Page 22 of Hide and Sneak
Me
Sure. Is everything okay?
Maren
All good. Meet me at this address. I’m already there.
That’s not mysterious at all. The address she sends is downtown, only a few streets over. Instead of questioning herfurther, I drive over and park in front of the two story brick building.
Maren waves at me from outside the entrance. “Hey! That was fast.”
“I was at the post office. What’s up?”
She holds up a hand. “First, I want you to promise to hear me out about something and not say no right away.”
Uh-oh. This doesn’t sound good. My apprehension is overcome by curiosity. “Okay. I’m listening.”
As she speaks, she leads me inside the building. “You know that Cooper owns a lot of real estate in town?”
I’m aware. Her husband is seriously loaded. He inherited our trailer park along with a lot of other properties, and his father’s fortune. Maren is living a true rags to riches story. “Yes.”
“He’s been selling them since he has no desire to be a landlord like his dad, and donating a couple to local charities to use.”
I’m not surprised. Cooper is a good guy. He’s the one who remodeled the entire trailer park, made sure everything was repaired and up to date, then made it into a nonprofit that bases rent on your income.
She stops in the middle of the large empty space. “We want you to have this one.”
My heart drops into my feet. “What?” I can’t have heard her right.
“You want to start a business, and it’s a damn good idea, something the town can really use. You said you only had to save for a mortgage. You don’t have to. You can take this place.” She glances around. “If you think it’ll work.”
If I think it’ll work? It’s much larger than I even dreamed I’d be able to afford and right downtown. It’s the perfect building and the perfect spot. But there’s no way I can accept it.
“The upstairs has been rented as an apartment before and it has an outside entrance. The door to it isn’t accessible from here but that’s an easy fix if you want them connected,” she continues as I’m trying not to burst into tears.
I could even live on the premises like I wanted. But I can’t. Her words are cut short when I grab her in a hug, a sob leaping out of me.
“Oh, don’t cry,” she laughs, hugging me back. “I know it seems like a big deal but really, it?—”
“Don’t you dare say it’s not.” I step back and take a deep breath. “I love you so much for this, Mare, and Cooper too, but I can’t accept it.”
“You promised not to say no right away,” she reminds me, then grabs my wrist. “Come on, let me show you the place.”
The remnants of the last business to rent this space are still scattered around. It was a thrift and consignment store. I remember checking it out a few times but they priced their items too high for a secondhand shop.
“It needs to be cleaned out, of course,” Maren says, gesturing toward a section of shelves that are still piled with shoes, and a rack with dusty clothes. “A lot of it could probably be donated to the women and children’s shelter.”
“That’s a good idea.” The knot living in my throat won’t go away. I’ve never wanted something so badly that I know it wouldn’t be right to accept. Especially when I see the spacious apartment with the tiny balcony that overlooks the street. We’re directly across from a coffee shop and bakery. I can easily picture spending my mornings out here.
At the end of our tour, Maren regards me. “I know this is unexpected and everything. Believe me, I know what it’s like to suddenly have an opportunity you didn’t before. It’s terrifying.”
There’s no doubt she understands. She and Cooper weren’t together long before they got married during a Vegas trip andshe’s only been his wife for a few months. She’s still adjusting as well.
“It’s not only that. I can’t—I didn’t earn this. You can’t just give it to me.”
“You’ve worked toward it for years.” She chuckles and shakes her head. “Do you think I earned what’s in my bank account now? Or that Cooper did? We were lucky, that’s all. You deserve some luck too. Especially because you have always helped everyone around you without any hesitation. You let Cara move in when she was struggling, and you’ve always been there for me and Pops. Right now, you have not only your brother, but his friend living with you and you can barely tolerate him.”
My head is all over the place. “He put a cup that fell in the toilet into the dishwasher. Then got it back out of the trash after I tossed it!” I exclaim. Both of us break into giggles.
