“The government, I guess. Like everything else.”
“Exactly. So what if we fixed it up and started sellin’ from it?”
“Well,” she said, “like you said, we’d need enough money to buy it, and that’s after we had enough to buy our citizenship back.”
“I’m a citizen, Carrie. As long as I stay outta trouble.”
“Right.” She forgot.
Greg never excluded himself from work, or sharing his mattress or food, even though he didn’t have to. Which didn’t make sense either. One minute he was the most self-centered, arrogant man she knew. The next, he was racing through the rain to warn people about a raid, or striking out to find medical help for the wife of a man he hated. One minute he couldn’t stand Carrie, and the next he was giving her the first well, defending her against Jeff, or complementing her blue eyes. All the while, he created business plans to help thirty people two social classes below him.
Realizing she was distracted again, she said, “Are you saying you have a stash of money somewhere and you want to invest in my flower shop?”
“No. If I had money like that I wouldn’t be here. But that’s the problem. As long as we can’t sell anything, we can’t make money. If we can’t make money, the banks can’t reopen which means we can’t get loans to buy a place where we can make more money, leavin’ us slaves to this economy for the rest of our lives. That’s the cycle we’re stuck in.”
“Right. So…?”
He stopped pacing and faced her. “So I’ve got a business proposal for the mayor of Shelton, and I’d like you to help me pitch it.”
Her brows shot up. “What?”
“I wanna propose that our clan—though I won’t call us that—will clean up Downtown Shelton, repair windows, doors, sidewalks, and anything else to bring it back to life. In return, we’ll ask the township to first, turn a blind eye and stop askin’ everybody for cards, and second, lease us a building to sell from—that flower shop, if they’re willing. Except I wanna sell more than flowers. I wanna sell seeds, vegetables, chickens, and goats.”
“Like a farmers’ market,” she said slowly.
He looked pleased by her response. “Exactly. And I need you to help me pitch it to the mayor.”
It all sounded wonderful. Until that.
“Why me?” she asked.
“You know you say that an awful lot.”
“Sorry, but I can’t imagine the mayor letting illegals wander freely on the streets, let alone give us a building to set up shop.”
“They wouldn’t be givin’ it to us,” he said. “They’d be leasing it until we could buy it free and clear. Besides, I haven’t finished yet. I’m willing to give them ninety percent of our profits for rent.”
Her jaw dropped. “Ninety? That’s huge.”
“It has to be to tempt them.”
She tried to wrap her mind around it. Clean up Main Street. Fix up her flower shop. Sell vegetables. Rent. Ninety percent. Amber was wrong. Greg wasn’t dreamy, he was a dreamer.
And yet…
“Who would shop there?” she wondered aloud. “The town is deserted. No one has money besides government workers, and I’m pretty sure green cardholders won’t risk their jobs to buy from illegals.”
“I’m not illegal, Carrie. Neither’s my mom or grandparents.”
Right. She kept forgetting.
“Still,” she said, “patrolmen have their own cities and stores, plus they get government handouts. No offense, Greg, but I think they’ll turn their noses up at you.”
He followed her lead and pulled off the grass seeds. “I bet with encouragement from you, Oliver would shop there. He could spread the word to his buddies. It’s worth a shot at least. My grandpa’s burnin’ through money faster than he’ll admit. Plus we’re never gonna buy any homes until we find a source of income.”
“Homes?” she cried. “Who said anything about buying our homes? That’s impossible.”
He rolled his eyes. “What happened to Little Miss Optimistic, or is that just a show for everybody else?”
“I…” She huffed. “Sorry. It’s just a lot to think about. Give me a minute.”
He didn’t.
“The way I figure,” he said, “we could save up one house at a time, get people legal one person at a time. It could take fifteen or twenty years to buy even one house, and it’ll get interesting deciding who gets the first one, but I’ll let somebody else deal with that. Who knows, it could take our whole lifetime, but we gotta at least try.”
