CHAPTER THREE
Reeling from Rezan's disastrous revelation, Manda stumbled back to her cabin.
There, she perched on the edge of the bed, buried her face in her hands, and let loose all the tears that had been building since Tim drove away two days ago. She should have listened to her gut, not to him. And she should have started doing so months ago.
Now, he'd left her alone and broke in a strange place. She felt lost, adrift as a balloon with a broken string.
No, now just wait a minute. She wasn't exactly helpless. And no matter how it felt right now, she wasn't alone in the world, or even in the state of Idaho.
She swiped her face and began nerving herself up to go and make the call she'd saved as a last resort—to her mother.
In ordinary times, she'd call Aunt Macy, but her favorite aunt, her mom's younger sister, was in Cancun for two weeks with a friend. And since Macy lived in the Portland area, it wasn't like Manda could just hitch a ride to her place and use her key to let herself in. Also, she was pretty sure Macy had mentioned subletting her apartment through Airbnb while she was gone.
A loud knock on her cabin door made Manda nearly jump out of her skin. She wiped her wet, swollen face on the hem of Tim's hoodie, and walked to the door.
When she saw Rezan standing on the step, Manda tried to smile. "Hi, Rezan. Listen, c-can I use your phone? I'll call my mom and ask her to send me money for a bus ticket. Then I can get out of your hair."
He grinned slowly. "Well, we could do that. But how about you hold that thought till tomorrow? 'Cause tonight, I have a better idea. You ever heard the expression, the best revenge is doing fantastic?"
Well, she’d heard it as the best revenge was living well, but she guessed both came down to the same thing.
“Yeah,” she agreed doubtfully, because where was he going with this?
“Not that you want revenge or nothin’,” Rezan said quickly. “Hey, can I come in? Chilly as hell out here.”
It was chilly in the shade of the big pines. Not that it was much warmer in the cabin. But Manda moved aside, and let Rezan into the cabin.
She closed the door and perched on the edge of a kitchen chair, dabbing at her nose with a too-long sleeve. "I... what did you have in mind?"
"Whoa," he said, sitting on the edge of the bed and waving his be-ringed hands at her. "Whatever you're thinking, no! It's nothing bad. It’s just... Tim’s like a brother to me, but a bratty kid brother, right?” He shook his head ruefully. “And the way I see it, he just done you wrong. I don’t like that, so I wanna help you out. To start with, how’s about I float you a loan? Just to get you back on your feet, just till you get a job.”
Manda opened her mouth and closed it. She bit her lip as it quivered. “That’s… that’s so sweet of you,” she said. And accepting meant she did not have to call her mother. “I promise I won’t let you down. I’ll get a job—I’ll get two jobs. And I’ll pay you back as soon as I get paid.”
He chuckled. “Of course you will. I know that. And you can stay here long as you need. Not like I got people beatin’ down the doors, right? Not till the place is fixed up, anyways.”
This was true. Manda nodded, relief flooding her. “Right. I can do some cleaning, too, if you give me the stuff. I’ll be happy to do that for you.” It would be like interest on his loan.
Rezan shrugged. “Sure, sure.” He snapped his fingers. “Hey, I just had a great idea. I got this friend who might be able to help you get a job. He’s a local, got lots of connections. Knows a million people, you know?”
“Okay. How do I get in touch with him?”
Rezan’s eyes twinkled. "We-ell… would you believe, go out to dinner with him?"
Manda blinked. “Huh? You mean, like a blind date?”
Her revulsion for this idea clearly showed on her face, because Rezan waved his ringed hands, shaking his head. "Whoa, whoa, I see what you're thinking. But you are wrong! This guy's no reject. No, he's a great guy. Ain't sayin' he's good-lookin' or not, 'cause I ain't no chick. But big, buff and funny! I seen him tell jokes like you wouldn't believe. And he has a great job. Steady job. Lotsa friends. Nice guy. Women like him."
Okay, now she didn't get it. "Then why does he need a blind date?"
He gave her a look. "'Cause everybody needs a blind date sometimes! What, you tryin' to tell me you never been on one?"
She snickered. "Well... yeah, I have." Because he was right, who hadn't been on a few blind dates? Although in her experience, they never worked out.
Rezan smiled. "That's right! Everyone goes on blind dates. You meet new people, you try new things. You have fun."
He leaned forward, his smile taking on a comically evil edge. "And you know what's best of all? Huh?"
"Okay, what?" Although if he could find a ‘best of all’ thing about her situation, she was a monkey’s aunt.
