Page 7 of Just for Tonight

"Hey, Sophia?" a guy's voice said.

"Yeah."

"My mom said you were talking about the lake house in Arkansas when you were at her office a few minutes ago."

"I was, but please don't mention it to my parents," she said.

"I'm not. I was calling to ask what was going on. Why does that girl want to stay in Arkansas?"

I shot Sophia an offended glare when he asked that. This had all been her idea. Sophia was driving, but she glanced at me long enough that she saw my reaction.

"She… it wasn't… it was my idea," Sophia explained to the guy. "My friend said she was going to rent a cabin in the woods for the summer—to work on a business she's starting. She loaned me the money she had saved to do that, so I thought of the lake house."

"Is her name Holland?" he asked.

"Yes, how'd you know?" she asked, sounding hopeful. "Did your mom tell you about her business?"

"No, I met her in the stairwell," he said.

Sophia and I glanced quickly at each other again. For some reason, this revelation didn't surprise me. I thought it was totally reasonable that the same guy from the stairwell would be calling Sophia right now. I nodded at her but then I turned and continued to stare out of the window.

"Does she want to stay at Uncle Max's house this summer?"

"Not really," I said out loud, interjecting since I was sitting right there and could hear everything. "I would love to have my money back. I waswillingto do that Arkansas cabin thing because it was similar to my plans. But I'd rather not move so far away. And I really could use three months instead of two. I think she was trying to ask that lady for two."

"I felt bad asking your mom for three months," Sophia added.

"Is there any way you can just get her the money back?" Beau asked Sophia.

"Not right away. I could maybe pay her back in a year or so. Holland is not the only person I owed money to. Garrett really left me with a lot to deal with over here."

Sophia held back tears as she spoke to him. I felt bad for her, but this whole situation was frustrating. I didn't look at her.

"I'm not promising anything, but if you talk to Holland and you guys decide you would want her to stay at that house in Arkansas, I could ask my uncle for you. I would be willing to ask him about it."

"Oh, my gosh, would you, Beau, would you seriously?"

"I'm not promising anything, but I would ask him for you."

"That would be completely amazing. Me and Mr. Max, we're cool. Thank you so much. I think if you tell him it's for me, he'll think about it. It's just her, though. She'd be by herself. She's got a little dog, but it's tiny, a Jack Russell. And it's trained. It won't hurt a thing."

"I'll ask him," he said. "Are you looking for June and July?"

Sophia glanced at me and I nodded, somewhat reluctantly.

"Yes, that'll work," she said to him. "Thank you, Beau." Sophia hung up the phone and turned to me with a smile. "Oh my gosh, that's some really good news," she said.

I smiled a little. I hated to be the type of person to let money come between a friendship, but five thousand dollars was a ton of money to me. I had worked hard to save it, and I was saving it for a particular goal. It was infuriating, honestly. I felt like being quiet during the rest of the trip was the nicest thing I could do.

"I'll call you once I hear back from Beau," she said when we parted ways.

I nodded and smiled, but at this point, I did not put my hopes in anything Sophia said. I began making Plan C, which was staying in the Chicago area and getting a starter apartment. I still had some money in my savings account, but not a lot.

I was at home browsing apartments that were for rent in my new price range when I got a call from Sophia. I put the phone to my ear having no idea what she would say.

"Holland?" Her voice shook.

"Yes."

---