Chapter Thirty-Seven
Marshall
When I showed up at Lori’s door at a few minutes after seven on Tuesday night, she stared in surprise for a moment as though hardly daring to believe it was me, then flung her arms around me.
“If I had known you were coming, I would’ve dressed better,” she said as she stroked my back. She was wearing a pair of thin gray cotton shorts and an over-sized black t-shirt with a picture of Edgar Allan Poe on the front. “Let’s never be apart that long again; it was awful.”
“I didn’t particularly enjoy myself either, but at least I won the money.” I felt very much like Jason having just returned home with the Golden Fleece. “I spent the whole weekend being tired and lonely and depressed.”
“And throwing up, you poor, dear thing,” said Lori with an expression of pity. “Why don’t you come inside? I was just going to make myself a bowl of macaroni, but since you’re here, I could go for something more elaborate. What do you want?”
“I’ve really been craving some of your vegetable lasagna, if we’re being honest.” I seated myself at the table in the dining room, shoving aside a stack of tax files so I could rest my elbows. “By the way, where’s your sister?”
Lori was already removing the baking sheet from its place under the stove. “She and Jamal went out for the night. I think they’re going to go see a movie. She was hoping for an action flick, and he wanted to see a quiet indie. They were still squabbling when they left.”
I shook my head. “Sometimes I don’t know how those two are ever going to make it.”
“They’ll be fine. Sam normally loves indies, but sometimes she gets in the mood to watch something trashy. I get it, but I think it confuses Jamal. She kept that part of herself a secret when they were first dating, and he got the impression that she was uber-pretentious. I told her we’d have a girl’s night later this week and watch the entire Mummy series.”
“You could probably watch the whole series in the time it would take to finish Fanny and Alexander,” I pointed out.
Lori’s face fell, and she set down the baking pan on the floor. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that. If I had known you were going to fall asleep…”
“It’s okay! I was really tired. We’ll finish it sometime, I promise.”
“I don’t even remember where we were in the movie.”
“I think we had just gotten to the part where he had a stroke. The thing about that movie is, it’s almost too good at what it does. It wants to create the feeling of sitting in front of a fire on a snowy day, and it does. So, of course, the minute we started watching it, I fell right to sleep.”
Looking somewhat mollified, Lori rose to her feet. There was a package of lasagna noodles in the pantry. She pulled it out and set it on the counter, then dug through the fridge for cheese and mushrooms and zucchini.
While I was cutting up the vegetables, I told her about my weekend in Vegas: where I had stayed, what I had eaten, how I had slept. “I don’t see the appeal, honestly. I would much rather have spent the weekend at Disney World.”
“True, but nobody at Disney World is going to give you ten million dollars,” Lori pointed out. “I’m sorry you had a rough time, but I’m glad it paid off.”
“I wouldn’t have minded so much if you had been with me. Trips like that are meant to be shared with somebody.”
“So why did you throw up? Did you get food poisoning?”
I shrugged. “I think it was a combination of nerves and the pressure and missing you. There was a moment when I looked up at Nick, and the weight of the situation suddenly became real to me. I had somehow lucked into the final round of this match, and the reward was ten million. If I failed, I might never get this chance again. And I wanted it—not so much for myself but for everyone I could help with that money. My parents. My brothers. You.”
“That’s sweet,” said Lori. “But you should hold onto your money. I knew a woman who earned millions in a settlement after her husband died of cancer, but she blew it all buying houses for her grandkids and taking them to Disney World three times a year.”
“I wouldn’t say she was blowing it. What good is all that money if you can’t spend it on your grandkids?”
“I guess,” said Lori, though she still didn’t sound convinced. “Still, it was an enormous accomplishment, and you have every reason to be proud of it. I hope the bastards who put you in the hospital were watching the game on TV. I’d love to have seen the looks on their faces when you won all that money.”
“Let’s hope no one tells them, actually,” I said with a shudder. “Not until I’ve gotten the heck out of this town.”
Lori studied my face for a moment. She had curious, reflective eyes that always seemed to be looking past what you had said to the substratum of meaning behind it. “Are you thinking about moving home?”
“Maybe eventually. But I will need to fly back for a visit when the next month or so. I promised my parents. One of the first things I did when I got home today was pay for the repairs to their barn. But they want me to come back and help them rebuild it, and I’d love it if you came with me this time.”
“I think I’d like that, too,” said Lori.
All through supper, I debated how I was going to tell her about the other purchase I had made that day. Now that it was done, I felt curiously shy about it. I didn’t want her to think I was trying to buy my way into her heart, and I didn’t want her to be angry when she found out. But she was going to find out eventually, so it was best not to put it off.
We drank a glass of wine and shared a couple slices of lemon pie each. It felt good just to be in the same room with her again, to lay next to her on the couch with my head on her shoulder. My body wanted her, desperately. It didn’t help that she was wearing those gray shorts and showing just a hint of cleavage. It didn’t help that whenever she laughed, I felt a rush of blood to my brain that was better than any drug.
Finally, as she walked me to the door, I knew I couldn’t put it off any longer.
“So listen,” I said slowly. “Last night when I flew in, I went down to the strip center and bought it.”
“Bought it?” repeated Lori, as if she hadn’t heard me correctly.
I nodded. The words still sounded as strange to me as they did to her. “I paid Gustman and the other owners a pretty substantial sum of money, enough to keep them satisfied. We had to spend hours going over paperwork and talking to the realtors, but they’ve agreed to relocate. The bakery is yours now, and you can do whatever you want with it: expand, rebuild… The whole strip is yours.”
I spoke the last words quietly, unsure of their effect. Seeing the stunned look on her face, I was quick to add, “I know I probably should’ve consulted you first, and you have every right to be angry with me. I just didn’t want you to have to keep worrying about paying that exorbitant rent.”
“Angry?” said Lori, her voice no louder than a whisper. “What on earth would make you think I would be angry?”
“I don’t know. It’s just…unexpected.”
“Yes. Yes, it was. Is.” She seemed to be lost for words.
“Well, anyway. I had better get going.”
I turned to leave, but I hadn’t gone more than a few paces before she grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and pulled me back. Startled, I turned around to find her staring up at me adoringly with tear-filled eyes.
“Marshall Savery, if you really think you’re leaving after what you just told me,” she said, “then you’re in for a shock.”
Tugging at my shirt, she led me forward back into the living room. I made no effort to resist as the door closed behind me, and we found ourselves alone in the apartment.