“That’s the name of your sailboat?”
He nodded.
“I like it. Seems appropriate.”
“It is. There’s nothing like setting sail, gliding across the water without the rumble of an engine. Nothing but the wind.”
“Thank you for inviting me. I’ve been at loose ends without Chelsea. I’d have just worked all afternoon and evening on transcription.”
“I wish there was some way I could pay you enough so you didn’t have to work two jobs. I have plans for the business that should bring in a lot more revenue soon. Then I’ll be in a position to offer you a raise.”
She turned to face him. “What plans?”
“Foreclosures.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m looking at buying homes that are in foreclosure, then reselling for a profit.”
She gasped. “You’re not serious.”
He glanced sideways at her. “I am. The banks and mortgage companies just want to unload those properties and get what’s coming to them. The homes are usually worth thousands more than the amount the lenders need to reclaim.”
“What about the poor people who lost those homes?”
“What about them?”
“Doesn’t that concern you just a little bit? That you’re profiting from their loss?”
“Well…someone’s going to buy those houses.”
“Yes, but you’re preying on the misfortune of people who got caught in a financial bind. Your profit is their loss.”
He grimaced. “Lily, it’s business. That’s all. If you purchase something and you can’t pay for it, you lose it. That’s the way business works.”
How well she knew. Like the car she’d purchased two jobs back, that had been repossessed after she’d missed three payments because she’d lost the job and wouldn’t dare tell Helen she needed money. Instead, as soon as she got her last job, she’d bought the clunker she was still driving. The bank had flatly refused to work with her until she became reemployed.
“I think it’s shady business, and you may want to reconsider. Is it really worth the money you’d make to trade on someone’s soul?”
He laughed. “Lily, come on. Isn’t that a bit dramatic? Look, it’s a perfectly legitimate business dealing. Today’s not for talk of work. Let’s drop it, okay?”
She turned and looked out the window in time to see the sign indicating Lakewood was only forty miles—in the opposite direction of their turn. “Oh.”
“What?”
“Nothing. I just saw the sign for Lakewood. But we’re not going that way.”
“Port Clinton is west of Lakewood by about seventy miles.”
She swallowed hard, thinking about Chelsea.
Rick slowed the car and pulled off the road. “You want to go to Lakewood?”
She knew Helen and Chelsea would call later to wish her a Happy Birthday, but it wasn’t the same as seeing them. “But your sailboat is in Port Clinton.”
He checked traffic and made a U-turn. “And your daughter is in Lakewood, and you haven’t seen her for a week. I have a great picnic lunch in the trunk, and there’s plenty for three or four. Let’s surprise Chelsea.”
“Rick, you don’t have to.”
“To tell you the truth, I kind of miss the shortstop myself. You can give me a tour of your hometown.” He signaled and made the left, following the signs for Lakewood and Cleveland. When they reached the Lakewood city limits, he asked, “Where do we go from here?”
She hesitated and then said, “Turn right. Go three blocks and turn left.”
Rick followed her directions. At a stop sign, he glanced at her, his eyebrows raised. “Now?”
She stared at the street sign: Willowbrook Avenue. “Turn left again and slow down. Stop here.” She turned in her seat, staring at the red brick ranch-style home. Her swing still hung precariously from a branch on the oak tree in the front yard. Not much had changed in the past few years.
Rick stopped the car. “What are we looking for?”
The front door opened, and her father stepped out to retrieve mail from the black metal box that hung on the porch post.
Lily slid down in the seat. “Go!”
“What?”
“Drive! Just go!”
He hit the gas, sped to the next corner and stopped. “What was that all about?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want him to see me.”
“Who?”
“My father.” She sat up in the seat, glancing out the back window. “No questions, okay? Turn right and go six blocks, then left two blocks. Helen lives in the third house on the left of that block.”
“Okay. Remind me where to turn.”
