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“You can ask Monroe. He and Knox have been on me to put up an ad at the Blessed Bean for a house share even before you showed up. I have a spare bedroom with an attached bath, and this last year or so has been my longest stretch without a roommate since buying my house.” I’d joked with Monroe, but the truth was that passing by the guestroom door each morning did hit me square in the feels, an unwelcome reminder of how damn quiet my life had become. Perhaps that was why I was drawn to Cal. He might be cranky, but trying to worm my way past his grumpy defenses was an excellent distraction. I remained unconvinced that I was lonely, but having Cal around would be an excellent way to push away that concern. “In fact, I bought the house with an eye to sharing. First, I had my younger brother, then my sister. Maybe the room’s a good luck charm to launching to bigger and better things.”
“I don’t do charity.” Cal had his jaw clenched so tightly it was a wonder his teeth were intact. “Family’s different.”
The distant hint of longing in his voice, not his stiff body language, made my chest clench. If he were simply an irritable jerk, he’d be much easier to dismiss. But those little signs that he’d been wounded, probably more than once, kept adding up, catnip to my investigator brain and tender heart.
“Trust me that I don’t do charity either.” After getting a receipt for the gas, I put the car in Drive. “I’m going to drive a bit because that always clears my head. Maybe it’ll help you consider my idea.”
“I’m thinking.” Exhaling, Cal fastened his seatbelt. “Not like I’m drowning in options.”
“Yep.” I wouldn’t be offended that Cal wasn’t more enthusiastic. There was nothing I personally hated more than needing others, and from the look of things, Cal was well and truly screwed. Out of funds, injured, and without shelter and transportation? I’d be biting off heads too. I took a left out of the gas station, away from Safe Harbor, and kept my tone conversational. “Right now, I have a high schooler who handles my yardwork and trash, but he’s about to graduate and has a major case of senioritis, making him unreliable. That was the nice thing about having my siblings as roommates—someone to handle little tasks like carrying in groceries or wheeling the trash to the curb. Wouldn’t mind that again.”
“Trash duty is hardly worth a free room,” Cal scoffed. The day was chilly but sunny, spring slowly but surely making its presence known. I turned right onto one of my favorite country roads that snaked around the town. We’d come out on the other side of Safe Harbor, near where I lived, but in the meantime, Cal could benefit from the sunlight glinting off planters of flowers on farmhouse porches and wide-open fields awaiting their summer yields.
“Room wouldn’t be free. I made both my siblings pay rent as they were able. Same for you. Get on your feet, get some sort of temporary job, like you said, and we’ll work out a fair amount that will still let you save for a new rig.” My eyes narrowed. Cal truly relied on that RV. It wasn’t some recreational extra. Best I could see, it was his place of work, living, and solace, all three, not to mention how he traveled between recovery dives. To my mind, someone providing such a service deserved community support. “Couldn’t you do a foundation fundraiser of sorts? It’s necessary equipment for your work.”
“Yeah. I’m…not the best at fundraising.” Cal admitting a weakness was surprising enough, but my eyebrows also lifted at his ready agreement that it could be considered a business expense. And that he wasn’t insisting he needed to solve his RV crisis on his own made my chest expand with the minor win.
“I could help with fundraising. I’m good at getting people to part with money.” I laughed lightly. However, that superpower could be a mixed blessing. People invited me to charity auctions and galas because I could be counted on to bring the jokes and cajole others into donating. Monroe had asked if being the life of the party ever got old, and the real answer was yes, but if my skillset could help Cal, I wasn’t going to dwell on vague emotions I couldn’t even name. “Bet we could dream up some new ways to drum up support for your foundation.”
“I’ll let you handle the dreaming.” Cal gave me a half-smile. “And I’m not opposed to more resources for the foundation. That would mean more dives, more help for those looking for answers. But I’ve also done okay with taking temp work here and there to get funds for dives. That’s a point in favor of Portland—more work opportunities.”
