Lindsay woke up from her nap.  She was still tired, but she didn’t want to feel sorry for herself.  She was about to go out for supper with Gavin and she had no fear that he wouldn’t pick up the bill at the restaurant at the end of the night.  Back when she lived in Vancouver, she had been stiffed with the bill for her food and her date’s drinks often enough that knowing she’d be going out with a man like Gavin warmed her heart.

It didn’t stop her from feeling like a robot as she pushed her covers aside and got ready.  

She put on a comfortable pair of jeans, a sparkly sequined top, little black socks, and her boots that she was destroying on the job site.  She did her makeup like she was getting ready to rub shoulders with some really cool people that night.  That meant she did her makeup to make her look like a little cat.  She refreshed her false eyelashes and put a few little sticky jewels under her left eye like diamond tears.  Then she glowed up her blush.

That was something she would miss about being an actress.  She loved having her makeup done right.  Even if she worked on a construction site during the week, it was still the weekend and a devastatingly attractive man was taking her out.

Her heart thrilled with the sound when she heard Gavin ring the bell.  She couldn’t buzz him up, so she put on her coat and went down the long staircase to let him in.  

It was raining like it had been the first night they met and when she opened the door, he held an umbrella over his head and held another one in his hand.  He looked just the way he did that first morning when she didn’t recognize him and reintroduced herself like an idiot.  His hair had that curve like it had just come out of a ponytail and his gold-rimmed glasses framed his light eyes.  

He looked a little awkward.  “Uh… I brought you an umbrella, but that seems kind of stupid when I brought one with me.  Say, why don’t you just keep this spare one and walk to the restaurant with me under this one?”

“Why did you bring me an umbrella?” she asked.  “It’s sweet of you to take care of me, but you don’t need to go that far.  Umbrellas don’t cost a fortune, you know.”

“I know,” he agreed.  “I just didn’t like the idea of you getting wet and it rains all the time here.  If it’s any consolation, it’s just one from my house.  It’s not a new umbrella.  As a matter of fact, you should open it before you take it outside to make sure there’s nothing wrong with it.”

“Are you saying I should open it indoors?” she asked playfully.  “Isn’t that bad luck?”

“Just this once,” he said, matching her tone.  “I don’t think it would be bad luck.  I think it would be good luck.”

They had a moment where they stared at each other stupidly.  It was because she thought he was so handsome and he was so thoughtful.  The whole thing was extra nice because she liked the way he looked at her as if he didn’t want one hair on her head to get wet if she didn’t like it.

She took the umbrella.  “Thanks.  I’ll take it upstairs.”  

He waited while she took the umbrella back up the stairs and hung the handle on one of the hooks.  Then she came back downstairs, locked the door, and joined him under the umbrella.  He put his arm around her shoulders and drew her close to him.

“I didn’t tell you,” he began, “but we’re having dinner with Oliver and Ricky.  They were supposed to go on their date tonight, but apparently, they decided to spend the afternoon continuing their talk.  Did you know Oliver got offered an acting job in Vancouver?”

Lindsay nodded.  “Yeah, that was why he decided to get up the nerve to confess to Ricky.  If she said no, he was going to go back to the mainland and take that job.”

“Yeah,” Gavin said.  “Well, it turns out, it’s a pretty good job, so she’s convinced him to take it.  She’s going to close her beauty salon and join him in a month.”

It was Lindsay’s turn for her jaw to hang open.  “Are you serious?”

Gavin smiled, raised his eyebrows, and smacked his lips in the affirmative.  “Yeah.  They’ve decided they are crazy about each other and that they really can have it all.  They can have friendship, love, money, and the life both of them have always dreamed about.  Since they had the whole afternoon together and the better part of the evening, they want to hang out with us since Oliver is going back to the mainland tomorrow.”

“Well, that’s fantastic!  Very generous.  I’m not sure if I’d want to spend my last night on the island that way.”

“I am the boy’s brother,” Gavin pointed out.  

“Well, when you put it that way, I suppose I wouldn’t want to leave the island without spending my last night with you,” she teased.

