Stepping Up To Love (Lakeside Porches 1) (7 page)

“And don’t forget to tape plastic over the bandage when you shower.”

“I will. I promise.”

“Get some sleep.”

“Joel, she is not playing with a full deck,” Tony ranted into his cell phone on the way home from campus. He had just explained the situation, including Manda’s visit to Urgent Care and Kristof’s arrest.

Joel pretended to be calm and rational. “She’s less than a month sober, and she’s doing well in some areas of her life. She’s got a lot of clearing up to do.”

“She is not protecting herself,” Tony complained. “She was at a table in the least populated part of the library at midnight.”

“In full view of the main desk, with her beeper, which she had ready.”

“How did you know that?”

He knew because he and Manda had strategized a few days ago. “I have spies.”

“Do you want me to be her bodyguard or don’t you?” Tony yelled.

Now that his heart rate had returned to normal, Joel could tune into Tony’s anxiety. He realized Tony felt solely and personally responsible for Manda’s safety.

“No one’s asking you to be her solo bodyguard, man. This is a team effort. And you went above and beyond tonight. Thank you for all that you did. I owe you.”

Tony grumbled, “No problemo. I’m taking her shopping in the morning unless you want to.”

“Shopping? For what?”

“A cell phone.”

Joel groaned in disbelief.

“See what I mean, she’s not playing with a full deck. What girl is without a cell phone in this world? She’s got a stalker who has beaten her in the past and has now sliced her shoulder. She claims he was going for her face. And she’s got no cell phone.”

Joel hadn’t heard about the attack on her face. He tried to get his breathing under control. He had to get her off campus, out of Kristof’s reach entirely. “Do me a favor,” Joel said to his friend. “I’ll pick her up instead. I will read her the riot act about the cell phone.”

“Well, okay, but I told her she’s going to pay you back for the phone and whatever else she needs.”

“I’m with you, buddy,” Joel pacified.

Joel hung up before Tony could get on another roll. The last thing he worried about was getting paid back.

He paced his apartment to slow his heart rate. When that failed, he went out on his porch for some serious think time. He came out here any time quiet eluded him, and the answer always came, out here in the fresh air overlooking the beautiful lake. Tonight there was not a ripple of a breeze, and no stars were visible. The lake and sky were so dark nothing caught his eye.

He searched the lake for some glimmer of serenity. There it was, a faint light flickering on one of the islands. He could not fathom how a light came to be on the island in the frigid lake this time of night, this time of year. No one used the islands in winter. In the summer, campers might set up a primitive campsite or local kids might dare one another to sleep over, but not in the dead of winter.

He remembered, back in his wild-child days, taking a girl out to one of the islands one warm summer night. He was probably fourteen, and she was sixteen. Drunk and stoned out of their minds, they’d used her father’s boat, and Joel had thrown up all the way out to the island. He never could control his motion sickness when it came to boats.

The girl left him on the island, if he remembered right. Humiliated, he slept it off, swam back to the closest shore at the crack of dawn—at least half a mile—and walked several miles home.

He felt just as inept now. Kristof was out of control. Since they could not secure Manda’s safety on campus, he would need to argue for some alternative. He knew he had a solution to her housing problem, and he would talk her into it in the morning. However, to exempt her from being on campus until graduation, he’d need her buy-in and that of many others. He’d call the provost in the morning at a decent hour and set the ball in motion.

For now, though, he needed the quiet and bracing cold of his porch high above the frigid lake. The light continued to burn on the island, and he stared at it, not questioning it or analyzing it any further. He found himself thinking about his Irish grandmother Bridey, his mother’s mother, the architect of Lakeside Terrace.

Bridey read tealeaves when she cared to, and he always suspected she worked a little magic from time to time. He wished she were still alive to give him a glimpse of the future or maybe work a little magic on Manda’s behalf. When the cold got to him, he went back inside, took a hot shower, and tumbled into bed.

Chapter 3

Manda peered through the side panel of the downstairs door and saw that it really was Joel waiting for her. She gave him a big smile, went out to greet him, and explained, “Tony said he’d meet me At My Apartment Door!” She was trying to make light of it, but Joel felt her nervousness. “Are you filling in for him?”

“We’re double-teaming you on the cell phone issue. I understand you have a list—things you need that will carry you through to the end of the semester.”

Manda shook her head. “I apologize about the phone thing. And there really isn’t anything else I need.”

Joel put his hand on her back and steered her to her car. “We’ll talk about it over breakfast, which is going on your tab.” He did his best to sound stern, but he could tell from the way she rolled her eyes that Manda saw through it. “Seriously, I want to hear about this injury.”

“It just needed a couple of stitches and mostly Steri-Strips, which will fall off in about a week.”

Joel’s eyes looked gravely into hers. “The way I heard it, you are lucky that’s all it was. And you were smart to have the beeper ready. Do you feel safe?”

Manda wet her lips. “No. Not on campus. Not with him on the loose.”

