Handsome and Greta (Seven Ways to Sin 3)

Must be cabin fever. I can sympathize. I’m starting to go a bit crazy myself cooped up in this town.

I put the produce away, retrieved the crossword puzzle from the living room, turned it over, and wrote Betty a note.

I’m not sure what you are upset about. We can talk it over later tonight if you’d like. I’m not going to get into trouble, and I’m not going to leave you alone. I thought you knew me better than that by now.

Anyway, I had some exciting news to share with you. I may be coming into some money. I know I’ve said that before, but this time it looks like things may finally be turning in my favor—in our favor.

Don’t worry about Greta. Everything’s going to work out this time. You’ll see. Trust me.

Jake—

I was going to leave, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything, not with Betty the way she was acting. Never leave angry—never leave while someone you care about is angry. I didn’t have much good sense, but I had enough to know at least that.

I cleaned and straightened up the place, hoping that maybe that would soften her mood, when Matty called.

“Matty, my friend. What’s up?”

“Not much. What’s new with you?”

I badly wanted to tell him about Greta, but it was too soon, I wouldn't want to jinx it. “Same old boring story,” I said.

“I doubt that. There are a lot of words I could think of to describe you, and boring isn’t one of them.”

“What can I say? Not much goes on in Perth.”

“Well, we’re going to change that.”

There was playfulness and excitement in his voice. I waited for him to elaborate. When he didn’t, I asked, “What do you mean by that?”

“Well, since you couldn’t come up to North Dakota, I figured I’d come down to Montana. What do you say? I spoke with Austin and Cameron. They're up for it. Maybe Erik and Gabriel, too. Though, I haven’t spoken with them yet. Hell, and Dalton too. We’ll get the gang back together for a weekend in Perth.”

I was speechless. I missed my friends dearly, but the timing couldn’t have been worse.

“I’ll take your silence as an enthusiastic yes,” said Matty.

“Yeah, yes, I mean, of course.” I stumbled over my words. “It’s just that, well, things are a bit hectic around here at the moment.”

“Are things hectic or are they boring? Which one is it?”

“Um, well...”

“Jake, a man of many secrets,” said Matty. “I tell you what, you can keep your secrets if you agree to a weekend with the boys. We can rent some snow bikes and head out to Whitefish.”

“Sounds like that would be a lot of fun.”

“Would be?”

“Yeah, um,” I stammered, searching for what to say. “It’s just that I’m a little short on cash at the moment. A lot short on cash, actually.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

“I...”

“Listen, Jake, I’ve got to run. I’ll call you later with the details.”

“OK.”

“Talk to you later,” Matty said. “And see you soon.”

The conversation with Matty left a sour taste in my mouth. I felt guilty for not having accepted his invitation to go skiing with him last week. And I felt guilty for not being more enthusiastic about his idea to come to Perth. I had messed things up real good. And by not taking care of business I was pushing away the people I cared about. That had to change.

I needed to take care of business, and fast. But until I sorted out the mistakes from my past, I wasn’t in any position to live in the present - much less have much of a future. With frustration and guilt battling for space in my head, I headed back to the workshop in the hope of getting rid of both. As I walked, the sun was setting, which added a stark visual metaphor for how I felt.

Time to stop dilly-dallying and get to work. I could really get my act together if Greta were here with me. Together, we’d make an unstoppable team. I could get out of Perth, conquer the world.

Thinking about Greta had my thoughts go from simply raising enough money to get out of the hole I’d dug for myself to building an empire and jetting around the world; from living on the lam to living large.

Greta, don’t go back to New York, not just yet. You and I, we can make a great team.

I let my imagination run wild with crazy thoughts about a girl I hardly knew. But it felt so good to believe again, to have hope and be excited about the future. I was loving it and made no attempt to reign in my imagination. Instead, I paced and turned in circles getting worked up dreaming about all the prospects that were opening up to me.