Buying a house. Her flower shop. The chance at being a citizen again.
She could only find one word.
“Wow.”
His green eyes lit up. “Does that mean you like the plan?”
“It would be amazing if we can make it work.”
“Well…” He took a deep breath. “There’s something we’re gonna need first, a favor of sorts from Oliver. But I’m not sure how willing he’ll be to help.”
“Oliver would do anything I asked him to. Unfortunately.” She looked up. “Why?”
“I need him to get a couple of marriage licenses for me.”
“You’ve lost me again.”
He ran a hand over his hair. “I can’t do this alone, Carrie. My grandparents are too old and have given up on America. My mom’s the same, so I need to get a couple more people legal.”
She shook her head. “Still not following.”
“Richard officially proposed to my mom last night.”
Just like that, without any warning whatsoever, Greg dropped that on her.
“What? How? I didn’t know they were dating, or seeing each other, or…anything.” She laughed. Richard and Mariah. “That’s wonderful! They’re perfect for each other and…” Her voice trailed off as she noticed Greg’s expression wasn’t as celebratory. “What do you think?” she asked. Mariah was his mom after all.
He waved it off. “It’s fine, but that’s beside the point. Once they’re married, I think I can get Richard a yellow card. It’s a stretch legally according to him, but I’m gonna need his knowledge of numbers if we’re ever gonna convince the mayor. But with the help from Oliver and this girl in the township office, I think I can pull it off.”
Carrie frowned. Amber had told her all about the blonde in town and how Greg had sweet-talked his way into citizenship. It shouldn’t have bothered her as much as it did.
She pushed it aside to focus on Mariah.
“I can’t believe we’re going to have a wedding,” she said. “We’ve had three births, six deaths, but never a wedding.” Her thoughts bubbled with joy. “I’m sure Oliver will help you get a marriage license.”
“That’s not the part I’m worried about.” Greg pulled up the rifle, aimed at nothing in particular, and said, “It’s the other marriage he might have a problem with.”
It took a second for her to process. Then her stomach did a one-eighty.
thirty-five
CARRIE LAUGHED NERVOUSLY. “Very funny, Greg.”
But he wasn’t smiling, and his eyes weren’t teasing.
“Wait, you are joking, right?” she asked.
“No.”
She felt the blood drain from her face. “But you can’t mean…”
“I need you, Carrie. I need somebody who can fix up the shop, decorate it, spruce it up, and get it lookin’ like a real business again. I need your enthusiasm to convince the mayor that we know what we’re sellin’. You’re just the kinda person who could make it work. But I need you legal to do it.”
She rose to her feet. “You want me to…” Her breathing sped up. “…marry…” Now it was her pacing. “…you?”
“Yes.”
For the space of two seconds, her world froze. Then, like a bursting dam, it exploded.
“You can’t be serious, Greg. Your timing could not be worse. This has to be some twisted joke to make things even more uncomfortable between us. You can’t want to…” She couldn’t bear to say it twice. “You hate m
e!”
“I don’t hate you,” he said. “Besides, it’s for business purposes only. A sheet of paper, nothin’ more. Nothing more. Seriously. You and I’d be the only ones who know about it—and Oliver, since we’d need him to get it all set up.”
“And you think Oliver would actually agree to this?” she cried.
“Well, it wasn’t my first plan, but I promised not to bug you about the other anymore. This is plan B, though maybe it’ll work out better this way.”
“Better for who? Not for me. Not for you. Definitely not for Oliver.”
Greg shrugged. “I think if I talk to Oliver and explain my relationship with you for what it is—or rather, what it isn’t— he’ll agree.”
She shook her head over and over as she paced circles around him. Greg wanted to marry her.
Her!
“Think about it, Carrie. Havin’ you illegal has to stress that poor guy out, especially after the raid. This’ll put his mind at ease. You just told me he’d do anything for you.”