Her father looked younger, leaner than he had the last time she’d seen him. Being sober must have had that affect. He hadn’t seemed to notice the car slowing in front of his house. For an instant, Lily had felt the urge to burst from the car and race into his arms. Somewhere inside, a little girl still longed for her daddy. Lily slid a finger beneath her sunglasses and discreetly wiped away a tear.
Rick pulled the car into Helen’s empty driveway.
“Oh, no. I don’t think they’re here. I should have called to say we were coming.”
“Maybe they just ran to the store. We can wait a bit.”
“Let’s wait inside. It’s too hot in the car. I have a key.” Lily exited the car and headed up the driveway, removing a key from her purse.
The house was cool and welcoming. Lily poured them each a glass of lemonade, and invited Rick to sit down. A newspaper lay open on the table, with movies and times circled. “I think they’re at the movies. Look.”
Rick eyed the paper. “They could’ve gone to any of those movies that are circled. What do you want to do?”
“I’ll leave a note that we stopped by. I feel so foolish. Chelsea’s obviously doing fine without me.”
“And that’s the problem, I suspect.”
“I’m so sorry to mess up your plans. Is it too late to go sailing?”
“Yeah, but it’s not too late for a picnic along the lake. Unless you want to wait until they get home.”
“No, that could be hours. I’ll write a note, then we can go.”
*
Rick carried the picnic basket and directed Lily to a table shaded by trees at the water’s edge. A warm breeze blew in from Lake Erie, and waves lapped at the shoreline. “How’s this?”
“It’s great. Rick, I really am sorry for ruining your plans.”
“I planned to have a relaxing day at the lake. This is it. Come on, stop worrying.” He set the basket on top of the worn, warped picnic table.
She studied him. “Are you for real?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re just so…so easygoing. Nothing seems to bug you.”
He pulled two bottles of water from the basket and offered one to her. “I prefer to think of it as being low maintenance. Why get upset about things you can’t control?” He chugged the water. “How about a walk before lunch?”
“Will the basket be okay here?”
“If it’s gone when we get back, we’ll go out to lunch. Come on.”
They strolled along the water’s edge, dodging kids in water-logged swimsuits and dogs chasing Frisbees. Rick shoved his hands into his pockets. “Are you disappointed that you missed Chelsea?”
“Yeah. That, and totally embarrassed that I ruined your day. It was nice of you to take me to Helen’s house.”
“I’m going to go out on a limb here and be honest. I do love sailing, and I do own a boat named Serenity. But when I invited you, I used sailing as an excuse.”
“An excuse for what?”
“To spend time with you, outside the office.”
She stopped walking and stared at him. “Why?”
“Because I like you, Lily.” He grinned. “Jeez, I feel like I’m fourteen again. I just like being around you.”
“Oh.” She stared out at the lake.
“Is th
at all you have to say?”
“I don’t quite know what to say.”
“Ah. I assumed too much. I thought you might enjoy my company, too.”
“I do. Oh, it’s not that. It’s just that my life has been very complicated. It’s finally beginning to become simple. I want to keep it that way. Blurring the lines of the employer-employee relationship may not be the best thing. And, now, with the issue of my house maybe being sold out from under me.”
“That may all work out. You never know.” He stopped and pointed out onto the lake. “Look at that. Beautiful, isn’t it?” A sailboat glided at an angle across the water, its multicolored sail billowing in the breeze.
“It is. I wish we had gone sailing.”
Rick glanced down at her. “There’s always next weekend. We have the rest of the summer. I go just about every weekend the weather permits. I usually drive up on Saturday afternoon when I don’t have house showings and stay on the boat overnight, then sail Sunday morning before I head back home.” His fingers grazed her elbow. “Come on. Let’s have lunch before the wine I have in a cooler in the car explodes from the heat.”
“You can’t have wine in this park. The sign said no alcohol.”
“So we’ll have to open it very carefully and drink from Styrofoam cups. We have to toast your birthday!”