Joel took a walk around Manda’s car, knelt to check the undercarriage, and asked her to pop the hood. Satisfied there were no booby traps—which he doubted was Kristof’s style—he gave her a thumbs-up.

She laughed when he deposited himself in her front passenger seat. “I cannot believe you are riding in this clunker.”

“Makes two of us.”

While they waited for their breakfast, Joel poured each of them a second cup of coffee and proposed, “I have a situation you can help with, and it could solve your housing problem.”

Manda held her breath. She’d prayed all night for a way to live off campus. “I’d love to hear it. It would feel good to help you for a change.”

Joel beamed. “Thank you. I don’t know if you’re aware I manage some rental properties along the lake at the south edge of the city.”

Manda shook her head. “So, south of the marina. I’m trying to place what’s there. Overlook Park?”

Joel nodded. “Adjacent to the park, going north. Lakeside Terrace.”

Manda’s eyes lit up. “You mean those ginger-bread-y row houses that curve up from the beach and climb the bluff?”

“Exactly. I live in one and manage the rest.”

“In your spare time, after putting in a full day at the Manse?”

“Don’t go there.” Joel sat back as the waitress set down platters of eggs and home fries.

“You’re going to eat that?”

“Half. You?”

“I am hungry enough to eat the half you leave.”

“No dinner again?”

“Never got to it.” Yesterday when she came home to fix supper, Stacey was on the couch, entwined with a tattooed biker. Manda had backed out and gone directly to the library. She did not bother Joel with that part of the story. He knew what happened in the library after that.

The eggs and potatoes were delicious, but she gave up two-thirds of the way through.

Joel had stopped at half and was watching her.

She felt herself blush. “The only reason I haven’t gained weight is that I’ve missed so many meals. You are so disciplined.”

“It helps. Had enough?” At Manda’s nod, he signaled the waitress to take away their plates and returned to his original topic. “The dorm situation is not good, is it?”

“No.”

“Here’s an alternative. I used to have a part-time bookkeeper who collected all the rents and tracked the repairs and expenses to the units. She got married about six months ago and left me in the lurch last month when she moved with her husband to the west coast. I need someone to do that job.

“It’s not a big time commitment, but it requires someone with a head for details and good customer and supplier relations. I think you could manage it easily, even with your work at the Manse and your end-of-semester course work. Sound okay so far?”

Manda nodded.

“There’s a furnished studio apartment that could go with the job in lieu of a paycheck. Nothing fancy, but it’s clean, safe, and comfortable.”

“That’s pretty generous, and I’m betting that wasn’t the arrangement with the old bookkeeper.”

“Does that matter?” Joel said brusquely.

Manda knew he was trying to manipulate her. She smiled at him. “It doesn’t tally with running a tab.”

Joel grinned, “Busted.”

“I’ve got your number, Cushman.”

“But you’ll consider it?”

“I will do it if we can make it a business arrangement.”

“It is a business arrangement. I’m not looking to put you in a compromising position.”

Manda heard the anger in his voice and said quickly, “No, I know that. I wasn’t questioning your intentions.”

“So what’s the problem?”

Manda was determined not to give in to the pressure she felt. She squared her shoulders, drew in a very slow breath, and let it out just as slowly. “For my self-esteem, I need to pay some nominal rent. Let me give the amount some thought after seeing how much this cell phone is going to cost me every month. Fair enough?”

Joel nodded. “You can get anything from a no-frills phone with a year’s worth of calling time to a sophisticated smartphone with video, texting, international calling, and apps to the max. The no-frills option will run about a hundred dollars a year.” He started to ask, “Do you—?” and stopped.

“What? Out with it.”

“It’s my understanding that most college grads are twenty-to-forty thousand dollars in debt, between college loans, car loans, and credit card balances. Do you even have a credit card?”

“I paid cash for my car four years ago. I have no college loans. Although I have a credit card, I only use it to establish a credit history.”

“Satisfy my curiosity. Do you ever actually use the card?”

Manda nodded. “For car repairs, gas and groceries. I pay it off every month.”

“You’re telling me you have no debt?”

“I have no debt.”

Joel sat back and folded his arms.

“What? You’re looking at me like I’m an alien species.”

“I’m torn between admiring your frugality and wanting to choke you for being cheap with yourself. What drives that?”

Manda took a swallow of coffee. “Fear.”

“Of?”

“Not having enough to take care of myself. It’s on my fourth-step inventory as both an asset and a liability,” she admitted, referring to the effort alcoholics made to examine their character strengths and failings.

Joel was quiet, thinking. She noticed he didn’t need an explanation of “fourth step inventory.”

“So tell me how you see me being cheap with myself.”

“Not having a phone, for one thing. Not eating meals when it means paying outside of what you’ve budgeted. Not having clothes that fit. Am I offending you?”

Manda had looked away in embarrassment. “No, it’s just humbling to hear how other people see you.”

Joel reached for her hand. “I see you as bright, beautiful, and way too worried.”

Manda stared at him, not believing what she’d heard. Beautiful? Her?

