every single window and the front and back door. I even managed to pull an old metal fan out of the storage closet. I propped it up in front of the back door and set it to rotate so that it pushed all the smoky air out the front door.
It wasn’t the most brilliant idea, but it worked.
Katie came back in and told me pizza would be here in less than half an hour. With a bit of time on our hands, I cracked open two beers and we sat on the porch chairs while we sipped them.
“So what did you mean when you said you couldn’t take any more bad news?”
Katie sighed and slumped in her seat. She mindlessly picked at the label on the beer bottle as she spoke. “You know how I told you about my review today with my boss? Well, it’s all fine and dandy, except the owner of the hotel has changed some policies. Most don’t affect me, but one of them was that he’s no longer letting staff live on the property.”
I frowned. “Wait, so that means…”
She nodded. “Yeah, it means as of January I don’t have a place to live. They’ve compensated me with a raise and everything, but still, it was so convenient living at the hotel. I didn’t have to commute to work, and any time there was an emergency, I was on site to help out. It just sucks. I also can’t honor the two free nights I gave you. The owner has also revoked the use of free overnights for family and friends effective immediately.”
“I’m sorry,” I said.
She shrugged. “Me too. I’m not a fan of change and this will be a big adjustment.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I mean I suppose I’ll start looking for a place sooner rather than later, and hopefully, I can find something that’s close to the El Cartana. I don’t want more than a fifteen-minute drive to work. But there isn’t much in the way of available rentals on this island. It’ll be tight.”
“And if you can’t find a place?”
Katie licked her lips.
You could move in with me. I almost said the words aloud but I caught my tongue between my teeth. No, it’s too soon. You’ll scare her off.
“If I can’t find a place in time, I’ll crash with Roman and Ginny until I do. It’s not ideal, but it will work until I find something better. It’s not like I’ll have to pay to store any furniture or anything. I don’t own any. Everything I have belongs to the hotel.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. Katie was going to have to start all over again with nothing but the clothes on her back. I could offer her a comfortable, cozy cabin that didn’t always smell like smoke.
Still, a little voice told me it was too soon to spring at her with such an offer.
Katie and I talked about the hotel and her manager, Evan, who sounded like a reasonable man who had tried his best to fight for a better deal for her. The owner of the hotel sounded like every other rich prick I’d ever met who was scrounging to make even more money. But that was business, and he didn’t owe residency to any of his employees. Katie didn’t seem to blame or hold it against him, but she admitted that it was stress she didn’t need on her plate right now.
When our pizza showed up, we stayed outside and ate out of the box. It wasn’t the idea I had in my head of a nice home-cooked meal at the dining table, but it was still good, and the company was what mattered.
Katie licked pizza sauce off her thumb as my phone rang in my pocket.
“Shoot,” I said. “Sorry, I meant to turn the ringer off.”
“All good,” she said. “I’m going to keep pigging out. You can answer it if you have to.”
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and frowned at the number on the screen. It was my dad’s assisted living home.
I answered the call and lifted the phone to my ear. “Hello?”
There was a brief delay on the other end before I recognized Tiff’s voice. “Peter?”
I got to my feet. Her voice sounded thin. Tight. Strained. My gut swirled with immediate anxiety. “What happened?”
Katie had just crammed a massive bite of pizza into her mouth, but she froze mid chew and looked up at me, her brows