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“Is there nothing you can do to help me?”
He types slowly, glancing my way every few seconds. “I might be able to overrule some of the sections on here,” he says, a smile forming on his lips. “It’s a complicated form though. Maybe we could discuss it this evening over dinner.”
I shake my head. “I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
“I’m sorry, Bobby, but you’re just not my type.”
“How do you know that? You never gave me a chance last time.”
“If I remember rightly, I said no, you tried to put your hand straight down my pants, and when I told you to stop, you called me a prick tease.”
“Well, you were teasing my prick. But I forgive you. Listen, let me buy you a drink tonight and I’ll see what I can do about that loan.”
I get to my feet. “Thanks for your help.”
“You’ll come back,” he calls after me. “No other banks in this town. And when you do, I’ll be waiting.”
* * *
“Should I have just said yes?”
Eileen shakes her head at me from the other side of the couch. “To Bobby Sandwell? God, no. Who knows what he’d have made you do, and you’d still have no guarantee he’d lend you the money afterward.”
“What am I supposed to do? I’ve tried applying online. I’ve tried taking out credit cards. I’ve got two hours to go until midnight and I’ve raised a total of seventeen dollars and thirty-two cents from my piggybank.”
“I’m sorry, Natalie. This is all my fault.”
“What? Why would you say that?”
“If you hadn’t bailed me out, you’d still have some savings and you wouldn’t be in this mess.”
“You didn’t plan on getting cancer, Eileen.”
“I know, even so, there’s got to be something we can do.”
“I’m out of ideas.”
“What about the box your father gave you?”
“It’s a Milk Duds box. It does nothing.”
“He said you had to solve the puzzle. Said your mom would have worked it out easily enough.”
“I’ve had five years, and it’s still a Milk Duds box. It doesn’t matter anymore either.”
She shakes her head. “He said you had five years to solve it and that’s not up for another week. Maybe it’s fate. Maybe you’re meant to work it out now, get the money you need to keep the store open. Where is it? Let’s take another look.”
I go to my room and lift the loose floorboard in the corner, reaching down and pulling out the box. I take it back through and we examine it together.
When I come back through, Jasmine has emerged from her room with an Elsa doll and is sitting in front of the TV, telling Elsa how to work the remote.
“Hey, chicken,” I say to Jasmine. “You want any dinner yet?”
“Not until Arendelle is free.”
“A half hour then?”