He suddenly gripped her bare hand up the sleeve of her coat.  “Listen,” he said, looking into her eyes.  “I know I’m your boss and I know you’re shy about starting a relationship, but I’d really like it if we could take our relationship to the next level.  I don’t want to just be your boss.  Boyfriend sounds stupid at our age, but I want something with you that makes me your most important person.  I want to be the person you call when you have a problem.  Not just with the doorknob, but with everything.  Can I be that person to you?”

Lindsay swallowed.  She wanted that too, but she didn’t understand what would happen if they were found out.  “I’d like that, but what would your boss say if he found out you were dating one of your workers?”

“My boss?” Gavin asked incredulously.  

“Yeah.  Would it cause a stink?”

Gavin started laughing.  “Okay.  I see a few things have not been made clear to you.  It’s not in my job description to do renovations.  That’s my hotel.  My uncle owned it for decades and I ran it under him.  I started doing repairs myself because getting a contractor out here is a major pain in the ass.  It’s ridiculous, but it’s way easier, and cheaper, to hire a few assistant hotel managers than it is to find someone reliable to do repairs promptly.  I am not letting that hotel fall apart under my nose.  With that idea, I started remaking the rooms.  When my uncle got sick, he left me in charge.  When he died, he left it to me in his will.  I do not have a boss breathing down my neck.”

“Oh…” Lindsay said a little lifelessly.  The news should not have brought the wind out of her sails, but she was awfully disappointed with herself.  Yes, he had inherited the hotel, but he had also worked his butt off.  She had been working with him.  She knew how hard he worked.  Why had she put all her work into something that was never going to pan out?  Why couldn’t she have chosen something smarter?  If she had done that, she would have something to show for her work… Instead of nothing.

“And when we’re finished doing the renovations,” he said cheerfully, “you will look awfully cute behind the front desk… If that’s what you want.”

She smiled at him, but she was acting again.  

She didn’t want to act.

She didn’t want to act as she sat down at the table.  She didn’t want to act pleased as she listened to Oliver and Ricky tell them all their plans.  She didn’t want to act excited with a wide spectacular smile spread across her cheeks.  She had lost all her appetite and she didn’t want to eat.  She ordered a salad and it took all her talent to act like it didn’t suck as she forced it down.  She did not want to dance to the crappy country song that was playing on the jukebox, but she got up and danced with Gavin.  

Well, that ended up not being so bad.  She put her head on his shoulder and had a few minutes where she didn’t need to pretend anything.  Dancing with him was nice.  When he turned her in his arms and gave her a little twirl, she looked down like she was afraid she’d lose her footing so she didn’t have to meet his eyes.

He didn’t twirl her again but held her close against his plaid shirt.  “What’s wrong?” he whispered to her.

“Sorry.  I’ve just been thinking about all the bad choices I’ve made.  I’m really embarrassed.”

“Well, from here, it looks like you want to let me down easy, but you’re having trouble finding the words,” he said kindly like he was unbothered by her lack of enthusiasm.

“No.  It isn’t that.  It’s that I have to work tomorrow and I slept, but I’m already tired.  I’m hungry, but I really can’t eat well.  Everything tastes like it shouldn’t be in my mouth.  I screwed up so bad.”

“You need to stop being so hard on yourself,” he suggested.  “Are you feeling jealous that Oliver got a job acting and you didn’t?  Is that what’s really going on?”

She smiled wanly.  “I know I acted all enthusiastic about his job prospects, but that kind of job can be here in a moment and gone in a flash.  TV shows get canceled all the time.  More than being jealous, I hope his dreams don’t go down in flames.  He and Ricky are so happy and I’d be so sad if it didn’t work out just the way they’ve planned.”

“Do you really have to do everything by yourself?” Gavin asked carefully as he maneuvered them away from where Oliver and Ricky were dancing.

Her shoulders slumped.  “No.  I want your help.  You’re my boyfriend… or the man I’m seeing?  Is that a better string of words?”

“It would be easier if I could be your fiance.  It would be easier still if I could be your husband.  Then I’d really feel like I could step in.”

She smiled and brushed off what he said like he wasn’t serious.  “And if you were my husband tonight, what would you do to take all this away from me?”

“Well,” he said pleasantly.  “First, I’d call your sister and find out how much money you owe your mother.  Then I’d send her the money–”

Lindsay made a sound to interrupt him, but he kept talking.