He flipped his hands up, middle fingers pointing high. "You give a great big 'Fuck You!' to Timmy boy for running out on you. For making you think you ain't worth nothin'. Because you are, gorgeous. You are a fine girl, and you deserve to be treated that way. Huh? Huh?"
His charm was infectious, and somehow Manda found herself nodding, and then laughing along with him.
Rezan gave a whoop. "That's right! Now you go wash your face, dry them tears, and get yourself fixed up. I’ll call my buddy, tell him it’s a go for dinner.”
"Wait, what?" Manda lifted her hands palm out, shaking her head. "Rezan, no. Right now isn't a great time. I don't… Tim took off with everything I own. He has my duffle with all my clothes.”
She didn't even have shower supplies beyond a bar of soap and the last of a bottle of cheap shampoo.. He took it all. She just hoped he hadn’t taken the last of her self-respect too.
“I can’t really go on a ‘date’ looking like this,” she pointed out. “Maybe your friend could just meet me for coffee, or come here and talk?”
Rezan was on his feet, shaking his head. “Tim took all your stuff? That right there is low. And you know what? All the more reason to fuck him off. Now come on. It’s a loan, remember? Gonna get you all fixed up, make you feel pretty, let you have a good time. And I ain't takin' no for an answer."
Not that she exactly had a spine of steel at the best of times, but right now, after being buffeted by one of the most unpleasant punches that a woman can take, Manda let herself be swayed by the promise of at least a nice dinner, and a chance at a job.
Wasn't like she had anything to do here but sit and cry.
She had to figure out what to do next, and she would. If Rezan’s friend didn’t have a job for her, she'd walk to the nearest businesses and beg for work if she had to.
Or, she'd swallow her pride, grit her teeth, call her mom and beg to be allowed to come home, just until she could get back on her feet.
But for right now, it felt good to be taken care of.
And Rezan did. He cosseted her, tucking her into his shiny red Charger with black racing stripes, and drove her through the snow-lined streets of the small town, out into the wide valley with snowy fields and mountains in the distance.
They rolled southwest to I-90, and headed west along the Spokane River, running cold and dark in its icy banks. Although it was only four o'clock by the clock on the car dash, the sun was already sinking behind tall masses of heavy clouds clustered over the Washington border.
As they rounded a curve, Manda heard a deep rumble behind them, and turned to see a group of bikers on Harleys moving fast, streaming through the traffic as if it wasn't there.
The bikers themselves seemed as big and flashy as their bikes, in black leathers with masks against the cold, some of them with long hair streaming behind them.
One, she saw, was a woman, on her own motorcycle. Her red hair flew out behind her like a banner.
Manda shivered. "You have biker gangs up here too? She'd thought somehow this area was too remote for them.
Rezan was gazing after the bikers, a peculiar look in his eyes, but he nodded. "Yeah, we got bikers. You worried about that?"
"Well, yeah," she said. "In the Tri-Cities, the Prairies Rattlers? They were evil."
The gang seemed to have gone to ground last fall. There had even been a massive explosion and fire at their hangout that killed several of them. But before that they'd allegedly been responsible for murders, rapes and more. And who knew if they'd slither to life again?
"Yeah, heard about those dudes," Rezan said easily. "Bad news. But the bikers around here? Like night and day. Night. And. Day. The Flyers are a bunch of hard working guys who just love to party on the weekends, you know? Never have trouble with the cops, even."
"So they're more like a club?" she asked. "Not a gang?"
"That's right. You hit it—a club, yeah. Buncha family guys. Got kids, jobs, the works."
"Oh, that's nice. So, speaking of jobs, um, just how connected is your friend? What kind of a job do you think he can help me find? I mean, I can do lots of things—I’m not afraid of hard work."
He looked thoughtful. "Tim said you had a little trouble holding a job down there in the Tri."
Her face burned, and she ducked her head, hiding behind the curtain of her hair. "I—I got fired from my last job, at a paint store. I mixed up the names of two paints. Or, not the names, but the item numbers. On a big order."
Which was how home paints were commonly labeled. In fact, she'd sold a customer twenty custom-mixed gallons of 1675432 Deep Purple Haze instead of 1764533 Pearl Gray, worth hundreds of dollars.
The customer had been indignant, the store manager irate, and Manda swiftly found herself out of a job, with no references.
