Page 86 of Smoke and Glitter

"We've had another showing and one of the interested parties is talking to a lender. The owner still likes your deal, Sam, but I can't ask him to turn away somebody who walks in ready to close."

I push out of the chair and go as far as the office door. Tony is setting up behind the bar while Bex sits at one of the tables with tonight's run sheet open in front of her.

"How much time do I have?"

"If I knew, I'd give you a number."

Which means none. I thank her and hang up. From the doorway I can see the edge of Autumn's envelope beside the register. Thirty days from the bank doesn't matter if somebody buys Pilsen next week. The stupid part is that the actual problem isn't complicated. There is one old company, one judgment and one man whose signature gets me out of both. I haven't spoken to him in three years.

My phone is already in my hand. I could find his number before Tony finishes cutting the citrus in front of him.

Instead I go back to the desk and pick up the invoice.

Marisol comes in the next afternoon after finishing something with Bex.

I hear them arguing about a costume before she appears in my doorway with her bag over one shoulder.

"Please tell me whatever Bex wants isn't going to cost me money."

Marisol leans against the frame. "Everything Bex wants costs you money."

"Fair."

She smiles, but she doesn't leave.

I close the spreadsheet. "What's up?"

"Lucia keeps asking about Autumn."

That takes care of the smile.

"What did you tell her?"

"That I wasn't sure when she'd be back." Marisol comes farther into the office and sits on the arm of the couch. "She thinks that's a terrible answer."

"She's not wrong."

"No."

For a second she watches me, then adjusts the strap of her bag. "That's actually not why I'm here."

I wait.

"I got a job."

I push away from the computer. "What kind?"

"Costume design. A theatrical dance company is adding a production here."

I stand and come around the desk. "Marisol, that's huge."

Her smile starts slowly. "It's mostly remote, and I can set a lot of my own hours. I'll have to be there for fittings and some rehearsals, but I can work around Lucia. If my sitter cancels, I'm not suddenly unemployed."

She says it too exactly, and it makes me stop. Too exact. A job built around every problem I've heard her complain about for the last two years.

I look at her. "Autumn."

Marisol's smile changes. "Yeah."