Page 21 of Runaway
And, frankly, I couldn't wait for that weirdness to dissolve. So I handed it over to her. The words barreled out of my mouth like they had their own power.
“We're both in a jam right now, and I may have already thought of my way out. Except I'm going to need some help. Lots of help. So you can stay here free, Stella. I'll keep you safe with a roof over your head, and you help me save Adventura.”
Her face dropped into shock when I gave the big finale.
“You save me, I save you?”
9
Stella
For a full fifteen seconds, I tried to comprehend such an offer.
You save me, I save you.
Well, there was a line I hadn't heard before. Did I need saving? My first response wasno, I got this.But that wasn't true either. The $20,000 in cash hidden in a small, plastic box I'd dug out of his kitchen and shoved underneath a loose floorboard seemed like a large amount of money, but that kind of cash disappeared quickly on the run. If I tried to buy anything with it—like a crappy RV—I would use a good chunk of it, and the problem of food and gas still existed.
Even that $500 he was trying to give back was precious.
So, yes. I needed help and free rent and big muscles. Desperately.
Did he need saving?
Yes. Desperately.
I licked my lips, locking him in an uneasy stare. “What does that mean, exactly?”
Amusement flickered through his bright eyes, like this sort of trespass into uncertain territory gave him great delight. Knowing Mark, itdiddelight him.
“I'm not propositioning you, geez. Don't look so scared. Stell, I'm about to lose Adventura. You know that as well as I do. But I may have thought of a way out. I'll just . . . need help getting there.” His gaze darted around. “Turns out I suck at housekeeping and details and we'll need all that and more.”
His casually spoken sentence nearly made me choke as I laughed, half in disbelief, half in confusion. But then I realized he was serious and I sobered quickly.
“What is your idea?”
Fire leaped into his eyes, mimicking a sudden smile. He jumped to his feet and started to pace as if his legs were somehow attached to his vocal cords.
“In order to save Adventura, I have to do more things with the real estate that I already have. Obviously, I have no money to invest in something else. Which means I need to do something to make money with Adventura through the winter. My HomeBnB's rent is pretty steady, as you know. It will pay for both our food and electricity. But to pay off the monthly mortgage, we need more money.”
“I know all this already.”
He flapped an impatient hand. “I know, but I have a process. Go with it.”
I pulled my legs out of a very cramped place where we'd been together and straightened them out. He didn't seem bothered by being able to pace only two steps at a time. He continued, his face a mask of concentration.
“Not many people would want to come to Adventura in the winter. Unless, like you, they had a reason. Someone . . .”
“Desperate?”
He stopped, thought it over, then shrugged. “Maybe?”
“You're going to put out an ad that says,running from a psycho boss? Stay with us!”
The daft man actually looked like he was considering it.
“Mark . . .” I drawled.
He shook his head, snapping out of it. “No, of course not that. But . . . maybe. I hate throwing away ideas. Anyway, what if we rented out this cabin to people that needed to escape their everyday life.”
