”
“Since you won’t let me pay you, and Avi and Taryn are busting my chops about spending lawsuit proceeds, how about using that money to send Sofia to Cambridge for Liam’s graduation?”
He blinked, his scowl disappearing. “You… You’d do that?”
“Absolutely. Based on the estimate Taryn gave me for a decade’s worth of yard maintenance, it’ll be first class all the way. Airfare, swanky hotel, car service, the whole nine.” I had a check for $125,000 burning a hole in my desk at this very moment, and this could carve a very nice chunk out of it in a totally guilt-free way.
“Maz. You can’t spend that much on… on…”
“On making Sofia’s dream come true? Why not?” I held my hand out. When he clutched it, I brought our joined hands to my chest. “I don’t want the relationship we’re building to be the kind that keeps score.” I’d had one of those with Greg, and one was more than enough. “Even if we never progress any farther than really good friends, I’d like to think we’d still be family.”
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat again. “Okay.”
“Good. Then I’m taking that money and spending as much as it takes to make sure Sofia sees the results of what she’s been paying for over the last four years.” I smiled down at him. “The trip of a lifetime. What do you say?”
Chapter Five
Ricky’s gaze cut to the door. “It’s an incredibly generous offer, Maz, but she’s almost seventy and a confirmed homebody. This might be too overwhelming for her to handle alone.”
“Then go with her.” I shrugged. “Trip of a lifetime for two.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Is this your sneaky way to get me to take money I don’t want?”