This was so humiliating, she couldn't even bring herself to confess it to her best friend Chloe, who was smart enough to be in college, working on a degree in occupational therapy, so she could help people after they were hurt or ill.
Of course it hadn't helped that the first person Manda had told was her mom, who had sighed heavily (Manda could practically see her rolling her eyes through the phone) and told Manda to for God's sake just quit feeling sorry for herself the way those damn special ed teachers had taught her, and pay attention to what she was doing, that there was nothing wrong with her, except being careless.
And on and on... thereby making this and all other problems caused by Manda's disability her own damn fault.
"Who cares about that shit?" Rezan's hand on her knee, brought Manda sharply back to here and now.
He gave her a soothing pat. "Gorgeous thing who looks like you, working behind a paint counter? That's just wrong. You need to be using your fine self the very best way, hear what I'm sayin'?"
Manda did not, and something about his compliment sent unease trickling down her spine. "Uh, I'm twenty-four. Little late for me to try to break into modeling," she joked.
Not to mention with her rounded face and body, she'd have to aim for plus size. She was nowhere near fat, but she wasn't super-slim like most clothing models. Of course, there were successful plus size models now too, but still... she just wasn't that pretty.
He laughed but shook his head. "Not too late, never too late to get ahead in life. Got to grab onto opportunities coming by and make 'em work for you. That's what I do."
She nodded, but privately thought his standards weren't very high, if he thought hanging out at the Pine Cabins in the winter was seizing an opportunity. But he was helping her, so she kept that thought to herself.
“Will say, though,” he added as they slowed for an exit ramp. “My friend, you know, he’s like you. Been through some hard times. Had women try to use him. So maybe just for tonight, don’t come on too strong about the job angle, right? Just relax, have a good time.”
Manda nodded. “Oh, right. I can do that.”
The poor guy. He must manage some kind of restaurant or bar where the tips were great, and so girls came on to him to get jobs. Well, she wasn’t a user, for sure. so she’d be sure to let him know this evening wasn’t about that—or not only about that, anyway.
And who knew, maybe Rezan’s 'friend' would be a great guy and she'd have fun for a change.
Before she got back to getting out of the effed-up mess her life had become.
* * *
A few hours later, Manda heard a knock on the cabin door. Her blind date was here.'
In a way, it seemed like only moments since Rezan had come here and explained his idea. He'd whisked her off shopping like a slick-talking fairy godfather, then back here so she could shower and fix her hair and makeup, then get dressed.
One thing was for sure—she looked better than she had this morning.
Rezan had taken her to a little store at a strip mall in the Spokane Valley, where he knew the owner. The woman, a hard-eyed but gorgeous woman with dark coloring and nails out to there, had helped Manda choose a dress, a long sweater-jacket, shoes, and sexy underwear.
Then Rezan had stopped at a grocery and dry goods store so Manda could choose necessities like shampoo and lotion, and some cosmetics.
She was very uneasy with the amount of money he was lending her just for one date, but he just laughed off her protests. She supposed getting back at Tim had something to do with it, too. Rezan seemed like the kind of person who would enjoy serving up revenge anyway he could. Such as by sending her on a date with a man who was not Tim.
One thing was for sure, she was the beneficiary. Her hair was freshly washed and blown out—silky straight, because that's what it did and no amount of product was going to change that, but it was clean and shiny. She wore eye-makeup, a touch of mascara, enough shadow to make her brown eyes bigger, and peach lip gloss.
And she wore a dress—a pretty, sexy dress. Stretchy white knit, it had honey-gold flowers splashed over it, so big they curved around her body with the dress. The neck was a deep vee, the flirty little skirt hit mid-thigh, the tight sleeves belled out at her elbows to a ruffle, with cutouts to reveal circles of skin up her arms and over her shoulders. Under it she wore a white lace strapless bra and high-cut panties. Not undies she would have chosen for herself, but Rezan's friend had been insistent they were right for her and the dress.
On her feet were new high-heeled booties of brown suede, with gold zippers up the outside, a bauble dangling from the pull. The heels were sexy, but not so high she couldn't walk, thank God.
On the bed waited a brown sweater jacket and her new purse, a cute gold metallic envelope with a chain handle. Right now it held only her lip-gloss and cabin key, but there was room for her phone and driver's license when she got them back from Tim.
Just thinking of him made her want to bare her teeth and snarl. Rezan was right—fuck Tim. When she saw him next, she was going to do him bodily harm of some kind. After she told him all about her date with a guy who was not him.
She took a deep breath and walked to open the door to her date.