“Would and should are two totally different things. I can’t do it,” she insisted. This was no better than what had Jeff suggested. In fact, it was worse. It was Greg! Her parents had taught her to cherish marriage, not to use it to propel themselves up some…some…ladder!
“Well, there’s still another option,” Greg said. “Though it’s harder on Oliver.”
She stopped and glared at him. “What could possibly be harder on Oliver?”
“Marry him,” he said simply. “Only Oliver might expect more outta the marriage than I would.”
Her muscles went rigid. “I thought you said you were done being a jerk.”
“No, I said I was done tryin’ to be a jerk.” He held his arms out. “This is what comes naturally.”
In an instant, all the pieces of the strange puzzle fit into place. The new Greg. The smiling Greg. The stick-up-for-Carrie Greg.
Lies.
All of it.
She searched further back in her memories, piecing more and more together. Her well. Zach and baseball.
“How long have you been planning this?” she whispered, unable to scream at him like she wanted to.
He wasn’t smiling anymore. Now that the charade was over, his true self was back. “A while.”
Her eyes burned. “I have to go.”
Without waiting, she turned and started briskly for home.
“Wait,” he said. “You’re just over thinkin’ it. It’s a piece of paper. Nothin’ more. It’s just a way to get around government red-tape, a way to get you your flower shop. That’s it.”
She sped up, cutting through a huge field.
“At least consider it!” he said, struggling to keep up with her. “Just until things work out with Oliver—if things work out with Oliver.”
She was practically running to escape him.
“If there was somebody else, I’d do it, Carrie. But you’re the only single female I know.” Every word out of his mouth only made it worse, yet he wouldn’t stop. “We need somethin’ to get us outta this hole!”
“I’m perfectly content to stay in this hole forever,” she snapped over her shoulder.
“Really?” he said darkly. “‘Cause that can be arranged.”
She stopped long enough to point over his head. “The Ferris clan is that way in another mile. Turn west at the barn. It’s a large neighborhood. You can’t miss it.” Then she spun back around.
“What about Terrell?” he called.
“He knows the way.”
Greg had used her. He was no better than Jeff. He was no better than anyone.
You’re the only single female I know.
“What about Jenna?” he shouted.
Her feet slowed. Jenna. Even then, it took another second before she stopped completely. Breaths coming fast, she stared down at the weeds, desperate for another option.
She heard Greg’s footsteps behind her.
“Why do you do that?” she said without turning. “You’re guilting me into helping you.”
“‘Cause with you it actually works.”
Her throat swelled with emotion. “That’s not fair. Nice people shouldn’t be punished for being nice.”
“Yeah? Welcome to the real world.”
She fought back the heat behind her eyelids. Greg didn’t deserve her tears. He didn’t deserve to affect her like he always did.
He sighed heavily. “Look, Carrie, Jenna shouldn’t suffer ‘cause I’m a jerk. I’ve gotta find a doctor, but if I show up alone to these clans, they’ll think I’m a government spy and shoot me before I get a chance to explain. So, unfortunately, I need you. If you’d rather I didn’t say a thing the rest of the day, I won’t. But Jenna needs a doctor, and you know it.”
She weighed his words which was pointless. They both knew he’d won. Then it occurred to her. Greg was the optional person on this trip. Not her. She didn’t need him to find Ferris. She didn’t need him to find anything.
With that, she turned and strode past him, not caring if he was following.
Unfortunately he was.
They settled into an uncomfortable silence as they crossed the field and entered another thick patch of woods. She began counting the steps. They had another mile to Ferris, plus another few to where Terrell met the supply guy. And then they had the walk home. At least then they’d have Terrell then—assuming he was done and they didn’t have to camp out with him for a night or two. No. She was definitely leaving once they found—
A sudden rustling brought her head around. Something was charging through the trees behind them. Startled, she turned. It sounded huge, like a deer. And it was heading right for them.
Greg whipped up his rifle. “Get behind me.”