She stopped walking and turned to face him. “How did you know?”
“I read your job application. You were honestly going to spend your birthday alone?”
“Helen and Chelsea will call me later.”
“Uh-huh. But what about a birthday cake?” He opened the car door and removed a bottle of wine from a small cooler, removing the cork and slipping the bottle into a brown bag. At the picnic table, he poured into two plastic cups.
“I can live without a cake.” She took a surreptitious sip from the cup he handed her.
“I guess I’ll have to eat this all by myself.” He reached into the basket and presented her with a small, decorated cake.
“Oh my God.”
He reached back into the basket and retrieved a single candle, stuck it into the cake, then took matches from his pocket and lit it. “Make a wish.”
Lily closed her eyes, silently making her wish. As she pursed her lips to blow out the candle, a breeze from the lake did it for her. “I hope that’s a good sign.”
Rick presented two wrapped sandwiches and handed her a fork. “Might want to eat the cake first. The icing’s starting to melt.”
They made quick work of the cake and sipped the warm wine with their sandwiches.
The breeze ruffled his hair, and Lily laced her fingers together to keep from reaching up and touching the lock that fell across his forehead. Rick confused her. He was a successful businessman but had a boyish streak of irresponsibility that made her uneasy. He had no concrete plans for the future in terms of his life, except to remain single and carefree and to make money. No desire to have a family, yet he’d demonstrated a genuine affection for Chelsea. He gave no indication of an attraction to Lily, yet plainly stated he “liked” her. What does that mean?
The wine began to take effect. The last thing she needed was to get tipsy while in the company of this confusing and attractive man. The last time she had mixed confusion and attraction, she ended up with Chelsea.
She didn’t approve of Rick’s business practices, making a profit on the misfortune of other people. She was one of those people. That and the charge he gave her libido provided ample reason to give him wide berth. She had to keep the boundary between them clear and solid. She couldn’t screw things up and lose this job.
“Rick, this was very thoughtful. But I think we should head back home. I have work to do this evening.”
He pressed his lips together and nodded. “Whatever you say.” He dumped their forks and the wine bottle into the basket and tossed their empty cups into the trash. “I’m glad you came with me today. I promise to take you sailing another time. Chelsea would love it, too.”
“She would.” As they walked to the car, Lily felt a twinge of guilt for ruining the afternoon. She felt something else, too, but was determined to ignore that particular feeling.
Chapter Eleven
Lily kept a safe distance from Rick throughout the week. When Helen returned with Chelsea, Lily steeled herself against the desire to spill the story about the house. She lasted half an hour before she asked Chelsea to go up to her room for a few minutes. Then she blurted out the entire nightmare about the house. “Honestly, Helen. I thought I’d finally gotten my life together, and now this.”
“You’ll get through, Lily. You’re a survivor.”
“I hope you’re right. No, I know you’re right. I just…I want this house to be our home. I want to be settled here. I like this town. I like my job. It’s where we belong. I can feel it.” She sighed. “I could grow old here.”
“Sweetie, you have a lifetime ahead of you. Don’t rush growing old.”
“I’m sorry. You’re probably exhausted and hungry. I’ll get dinner started. Hot dogs and mac and cheese—Chelsea’s favorite. You want a salad with yours?”
“No, thanks.” Helen patted her arm. “I’m going upstairs and unpack.”
*
That evening, hoping work would provide distraction, Lily sat in front of the computer and stared at the blank screen for nearly twenty minutes. She’d listened to the same section of taped court proceedings over and over, but lost her train of thought before committing the words to print. Her fingers lay slack on the keyboard. What am I going to do if I have to move?
She startled when a hand settled on her shoulder. “Lily? Where’d you go? I called to you twice.”
“I’m sorry, Helen. I was thinking.”
“You were worrying, and it will do you no good. I think you should check out a few other houses for rent this weekend, just in case. It’s either that or let me help you secure a loan to buy this house.”
