Page 127 of Slumming It

Okay, nowthatwas insulting – not to me, but to Reese, who'd surely gone to some trouble to make one of Vivian's biggest dreams come true. "No, I found it to be pretty nice, actually. And I've gotta be honest. I'm a little disappointed that you're acting like it's abadthing."

The more I talked, the more upset Vivian looked. "And let's say Idogo. What areyougonna do? Stay in the trailer alone?"

For all kinds of reasons, I didn't want to tell her, but I didn't want to lie to her either. "Well…if you want the truth, Reese has offered to let me stay in his suite."

She looked thunderstruck by the news. "At the Diamond Resort?"

"Well…yeah. It has great security, and with all of that crazy publicity, it just sort of makes sense, you know?"

Her tone grew sarcastic. "Oh, I'm sure it does."

"Oh come on!" I said. "It's not like that."

"It isn't?"

"No. Not at all." My heart warmed at the memory. "In fact, he offered to get me a suite of my own, but…well, Iwantedto stay with him. I still do. It'll be almost like a vacation."

"Oh, yeah? So why hasn't he checked out ofourhotel?"

"Probably to give us a break."

"What kind of break?"

"Financial." I couldn't help but wince. "Like he knew that we couldn't afford a refund."

"Sure we could've." But then in a lower voice, she added, "Eventually."

"See?"

"No. I don't see. And why was he staying here in the first place?"

"Well, obviously to keep a low profile."

She looked at me like I was nuts. "He's driving a freaking Ferrari."

"Yeah, but he wasn't in the beginning."

"And you don’t findthatstrange either?"

"Well, yeah. Maybe it's alittlestrange, but when you have that kind of money, you can probably afford anything."

"Exactly!" she said.

I stared at my sister. "Just what are you getting at?"

"I'm just saying, with his kind of money, he could pull a lot of strings to isolate you."

Nowthatwas crazy. "Isolate me how?"

"By separating you from your family. And who's gonna watch the house when we're away?"

"Whose house?" I asked. "Mom and Dad's?

"Andour place."

Our place? Meaning the mobile home by the pumpkin patch?"It doesn'tneedto be watched," I said. "It's not like we've got cows that need milking. But if it makes you feel better, I'll check in at least once a day, alright? And I'll check on the hotel, too." I gave her another pleading look. "Okay?"

She shook her head. "No, I won't leave you."