She shrank back. She’d never gone hunting, but she knew enough to know that deer didn’t run toward people. With a jolt, she thought of more dangerous things than a charging deer. A patrolman. A madman. Fear coursed through her as she crouched behind Greg’s rifle.
When the thing broke through the trees, it wasn’t a patrolman or a deer.
It was Zach.
Carrie grabbed Greg’s arm. “STOP!”
But Greg had already dropped the nose of the rifle.
Zach darted over weeds on a dead, lumbered run. One look at his face and a new fear leaped in Carrie’s throat. He looked terrified.
“What’s wrong, Zach?” she asked.
He ran straight for Greg. “Your mom,” he panted. “Fell. Hurt.”
That’s all he got out before Greg took off, sprinting for home.
Stunned, Carrie watched Greg disappear.
Zach doubled over, drawing deep breaths. Carrie put a hand on his back.
“What happened?” she asked. “Is Mariah okay?”
“Don’t know,” Zach huffed. “May told me…run fast…find Greg.”
Carrie stared at the empty trees. She only gave Zach a moment before she said, “Are you ready?”
When he nodded, the two took off behind Greg.
thirty-six
GREG PLOWED THROUGH THE group of concerned neighbors. His mom was lying flat on the couch, awake and talking to Richard who knelt beside her, holding her hand. Greg’s grandma sat beside her, crying, hands flittering nervously over Mariah’s face. His grandpa stood behind all of them, gravely silent.
As soon as his mom saw him, she lit up. “Hiya, Greg. Back so soon?”
Greg crossed the room and knelt next to Richard. He took his mom’s hand. Her skin was pale and cold, which was typical, and she was smiling, which was—aggravatingly—also typical.
“What happened?” Greg asked.
“Oh, you know,” she said. “The usual.”
“Coughing?”
“Yeah. Only some people”—she threw a dark look up at his grandma—“got a little jittery ‘cause of a little blood. They overreacted. I’m just fine.”
Greg took in the front of her shirt, splattered with dark spots. A lot of dark bloody spots. “Okay, Ma, how abo
ut you tell me the real story.”
“She blacked out,” his grandma cried. “We were talking, and she just fell! She just fainted dead away right in front of me.”
“I most certainly did not!”
“You did, too! You don’t remember, but you collapsed right in front of me. You fell and…and…” His grandma’s trembling fingers stroked her forehead. “You hit your head right here. It was…it was…”
Greg brushed his mom’s bangs aside. Sure enough, there was a huge goose egg on her forehead with corresponding scratches. He felt sick. He should have been there.
“Well, maybe I did fall,” she said indifferently. “But as y’all can see, I’m fine now.”
Her hands weren’t shaking, and she didn’t seem to be coughing up any more blood. She probably was fine. The episodes never lasted long.
His grandma’s eyes narrowed on him. “How long have you known she had cancer?”
Greg didn’t dare meet those watery eyes, knowing he’d committed high Trenton treason. “We don’t know if it’s cancer,” he said softly. “It could be anything. Ulcers or something else.” Although Kendra’s doctors had said otherwise when they saw the blood. They’d given his mom six months to live back then, but they’d been wrong before. They could be wrong again.
“How long?” his grandma said, tears streaming down her wrinkled cheeks.
Greg looked at his mom, feeling life crash down on him all over again. “Nine months,” he said.
“And you never told us?” His grandma crumpled into a sobbing, emotional heap. “He should have told us, CJ. I had a right to know. That’s my daughter!”
Mariah pushed herself up. “Now, Ma, don’t you be kickin’ up a fuss. I made Greg swear not to tell y’all for this very reason. I didn’t want you overreacting, and now look at you.”
While the two women went at it, Richard leaned over to Greg. “She is still quite dizzy. I’m worried she might have a concussion. What do you think about taking her to a hospital? You’re both legal, and CJ says he has enough money to cover the bill.”
Citizens of Logan Pond Box Set Page 27
