“Partly for the money.” My lips curve up. “There are a few other benefits.”
She smiles, but she doesn’t change the subject. “Are you going to ask Izzy to pay half?”
I look into my glass then, swirl the whisky around, and take a mouthful. “I don’t want to,” I reply eventually.
“She’s married to one of the richest guys in New Zealand, Marc. Hal would be more than happy to help.”
“I know. But I have my pride. And I don’t want Izzy to know, not yet, not when she’s on her honeymoon.”
“Noah would give you the money.”
“I know. But that’s not going to happen. I’ll probably get another loan.” The repayments would be a problem for me, but I don’t tell Poppy that. I earn a decent wage at the Ark, but I have rent and bills to pay, and I also took a loan out for my car. Noah wanted to buy it for me as a company car, but I—being an idiot—refused and bought it myself. I’ll have finished paying for it in a few months, but until then, taking out another loan is going to stretch my finances to the limit.
Poppy has a mouthful of whisky and studies me, resting her cheek on the glass. “I know you’re going to say no,” she tells me, “but I have to say it anyway. You know I’d give you the money.”
“That’s very kind of you, and I appreciate it. But you know I can’t take it.”
She purses her lips, her brow creasing. “In that case, how about I increase your payments to two thousand dollars a night?”
“Jesus. That’s not why I told you.”
“I know. Come on, Marc, I know you well enough to know you’d never ask anyone for money. You’re a proud man, and you’re surrounded by a family for whom money has never been an issue. I can only imagine how hard that has been for you and Izzy. I’ve talked to her about it in the past, and she’s told me how awkward she found it at veterinary college when both Hal and Stefan had money.”
“I hadn’t realized that,” I say. “But it doesn’t change anything.”
“I know I’m not going to change your mind. But something you have to understand with us Kings is that it doesn’t come from a position of superiority. To us, it’s not a case of have and have-not. It’s tough to describe what it’s like growing up with money to someone who hasn’t been through it. The kind of issues that most people struggle with—budgeting, waiting to get paid, saving up for holidays and birthday presents—that didn’t happen with any of us. For our parents, the challenge was to give us everything we wanted without spoiling us. It’s a thin line to walk, and I can’t say Albie, Summer, and I didn’t have issues. And of course it was even more difficult for Mom and Dad with Summer, because her birth father couldn’t afford to splash out on whatever caught his eye, so they had to handle that carefully.”
“I get all that, but—”
“Let me finish. I just want to say, we all have our own money through trust funds and the like, but for all of us, it’s been a family thing, a shared thing. The money comes from Brock and Dad and Matt and all the hard work they did, and also from a certain amount of luck. Not every series of children’s books takes off, and not every invention is a success. They’re aware how lucky they are, and so are we. You think Ryan, and Summer, and Noah, don’t feel guilt to some extent because they’re not related to the Three Wise Men by blood?”
“I’ve had this conversation with Noah,” I admit. “He gave me the ‘we’re all one big happy family’ talk.”
“But he’s right. He created the Ark for the Kings and their friends to come together and share their lives, as well as to help animals. It was the best way he could think of to treat the money as a source that feeds all the rivers. None of us hoards our cash like Scrooge. It’s there to improve everyone’s lives. We all give to charity, and help where we can.”
I feel a flare of irritation at being likened to a charity, but I squash it, because I know that’s not what she meant. “I understand all that. But I’m not a King, and it just doesn’t feel right to take that kind of money from any of you.”