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She shook her head. “We own the house and have our pensions. They don’t seem to grasp that the house isn’t worth anything in its current state. So for now we’re in the tents. It’s not so bad, we’ve camp beds and a little gas stove and an outside tap.”
“What about the bathroom?”
“Bucket in the shed.” She bristled, clearly uncomfortable about talking about her ablutions.
He couldn’t get his head around it all. “You’ve been made homeless through no fault of your own, there must be someone who can help.”
“We’re looking into it. A friend has a motorhome we can borrow once they’re back from their tour of Wales in a week or so.”
His parents were in their sixties, so should have plenty of years ahead of them, but his dad had retired early through ill health and his mum was prone to catching every respiratory infection going. They couldn’t live in tents or a motor home. “Why don’t you move in with Stephan?”
“Stephan offered but he hasn’t the room and I’m not going to impose as we don’t know how long it’ll be before we can raise the money. We’ll burn through our savings far too quickly in a hotel, but I have registered us with some letting agencies so we’ll see what comes up.”
Therehadto be something. He could see if he could take a loan out and pay it back.
Then Dorian’s offer of paying for a fake boyfriend came to mind, with the right guidelines and a limited timeline, it could be the answer. It would be horribly intrusive to be in the limelight but it wouldn’t be forever and Dorian seemed like a decent bloke who wouldn’t take the piss or renege on a deal.
“I might have a solution. Let me see if I can raise the money through a friend of mine.”
She pursed her lips. “Ali, you don’t have to do this. We’ll be all right.”
“I don’t think you will.”
“Alexander!”
“No, Mum. You and Dad scrimped and saved to help me through university, you’ve always been there for me and I think I can repay you. I can’t promise but what I have in mind should work.”
He didn’t turn around as she called after him. He needed to get back to Crofton Hall, draw up a potential proposal and find Dorian.
* * *
Dorian turned the page of the novel he was reading. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d read fiction for the mere pleasure of it, and he was enjoying the murder mystery although he was pretty sure he knew who the killer was.
A soft cough made him look up. “Alex? I thought you were visiting your parents this weekend.”
“Were you serious about a financial arrangement for pretending to be your boyfriend?”
He set his book down. “For the right person I’d be willing to consider it as a paid position. Do you have someone he mind?”
“How about thirty thousand for three months of service? Twenty payable up front.”
By his standards, it wasn’t a large amount of money but he knew to most it was a fortune. It struck him that whoever Alex was asking on behalf of might need to get hold of money with the minimum of fuss. “Possible.”
“There would have to be strict boundaries in place. Public interactions would be limited to giving enough evidence of a relationship but not inappropriate. Once or twice a week maximum, depending on scheduling.”
He thought it was reasonable but he wasn’t sure where Alex was going with this unless… “Are you offering your services?”
“Yes.”
Alex would be an amazing fake boyfriend but he didn’t understand his change of heart. “You weren’t interested yesterday.”
“New day, new thoughts.”
“But why?”
“My reasons are my own and you knowing what they are aren’t part of the deal.”
Alex sure was feisty. That wasn’t a bad thing.