Lily shook her head. “No. I can’t let you do that. What if I lost my job or got sick and I couldn’t make payments? You’d lose everything you own, including your credit rating. It’s just a house. I don’t know why I’m getting so upset about it.”
Helen pulled a chair over and sat down, facing Lily. “Yes, it’s just a house. But it symbolizes much more for you. Owning this home means you’ve stabilized life for both yourself and Chelsea. I think you’re afraid of failing. Lily, you’ve always battled with insecurity and for good reason.”
“I want a home for Chelsea.” She rubbed her palms across her denim-clad thighs. “She deserves that at least, since I haven’t given her much else.” Her eyes burned, and she bit her lip.
“She knows you love her. And she doesn’t seem to be wanting for anything more than that.” Helen patted Lily’s knee. “You can’t concentrate on this work tonight. Go to bed and get some rest.”
“I suppose you’re right.” Lily yawned and shut down the computer. “Maybe Rick will have figured out something by morning.”
Lily stood and Helen opened her arms, pulling her in. “You can always move back to my house in Lakewood. It’s your home, too.”
“Thank you.” Lily let her cheek rest on her friend’s shoulder. “I’m sorry for all the drama when you have these few weeks left to relax before school starts again.”
Helen laughed. “Now that’s the real drama. It’s not the same as when you were in high school. Kids today are all high drama and attitude.”
“So were the kids in my class. You just have selective memory.”
“I remember a brave young girl who was determined to make a life for herself and her baby when everyone she knew turned their backs on her.”
Helen’s face blurred in Lily’s vision. “Not everyone.”
“You’re going to be okay, honey. Maybe this thing that seems like a roadblock is really a detour to get you to where you’re supposed to be. Ever think of that?”
Lily thought of how right it felt to be with Rick. Working for Rick,
she amended the thought. “Perhaps you’re right. Thanks.” She pulled Helen in for a hug. “It’s so good to have you here. I’m going upstairs and pray I fall asleep.”
“You go ahead. I’ll make sure everything’s locked up.” Helen kissed her cheek. “Sleep well.”
*
Lily sorted the mail and was setting it on Rick’s desk when the front door opened. “Be right there.”
Chelsea met her as she exited Rick’s office. “Hi, Mommy. Auntie Helen and I came to take you to lunch.”
“Isn’t this a nice surprise?” Lily bent and kissed her daughter’s cheek.
“I need to shop. Lunch was all Chelsea’s idea. Can you leave for a while?” Helen asked.
“Sure. Give me just one minute. I need to print out this report.”
Rick came through the back door and into the waiting room. “Hey, it’s my favorite short person.” He grinned at Chelsea.
“Hi, Rick. This is my Auntie Helen and we’re taking Mommy out to lunch. Wanna come?”
“That depends. Is it okay with your mommy and your aunt?” He extended a hand toward Helen. “I’m Rick Gardner.”
“Helen Shaw. You’re more than welcome to join us. I noticed the tea room down the block and thought we’d go there.”
Lily shuffled the papers she’d printed into a neat stack. “Great. I’ve wanted to try that place.” She picked up her purse and looked at Rick. “You coming?”
“An offer of lunch with three beautiful ladies? Of course.”
After they stepped outside and Rick locked the door, Chelsea positioned herself between Rick and Lily, taking each by the hand. Helen looked down, then back up at Lily, a slight smile tugging at her mouth. Lily straightened and picked up her pace.
“Mommy, you’re walking too fast.”
“Sorry, honey. I guess I’m really hungry.” She slowed and avoided looking at Helen.
The lunch conversation distracted Lily from her worries about the house. She laughed out loud when Chelsea said, “Rick, you should come to the zoo with us the next time. Mommy and Auntie Helen got lost when I took them.”
His eyes gleamed. “Is that right? Well, then, I guess I’ll have to go along for security purposes. Hey, I heard you got a swimming pool.”
Renting to Own Page 10
