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Carson opened the envelope and his eyebrows drew together. “Why is Matt giving me a stack of money?”
She took a fortifying breath and told him, as diplomatically as she could, what her brother had done. Carson remained silent through her explanation, his jaw growing tighter the longer she spoke.
She shifted her weight. “He promises to pay you back as soon as he can. He drove to Bozeman today to look for work.” It sounded inadequate, an anemic sort of promise. “I’ll make sure he pays you back.”
Carson swore and tossed the envelope on the coffee table. “He had work to dohere. I needed him here today with that flooring.”
She held out her hands in a pleading gesture. “I’m sorry. Matt doesn’t think things through sometimes.”
“Well, he clearly didn’t this time. He’s going to jail for embezzlement.”
Olivia’s mouth went slack.Not that.“Please,” she said, and then, “You can’t mean that.”
Carson folded his arms and gave her a glare indicating that he did indeed mean it.
“Matt considers you a friend,” she protested.
“And I considered him one. But apparently, we’re not. You don’t steal from your friends. He put the whole project at risk by taking my money and leaving me shorthanded when I’m already behind schedule.”
Olivia gulped. This was going so much worse than she’d expected. She tried to appeal to his compassion. “Think what that would do to Matt—to go to prison and have a record for the rest of his life.”
Carson dipped his chin. “Oh, I am. It’s the only reason I’m not already in my truck hunting him down.”
So much for compassion. She had to do something to save her brother. “I have five thousand in my bank account. I’ll give you that and…” Olivia was already making desperate calculations. She could cancel her plans to work on oil paintings this summer and get a job. “I’m sure between Matt and me, we can raise the money he owes you quickly.”
“Not quickly enough to pay for the flooring that’s supposed to be acclimatizing in the house right now.” Carson pulled his phone from his pocket. “You know, it feels ironic to call the police in front of you.”
She stepped over to him and put her hand on his arm. “Don’t. My mother might have a couple thousand saved as well. Just give us some time. I’ll sell my car. Okay?” It would be hard to get a summer job without it, but maybe she could find online work.
He gestured out the door to where her car sat, a ten-year-old Corolla that looked dented and bleak next to his truck. “You meanthatcar? It’s surprising the thing even made it up here. I’m not sure how many buyers you’ll find who are that desperate for cheap transportation.”
“A lot,” she said. “We’re called teachers. Not everyone makes an NFL salary.”
He shook his head, still eyeing her car. “If you’re lucky, it might bring in five thousand. You don’t have enough to pay for the flooring.” Carson swiped his phone screen, turning it to the keypad. “Do I call 911 for this sort of thing or just the downtown police station? You’re the expert.”
Her grip tightened on his arm. “Please, Carson.” She hadn’t thought he would actually do this and a flash of fear went through her. Matt could go to jail. Her little brother would be at the mercy of a bunch of hardened criminals. “Look, you’ve wanted to see me humbled for a long time. Now you are. I’ll grovel and apologize as much as you want. I’m going to get an extra job, sell the only transportation I have, and walk everywhere until who knows when. Is that enough for you to grant Matt a little leniency? With the money you’ve made, is twenty-one thousand dollars going to set you back that much?”
Carson paused in his search for the police’s phone number. His gaze dropped to her trembling hand, then flicked to her eyes. His shoulders released some of their tension. “If you could pay for the flooring with groveling, I’d accept it as currency. But all my available funds went into renovating this place, which has already gone over budget. I need to get that wood to the house, and thanks to your brother, once I pay for it, I won’t have anything left to pay for the installation.”
“I can do it.”
“You’ve laid flooring?” Carson didn’t sound as though he believed her.
“It’s not just Matt who helped my dad work construction every summer. And any time our house needed something done, we did it ourselves, including the flooring.” They never had money to pay anyone else. “Trust me, I know my way around a saw and a nail gun. School ends in a week, so I’ll have the time.”
He was staring at her, this big wall of a man, considering the possibility. She needed to convince him. “I’ve jackhammered tile, laid subfloor, done trim work, and painted. I can do a lot of things. Really, I’ll do anything you want.”
His eyebrows rose. “Anything?”
She blushed and dropped her hand away from his arm. “I mean, within reason.”
He folded his arms and his gaze ran over her. It had been a mistake to wear the black pants and red blouse. She would’ve been more convincing in jeans and a T-shirt.
She cleared her throat. “Do you want me to hammer something to prove my point?”
His gaze was still on her, deciding.
“If you take my deal,” she said, “You’ll be able to cross offTell Olivia Travers where to go and what to dofrom your bucket list.”
