“To start trap testing,” I confirmed, smiling when he and December gave each other a low five.
TWENTY-FOUR
Wilson cameinto the kitchen as I banged my head onto the table for the third time in a row.
“The APR on this one’s going to be 30 percent,” the loan agent on the other end of the line drawled on.
“How’s it looking?” Wilson whispered. He reached out to cover the edge of the table where I’d been about to get in one more bang.
“And there’s no way to bring that down?” I massaged the heel of my hand into my forehead.
“No, ma’am.” A pen clicked quickly on the other end. “Not with your credit score.”
Damn, thanks.
Wilson waved, trying to get my attention. I waved back for him to stop. This would be the fifth loan company I spoke to today with nothing more than heartburn to show for it.
“But after five years you could have the chance to refinance. And after your application gets approved, I can guarantee you a five hundred dollar cash withdrawal with?—”
“Yeah, thank you for your time. I appreciate it.” I hung up and slashed a red line through the number.
“Was that the last one?” Wilson tried to give me a smile when I hummed an affirmative.
“Here’s what I’m going to do.” I tossed down my pen and pressed my fingers over my closed eyes until I saw stars.
“I’m all ears.”
“I’m going to sell my kidney and every other body part that they’ll take,” I started.
Wilson sucked the back of his teeth and backed up, going for the refrigerator. “You’re not going to sell anything.”
“Got a better idea?” I leaned back in my chair and stared out the window over the sink. The sky was as orange as fresh sherbet. And the cold had come back for a more permanent residence. Fall was here, greenery yielding to oranges and reds. The air around Elmwood was stagnant. Silent. A calm surface primed for a potential lightning strike.
I’d made a habit of checking the wards every morning. First on my own, crouching before the lines Rae and I’d put down together. Whenever I placed my hand on top of the earth, a steady vibration provided made my teeth ache. The warning tightened itself around my neck. It mocked me.
Rae saw me after the first couple of days and had joined me ever since. At the end of each check, she’d assure me with an easy, “It won’t hold forever, but all we have to focus on is today.”
I repeated the words to myself now as I tried to loosen the tightness in my chest. Two weeks had gone by with the team still looking for some contract and doing practice runs of a trap in the barn. They wouldn’t let me close enough to glean too many details. An attempt to protect my peace. ButI found chaos all on my own. Even after doing my best to rediscover my love for putting together a perfect deck—though that could distract me for a couple of hours during the night.
“I have some ideas,” Wilson confessed.
My leg bounced up and down so fast that the water on the table rippled. “I’ll take anything.”
He grabbed a couple of cream sodas and rejoined me at the table. Wilson spoke lower as he offered me one. “First one, we’ve got to tell the team to find boarding elsewhere.”
I twisted the soda open, trying to cover my wince with a sniff. “What?”
“They eat with us every night.”
“It’s nice,” I murmured into the bottle before taking a small sip. When we were kids, we barely ate around a coffee table. Having to ask someone to pass the salt provided normalcy. And I felt safer with them close. With Rae close.
“Sure, but not when you look at the grocery bill. We can’t afford to house four other adults. They’ve been here for about a month now. Between their hunting fee and now, food, they’re slashing through our savings.”
I blew out a breath. “Fine. But cutting down a couple of hundred won’t save us from complete financial ruin.”
“I know, we need income…which is my next proposal.”
Wilson picked at the logo molded into the bottle’s side. “We should hire a couple of people to clear the fields. With the warding down?—”
