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“It’s not a bad idea,” Clarissa muses.
“Him wheeling home?”
She scowls at me. “No, getting Maggie a new place to stay. And stop teasing Joel like that. He doesn’t understand that you’re joking.”
“Who says I’m joking?”
“You see how he treats me?” Joel whines.
“Back to the point, boys,” she folds her arms over her chest, “how do we get Maggie a place to live before Hatchen can make a move?”
“You want me to buy her a house?” I ask casually.
Her eyes widen. “Would you?”
If she asked, I’d do anything.
But she can’t know that she has so much power over me.
“It’s possible, but it’s a risk. Suddenly elevating someone’s lifestyle doesn’t change the way that person thinks. It just changes their environment.”
“I appreciate the offer, Cody, but I wasn’t thinking of buying her a house.” Her eyes spark with inspiration. Her smile rivals the sunshine, just as intense as the warm glowy orb that’s currently striking my chest and making everything hot. “Maggie mentioned her grandmother left her a property. She said it was unliveable, but what if we make it liveable?”
“Depending on the state of the structure, it could take months to renovate a decrepit house. Who knows what Hatchen could do in that time?”
The spark leaves her eyes and I instantly regret dragging her back to reality.
“You’re right.” Ris sighs harder.
“Don’t you have tons of money?” Joel’s tone is slightly accusatory. “You can offer to buy a house, but you can’t make one liveable overnight?”
“Sorry to burst your bubble, kid, but I’m not a genie. A task like this is more than one person can do on their own.”
“Who said we have to do it on our own?” Clarissa sits straight up, back a rigid line. She rummages in her purse. Her curly hair falls over one shoulder as she searches. “I know I have it in here somewhere.”
“What are you looking for?”
“Aha!” Ris lifts a glossy black and gold business card to the light.
“What’s that?” Joel asks.
“A solution.”
“Nova Harrison?” I read the name on the card. “Adam Harrison’s wife?”
“Isn’t Adam Harrison that famous inventor guy?” Joel points out. “You know him?”
“His wife. We’re friends,” Clarissa chatters nervously. “Or acquaintances. Friend-quaintances? I think we’re more than professionally distant at this point. She did say to call anytime if I needed help.”
I pull the car over to the side. “Go ahead and call. We can plan our next move then.”
“We?”
“Don’t even think of doing this on your own, princess.”
Her lips curl up. “Okay. Let’s do this.”
I wait for her to call.