Page 24 of Hiss and Make Up
“Don’t be a jerk.”
He sighed. What did she expect him to do? Play detective in his spare time? “Then what, Sierra? What would you have me do? I mean, I called you guys, right?”
“You called me, and I told you what I think. Now, what are you going to do with the information?”
“I don’t know.” He started to ask whatshewould do, but he stopped when he recognized that gleam in her eyes.
Trouble.
“No way.” He banged his fork on the table to grab her attention.
She startled, caught between reality and wherever her mind went when she got a ridiculous scheme in her head. “What the hell’s wrong with you?” she said. “You scared the crap out of me.”
“Good. Now get that thought out of your head right now.”
Sierra narrowed her eyes and leaned over her messy basket of half-eaten fries. “Don’t boss me around. You know I hate that.”
“Fine, but get that thought out of your head anyway.”
“What thought?” She was smirking now, daring him to read her mind.
“The one that gets you involved in this mess. Uh-uh. Not happening. Why could you possibly want to get involved with this? You don’t evenlikeDenise.”
She leaned back and relaxed a bit.
“You said, ‘reward.’”
* * *
Sierra told Marc everything. She blabbed about getting fired. About not getting enough hours at the Nature Station. About needing money by the next week so Luna wouldn’t have to miss therapy. And, most importantly, about him reappearing in her life with reward money and a job.
“A job?” His voice cracked.
“If you’ll pay a thousand bucks for those pelicans, I’ll bet it's also worth something to find whoever planted those snakes at your sister’s house.”
His mouth fell open. After a few seconds of gawking at her, he said, “You have lost your mind.”
“It’s the perfect plan. I get back your stuff and find the creep messing with you guys, and you give me the reward money.” She didn’t see the problem. He was already offering the reward for part of this. Unless his problem was with her. “Better than giving it to some stranger. What’s wrong with that?”
“What’s wrong with…” His face turned red, and he drummed his fingers hard on the table. “Everything.”
She channeled her dad and found her calm, soothing voice. “Let’s take a minute, so you can think this through. Clearly, you’re mad about this snake-planting person, and you’re projecting that anger on me. I’m going totryto be patient with you because I know Denise and her kids live there and that’s scary and all. But I’m warning you that I’m not real good with the whole patience thing. So do you think we could fast-forward to you getting on board with my plan?”
Marc closed his eyes and mouthed a silent count, backward from ten to one. She hated that. His mom taught him that trick when they were kids, so he wouldn’t get into troublelike that Sierra girl. Apparently. he was still doing it. And backward, no less.
When he got to one, he took a deep, cleansing breath and popped open his eyes. To her surprise, the counting worked. His face was an even, fleshy color again, all traces of annoyance gone.
“Here’s the deal,” he said. “You need money. That’s whereyourstress and these ridiculous ideas are coming from. I get that.” He looked quite proud of himself. “We always have part-time positions open at the paper. You come in on Monday, fill out an application, and I’ll vouch for you and personally give you an advance if you need it.”
“I don’t need you to save me. I’m not Denise and her kids.”
He flinched. “I’m not trying to save you. I’m offering a hand for a friend.”
“A friend.” A wave of nausea replaced her stomach flutter. They’d been friends once. Long ago. And he’d gone and ruined it.
He picked at his napkin. “Or someone who was a friend. I mean, it’s just an offer.”
While Sierra tried to settle her stomach and heart and wrangle meaning out of the word “friend,” two men walked through the front door of the diner. Sierra’s eyes darted, looking for a way to hide her face from the tall one in the red University of Louisiana cap.
