Page 25 of Catch a Kiwi
“Nobody’s paying a thousand dollars in the state it’s in now,” he said. “And the longer it stays like this, the worse it’llget. We haven’t even discussed the outside, because it’s a right mess out here. I don’t care so much about the hillside, but I like my walkways tidy.”
“Tell me you don’t have a gardening service,” I said. “Or the money to pay them to do that. And to pay for a cleaning crew in which everybody has two good hands and no concussion. Besides, we don’t have a car, and you need so much equipment that you’re not going to find outside Dunedin. A shop vac. Dehumidifiers, plural. Many fans. Leather cleaner, and all sorts of supplies. Bleach. Gloves. Everything. Possibly a vehicle to take those rugs in for cleaning, if you can’t get them picked up. Tools, too, because somebody needs to take off the baseboards and dry them out before putting them back on, or you’ll get mold underneath. It’s lucky your floors are concrete, but?—”
“See,” he said, “you know what to do. Where d’you imagine I’m going to find this industrial-level cleaning crew in the bloody Catlins, with everybody in the same boat all the way to Queenstown? And I’ll have a car here for you.”
“You will, huh.” Did the man think I was stupid?
“I have a … a runabout I use down here. A ute.” He was so clearly improvising. Whatever he’d made his money in, it wasn’t acting. “It’s at the mechanic’s just now, having a service done, but I’ll go collect it today. Maybe Delilah would like to come with me, and you can take a nap. No rush to finish here, is there? Open the windows for now, then get those dehumidifiers and all tomorrow and dry the place out, because that’s what matters, and do the rest as you can. It was my section you rolled down,” he added, because I’m sure I looked pretty skeptical. “I’m responsible.”
“You are not responsible. And I’m supposed to believe you have another car thathappensnot to be here?”
“All right,” he said, frowning like mad, which made his face even craggier. “I don’t. Delilah mentioned a car to me,and I told her that I’d help her find one. Cheaply. A cheap car. I’ll buy it, and you can pay me back as you can. That payment plan for the trees? Do it for the car instead.”
“That is ridiculous. You are in no way responsible for what happened to us. That was my fault all the way. Also, I don’t have the money in the bank or the credit limit to buy everything you need even if you’d reimburse me, so that’s another fail right there. And just to get this out of the way—if it’s about sex, somehow, that I’m supposed to be grateful to you, I?—”
He had his hand in his hair now. Since his hand was clad in a mud-covered leather work glove, that made him look less tamed than ever. “I do not want to have sex with you,” he said through his teeth. “I want to help you. ‘Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.’ The Dalai Lama.”
“Like you helped the other seventy-two refugees living in your house?” I asked. “Oh, wait. It’s just us. And do not quote the Dalai Lama at me. You’re not the Dalai Lama.”
He growled. Actually growled. What, did nobody ever tell the guy no? “Why can’t I just drive you to that hotel like I promised,” he asked, “and wash my hands of you?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Why can’t you?”
“It’s a mystery to me too, no worries. By the way, I’m a brilliant negotiator. I read it in a magazine, so it must be true.”
I laughed in surprise. “Yeah, right.” He grinned, showing me those parentheses around his eyes, and I asked, “How’s that working out for you?”
“Not brilliantly,” he said. “Look. Do me a favor. My conscience is twanging away like mad here, and as I’m allergic to commitment, that means something. You could also consider that you may be up yourself a bit. All this insistence that I want your body. I’m pretty rich, did you notice?”
“Yes,” I said. It was hard to stay as stiff as I ought to be. Iwas tired, and he was too appealing. I’d bet hedidwin all the time, which was yet another reason to say no. “It’s fairly obvious. Rich, powerful, and good-looking.”
“Not that good-looking.”
“Well, it’s working for me, and it usually doesn’t. The tough thing.” Whoops. Blame the fatigue. “Not that I care,” I hurried to add.
“It seems to work all right in general,” he said. “Like I said, if I want to have sex, I’m fairly sure I can find somebody to have it with, just like you can. Will she be as beautiful as you? Probably not. But she’ll do.”
“I’ve gained weight,” I said.
He blinked. “Pardon?”
“My body’s not that great anymore. I’ve gained seven kilograms, and my stomach isn’t nearly as flat as it used to be.”
“Trust me,” he said, “you’re still perfect.”
“And yet …”
“And yet.” He pulled off his right glove and put out his hand. “Two weeks. Three at the outside. Until Delilah’s concussion is gone and you’re healed as well, and all that work is done. Hopefully, your being here will mean the black mold hasn’t taken over, and I won’t have to burn the place down.”
“And you’ll find a cheap car for us,” I said. “And realize that I can only pay maybe half down, and the rest will be a loan. And Delilah isn’t paying for any of it. And you do not have an allergy to commitment. The guy who drove us all the way to the hospital and then stayed with us? Yeah, right.”
“Temporary insanity,” he said. “And I pay for the gas when the errand is for me. Keep track.”
“All right,” I said. Not because he’d worn me down. Because otherwise, I couldn’t figure out how I was going to make it. “It can’t cost more than ten thousand, though. I mean ten thousand New Zealand.”
“That’s not much.”
“No. It’ll be another bad car, and I’ll need to buy us a tent, because we’re really going to be camping now. I accept that.” I pulled off my own glove and put out my hand, then hesitated before it touched his. “I’ll want to know exactly how much it costs, too. I’ll want proof.”
