Page 37 of Runaway
The decision to get out of Adventura had been, possibly, too impulsive on my part. My lifewasn'ta Loveline movie, and I did need to grab a few things, bars of dark chocolate to stash in my cabin included, but the thought of civilization wasn't as easy as it used to be. Even though I wasn't in apparent danger from Joshua, I didn't feel safe amongst unknown people in general.
With Mark though, it all felt so normal.
And right now, I desperately needed to feel normal.
My biggest fears used to be whether or not I'd get an account summarized in time, or whether Joshua would push me into a leadership position I didn't feel ready for, but always rose to the occasion to complete.
Now I feared mountain lions and boredom. My life had fallen apart, taking my personal company down in a blaze of sparks, and I had nowhere to turn except my only remaining client.
Who wasMark Bailey?
The guy that once thought a giant carousel in the middle of his small mountain town would be a massive success and bring in tourists. The world in which I found myself just felt too weird sometimes.
Besides, Mark had played my unexpected presence in his house off so easily last night. I wanted to take him to breakfast as a sort of thank you. And not at all because he'd had warmth in his voice when he spoke about Shanti. Or that he was on his phone all the time and I couldn't help but imagine all the girls he must be texting and maybe, just maybe, I wanted to be onthisside of the situation for once.
Now, with the quiet muffle of people around us, I was glad we came. Mark, who of course knew the hostess, had given his charming smile and finagled us a spot in the back corner. Being able to see the traffic zipping by on the highway outside the diner gave me a reassuring feeling.
“Thanks.” I peered at him over the top of my menu. “This is great.”
His smile widened. He wore a pair of jeans and a long-sleeve black shirt that stretched taut across his shoulders. He'd trimmed the beard again. Instead of curls off his chin, it contoured his face now. Would he have the same facial structure as his brother? Because if he did, he'd be devastating. Which seemed almost impossible because I couldn't imagine him any more attractive than I found him right now.
The waitress came with an extra big smile for Mark, took our orders, and left us in the quiet booth with a little wink he didn't seem to notice.
“What did Lizbeth have to say?” I asked.
His expression momentarily darkened. “Just that there are a few more approval steps I'd forgotten about before we can list it on HomeBnB. We have to have some tax and licensure things to file for in the State. She's already getting them going.”
“Wow. She's a dream.”
A weird half-shrug/awkward grimace came next. “It's better for everyone if I don't attend to those details. Lizbeth is happy to do it.”
“Are you paying her? Because we'll need to—”
“Not yet. She was happy to help get it listed without pay. She's family.”
As if that explained everything.
My immediate rebuttal surfaced:that's not sustainable.He couldn't just relyon family members to run his company without getting paid. They'd get frustrated and leave eventually, or not do great work. Although Lizbeth didn't strike me as the type, and this wasa one-time deal.
So I stayed quiet.
Grandma had always been loving and supportive. For the burden she'd been left when my parents died, she rose to the challenge without fear. But age had taken most of her family away from her. Siblings. Friends. Her husband died a year before I was born. My father, her son, had been her only child. Now she was a spritely old woman living her best life in a retirement home and we supported each other.
But there had been no one else for us to fall back on.
No safety net like Mark's. No one outside of neighbors and friends that we couldtrulyfall back on if we were in danger of losing our house, or something. The way Mark was letting me fall on him.
Did he know how lucky he was to have them?
“When is your next date?” I asked before the ensuing silence felt burdened. Then I grabbed my water, stirring the clinking ice cubes with my straw to have something to do with my hands. He laughed, then shook his head.
“Nothing lined up.”
“Oh.”
“Are you surprised?”
I shrugged. “You seemed to be pretty active in the dating world.”