“You are about to graduate with a solid business degree that is very marketable, and I think you’re planning to go on to grad school, which will instantly increase your earning power. You can afford to make some small investments in your future by being safe, comfortable, fed, clothed and even happy.”

“Good to hear, because I’m buying breakfast.” She plucked the bill out from under his credit card and beat him to the register.

An hour later, they sat with their heads together on a bench in Overlook Park, programming Manda’s no-frills cell phone. “You’ve got Campus Security, me, Tony, nine-one-one and the local AA number on speed dial. You know your voicemail password?”

“Eleven-eleven.”

Joel laughed. “You’re not supposed to tell me!”

“I trust you. You know all my secrets.”

“So what’s eleven-eleven? Just something easy to remember?”

“No, it’s the day of surrender—the eleventh hour of the eleventh day.”

“Got it.”

“A constant reminder that I have surrendered to my alcoholism and am changing almost everything about the way I live and think.”

“Do you really have to do all that to stay sober?”

Manda nodded. “People in the AA program tell me that’s the way to do it, and I believe it’s true for me.”

He let her be quiet with her thoughts. They sat looking out through the bare trees to the lake, brilliant blue on this sunny day. Joel was thinking the lake was exactly the color of Manda’s eyes.

Manda said quietly, “I am so grateful you gave me a chance and sent me in the right direction.”

“I’m glad it’s working out.”

“I would be dead by now. I realized that last night.”

Joel shivered to hear her say it. “I agree. Listen, let’s take a look at the studio apartment I had in mind for you.” He pointed through the trees to a row of white houses that marched up the hill on their own little street.

“Which house?”

“The last one, at the top of the bluff. I live on the lakeside on the third floor. The studio is on the first floor in front.”

Her smile warmed his heart. He offered his hand and pulled her to her feet.

Manda relaxed the moment she walked through the door. “Sweet,” she pronounced. The space was small, but the high ceiling and tall windows made it feel more spacious.

“Will it work for you?”

“The kitchen will be a challenge, but I can make it work.” She pointed to the half-height shutters at the windows. “As long as we never have a thunder storm, I’ll be fine.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I’m terrified of lightning.”

“We’ll add shades or something before storm season.” He watched her opening drawers and cabinets. “Furniture looks reasonable? You can sleep on a futon?”

“It’s really great, Joel.” She turned to him and gave him a hug that took his breath away.

He pulled her tight and enjoyed the feel of her in his arms. What he wouldn’t give for more of that.

“Thirty-five dollars a week,” Manda proposed.

Joel let go of her as if she were too hot to handle. “What?”

“My rent. What else? And don’t object.”

Joel let out his breath in a laugh. He tried and failed to recover his equilibrium. “I’m not objecting, but I want to know how you came up with that figure.”

“That’s what I can afford now that I’m not drinking anymore. It’s how much I save every week being sober, minus the weekly cost of the cell phone.”

Joel was speechless.

“What, you think it should be more?”

“No. When do you want to move in?”

“Like right away, this morning?”

Joel reached for her hand and deposited a key in her palm. “This is house number fourteen, unit one. Your parking space is fourteen dash one, around the back,” he explained. “Tony will be by later this morning to install a deadbolt and to check the window locks. You probably know he does carpentry and repairs on the side.”

Manda nodded. “And you and I will get together to go over the books?”

He’d forgotten about that. He nodded. “Tomorrow afternoon is best for me.” He ruffled her curls. “It’s good to see you smiling.”

“I am hugely relieved.”

That was music to Joel’s ears. It would make it easier to persuade her not to set foot on campus again until graduation. He still had some politicking to do on campus before he proposed it to her.

Manda dropped Joel at the visitor lot to collect his car and raced across campus to pack. She wanted to get everything out of the campus apartment and into the studio before noon so she could show up for work at the Manse by one o’clock.

She pounded up the stairs, burst through the door of the apartment, and walked in on Stacey and her biker friend inhaling lines of white powder at the kitchen counter. Her first thought was to go around them, but some invisible hand made her step back into the hallway and think about it.

If it were just Stacey, she would walk right by, pack her things, and get out. But two of them—high—posed a risk she was unwilling to take. The biker was well over six feet and muscular. Tony would kill her if anything happened to her through her own carelessness. She walked back down the stairs holding her cell phone, debating which number to call. Because the situation had gone beyond unpleasant to illegal, she opted for campus security.

In less than a minute, Stacey and the biker rushed by Manda, out of the building, and jumped on the motorcycle. Both gave her the finger as they sped away.

It took another minute for two burly officers to arrive. Manda explained the situation as they climbed back up to the apartment. She packed her things while they investigated the powder residue on the counter and found drug paraphernalia stuffed behind the cushions of the sofa.

Manda lined up her packed duffle and boxes, double-checked the kitchen and bathroom, and appropriated the ice cube trays to keep her food from spoiling on the drive.

Seeing that, the taller officer told her, “No need for you to make a statement right now, but we do need to know how to reach you.”