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I recognized the mask, because I’d done it so many times, but not nearly for as good a reason.
“School was good. What’s that?” Kurt focused on the box.
“Mr. Rawlings can tell you better. I need to take a call.”
Kurt turned to me. “What’s that?”
Elaina stood, and on her way up whispered, “Thank you.” She walked out of the room.
I explained the tank to Kurt, minus the trauma, and he wanted to pull the entire thing out and reassemble it now. While he and I were doing that, Elaina returned, eyes a little red and make-up reapplied.
While she went back to work, I spent the next couple of hours showing Kurt the ins and outs of the tank. He pouted when it was time for me to go to Evie’s, but Elaina made him let me leave.
I got back to my room, melancholy sinking into my veins and carrying a heavy dose of introspection. So many thoughts glommed to each other.
I had a message from Hudson that just said, “call me as soon as you can.”
That was both vague and melodramatic for him. Perfect distraction.
I dialed Hudson’s number. “What’s up?” I asked when he picked up.
He let out a noisy sigh, as if there hadn’t been enough of those today. “I’ve been digging into Dad’s financials behind the scenes. His holdings. All sorts of interesting things.”
“And?” The tone shift from earlier was jarring, and I was grateful for the excuse to turn off my emotions.
“He owns more than he’s told us, and he’s got his fingers in more than that.”
“Like what?”
“Like sitting on the board of directors for a lender that does high-risk loans.” He gave me the bank’s name.
The institution that had a lien on Evie’s store.
“That property you’re there to buy?” Hudson’s question confirmed my dread.
Concern twisted inside me. “What about it?”
“It doesn’t matter what steps the owner takes. Not now. It doesn’t matter if you get them to agree to sell. The foreclosure paperwork is in progress, and will be done by the end of the month. Once the bank owns that property, they can sell it to whomever they want.”
Fuck. The information flipped a switch in my head, and doubt scattered. I wasn’t going to let that happen. No one—not me or anyone else—was taking Evie’s store away from her. I didn’t care what I had to do.
25
Evie
The last few days with Gage had been incredible.
Sawyer, too.
Both thoughts were strange, for different reasons. I’d never thought Gage and I would be this kind of together. And Sawyer… letting my defenses down seemed stupid, but the longer I talked to him, the more time I spent with him, the further I saw past the mask he wore.
Gage and I were spending every night together, and it sucked to send Sawyer home when we were done working. The bot was coming together, and making my deadline would be tight, but with their help, I was on target.
Without their help I didn’t know if I’d make it, and without Sawyer I wouldn’t have the chance anyway. We were taking today—Sunday—off for the livestream with Adam and Maddox, and while I was super grateful for this chance, I also regretted the building hours lost.
I was at my hardware store now, making sure I took care of any morning tasks, and getting my back room ready for filming. There was space for several people when there needed to be. Normally the pair recorded at Onyx’s, but this should be a better backdrop since I was the cause.
I hated that phrasing. I was out of options, though. This stream would be the modern-day version of a telethon. I’d spend most of the day on air with Adam and Maddox, and our friends would drift in and out, and we’d do it all for donations.