“She’d disagree at first too, but then I’d tell her that we’re family and it was no big deal to take money from family.  After all, it hadn’t been a big deal when you borrowed money from your mother.  So, it wouldn’t be a big deal for me, the son-in-law, to pay it off.”

Lindsay chuckled.  She thought he was playing pretend like so many of her friends and acting buddies did.  They made up stories where everything was suddenly made all right all the time.  She let him go on.

“Then I’d take you back to your apartment and pack up all your clothes.  Then I’d take you home to our place.  I’d draw a hot bath for you to soak in while I hung up your clothes in the master bedroom closet.  I have a ton of shirts in there that I never wear. If I cleared them out, there would be plenty of room for your nighties and whatever else you put on your body.”  He twirled her again.  “It wouldn’t take long to get it all sorted.  You hardly own anything.  Then I’d march over to the kitchen and whip you up some chocolate mousse with raspberries.  When you got out of the tub, you’d have a little bit of an appetite and you’d let me feed it to you by firelight in the living room.  You’d fall asleep with your head on my knee and I’d kiss your forehead, treating you only like the angel you are.”

“No sex?” she asked, feeling her mood pick up.

“Well, in our story, we’re married.  There would be plenty of time for sex once you were feeling better.  People who are married aren’t in a big hurry for sex.  They know they can have it whenever they want forever.  So it’s no hardship to go one night without.  I’d get you the next night.  Or the next morning.  Well, what do you think of my story?” he asked, obviously eager to hear her response.

“Well, it sounds like perfection,” she said honestly.

“Wonderful.  Sadly, it will have to wait for another day.  Tonight, you’re tired and you’re working tomorrow and nothing is going to change that fact.  I’ll take you back to your place now and you’ll get an early night.”

Lindsay appreciated that as he paid the bill and said goodnight to Oliver and Ricky.  He walked her home.  The cement was slick with puddles and the marina was cloaked in darkness so they couldn’t see the water, only the reflection of the lights on the opposite side of the bay.  His arm was solid and warm next to her and Lindsay really did stop feeling sorry for herself.

At the doorstep, she pulled him onto the landing at the bottom of the stairs out of the rain.  

“I want to kiss you,” she said frankly.  “But there was that thing I said before about how I wanted it to happen on a day where…”

He covered her mouth with a single finger so she didn’t say the other woman’s name.  “I’m not in a big hurry,” he said, bringing his face closer to hers.  “I was before, but I did a lot of thinking while you were at work and then again while you were napping.  For now, if you’re my… girlfriend… partner… person… I wish there was a better word.  If you and I are planning out our love affair, and you’re not planning one with anyone else, and you’re not planning on disappearing off to the mainland, then there is really no need to rush.”  He removed his finger and let out a soothing breath.  “Can I see you after work tomorrow?  I’ll bring a grocery store picnic we can eat at your table.”

“I love that idea,” she said, reaching up and giving him a peck on the cheek anyway.

He gave her a loving smile, turned, and flicked open his umbrella with a practiced motion.  He went back into the rain.  Lindsay watched him at the door until he made it back to his truck.

He was the sweetest!

Lindsay plodded up the stairs and unlocked the second door to get into her apartment.  Inside, she sat on the padded bench of the breakfast nook to take off her boots.  Then she took off her coat.  

The umbrella Gavin had given was hanging on the hook.  She picked it up, lifted it over her head, and pressed the button to open it, only to be showered with paper money.  

“What?” she gasped as it fell faster than confetti in a photoshoot.  

Her reaction was so stunned and Gavin didn’t even get to see it.  

When she had finished with her stunned face, she got on the floor and started gathering up the money.  

It was enough.

It was more than enough to get her out of trouble that month.  Why did he do that?

She counted the money, made sure she hadn’t missed any of it, and then she sent a text to Gavin.

“Guess what I found in the umbrella you gave me?” Lindsay typed.

“Did a bug fall out?” Gavin wrote back.  “Sorry about that.  It was an old umbrella.”

“There weren’t any bugs!  Did you put something in there?”

It was a moment or two before he wrote back, “Not to my knowledge.”

He was going to pretend like he hadn’t given her any money!

Lindsay felt her eyes swell up with tears as she typed, “If it’s not important, is it okay if I keep it?”

“The dust bunnies are all yours,” he replied.