Chapter Nine

If He Rescues You…

Gavin’s brilliant idea involved throwing an umbrella with a rope on it up to Lindsay. She opened the window, popped out the screen, and put out her arms to catch it.

“This is a dumb idea, Man!” she shouted down to him.

“Yes,” he agreed, standing under her window like Romeo in broad daylight. “It is a dumb idea, but once you catch the umbrella, you’ll have a rope that runs from me to you. Then I can tie a toolbox onto the rope and you can pull it up. Once you have the toolbox, you can get out a screwdriver and remove the screws holding the door knob in place and BOOM, the door will open.”

He heaved the umbrella, and it was high enough that Lindsay should have been able to catch it, but she didn’t.

“Why are you throwing an umbrella again?” she asked, putting a frazzled hand to her forehead.

He caught the falling umbrella and said, “It’s not going to hurt anything if it hits a window. It won’t scratch a single thing it touches. It’s a good shape for throwing and it’s got a bit of weight to it, so it can carry up the rope. Try again now.”

Lindsay put out her arms, but she missed again.

“Come on, Sweetie,” he called encouragingly as people coming out of the bakery eyed him suspiciously. “Catch the birdie.”

Lindsay got it on the fifth throw.

She may not have been great at sports that involved catching, but she was fine with a set of tools in her hands. She got the screws in the lock undone and opened the door.

Gavin stood outside with a replacement knob in his hand.

“Is that another reject from the hotel?” she asked crabbily.

He nodded.

“Well, what good is that going to be when this one was a dud?” she asked.

“I’ve been standing here testing it while you unscrewed that knob. I… uh… I think it may have been my fault that it didn’t work right.”

She put it in his hand. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“Nah… I did some work on the door jam as well because I… uh… I’m a little uncomfortable with you staying here if the lock didn’t work.”

Lindsay eyed him suspiciously. “Can’t we just buy a new lock? Or better yet, get the landlord to buy a new lock?”

“That would be ideal, but I know him and he’s a snowbird who has already flown to Mexico. If I called him, he’d just get me to fix it.”

“What are you saying?” she asked, thinking that maybe none of what he was saying had anything to do with the lock.

“I’m saying I had a lot of fun making you breakfast that morning that you stayed at my place and if you stayed with me, I could make you breakfast again. And I wouldn’t have to worry about Marissa coming back here to terrorize you.”

Lindsay leaned in. “You’re asking for a sleepover?”

He leaned in as well. “Yeah. I’m asking you to spend the night at my place. It’s a Friday. There’s no work tomorrow. How about it?”

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“Are you planning on sleeping on the couch again?” she asked cautiously.

“Of course. We haven’t even kissed yet.”

Lindsay scratched her head. “Gavin? What about Marissa?”

“What about her?”

“You didn’t want her staying at your place. Why are you so cool with me staying over and not with her?”

“Obviously because I wasn’t interested in her.”

“But you’re interested in me?”

He nodded. “Now you’re getting it.”

She nodded along with him, making them two idiots who were nodding at each other outside a clothing store.

Finally, she clucked her tongue and said, “I’m not staying over. If you’re worried, you can come over tomorrow morning to check on me. I’ll make you breakfast.”

“Okay,” he said, stepping past her and preparing to fit the new knob into the lock.

“You’re sure that one is going to work?”

He smiled. “Yep, the last one didn’t work, but this one will.”

Lindsay leaned against the wall and watched him put it together. Unless she was crazy, his words weren’t just about the lock, they were also about him and Marissa. His relationship with Marissa hadn’t worked, but he believed a relationship with Lindsay would work?

That was a charming idea. She loved that idea.

Her phone rang.

Lindsay looked at her phone. It was a call from her sister. She showed Gavin the call and stepped around the corner to talk to her sister.

“Hi, Sharelyn. How’s it going?”

“Hi, Babe,” her sister drawled. The sound of the drawl did not signify coolness. Her sister was cool, but the elongation of her syllables was a sign of hesitation.

“Something’s going on,” Lindsay stated.

“Yeah, so Mom told me that she gave you five hundred dollars to move to the island to start a new life and that you told her that you’d have that money back to her by the end of the month. Well, she needs it and any other money you can spare.”

“Why? I thought she was doing okay.”

“There was a cash call on her condo. They need a new roof and she thought she had more time to raise the money. She doesn’t. She says you have a job and a place to stay.”

“Wait. I don’t understand. She told me about the cash call. She said she was going to get a line of credit to pay for that and that she wouldn’t miss the five hundred.”

“Yeah, except the bank wouldn’t approve her for the whole amount. She needs like three thousand to top it off and she needs it by the end of the month. So, how’s it going? Do you have any money you can spare?”

Lindsay felt her blood freeze in her veins. What was happening was one hundred percent her fault. Over the years, she had taken more money from her mother than the whole cash call of ten thousand. If she had been a responsible adult who paid her own expenses instead of being a stupid dreamer, her mother would have the money without needing a line of credit.

Lindsay wanted to scream for a year. “Uh, I have two hundred in my bank account. I’ll send that much to Mom when I hang up with you.”

“You don’t have to send it immediately,” her sister said, her every word making her sound less like the big bad wolf.

“Yeah, I do. If I don’t, I’ll spend it.”

“Really? What will you spend it on?”

“Food.”

Sharelyn groaned. “I don’t want you starving.”

“Listen, I’ll send her what I have, but I can’t talk right now. I have to get to work.” Lindsay said a quick goodbye and got off the phone. She bit her lips together. This was her fault. This was all her fault.

She breathed and tried to think of what she could do. She hadn’t worked enough days to have earned three thousand dollars. She wouldn’t have it by the end of the month.

She breathed again and that was when she noticed the sign in the clothing store window. Help wanted.

Lindsay was not dressed like she knew how to dress. Her hair was not done up like she knew how to do hair, but she looked inside. She could work weekends. She could work evenings. She could work every second when she wasn’t working for Gavin.

She inhaled and exhaled and made a plan.

The clothing store, 999 Things to Wear was not open at eight-thirty in the morning. It didn’t open until ten, but Linday could walk home during her lunch break, change, and pop into the store to ask about the job.

When she came back around the corner, Gavin had finished installing the door knob. He held out the keys to her. “Is everything okay?”

“Yep,” she lied. “Everything is great. But why are we standing around here? We’ve got to get to work.” She grabbed Gavin by the arm and hurried him down the street to the hotel.

He gave her a funny look, but he didn’t ask her any more questions.