Page 16 of Real Forever
“Silver Creek was a good place to open my office. There aren’t any other trustees around here, but lots of folks with debt trouble.”
“Well, that’s depressing.”
Jake smiled. “Yeah.”
“Is it depressing for you to listen to people tell you about their money problems all day? I’d think it would be such a bummer.”
“I guess so. It can be a little stressful sometimes, being their last hope. Most of the folks coming to my office are a lot like your sister. Good people that had some bad luck or made a mistake. I want to help them as much as I can but sometimes the options are limited.”
Even though Jake was staring at the road ahead, he could feel Madison’s eyes on him and see her smile in the edge of his vision. He cleared his throat. “So where are we going? Where does this Tammy woman live?”
“Do you know where Golden Mile is?”
The stretch of huge, mostly newly built homes on massive, well-tailored lots, on the northern perimeter of town was populated by the wealthiest members of Silver Creek.
“I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never been out there.”
“Well, then you’re in for the snobbiest of treats tonight.”
It didn’t take long for them to reach the gravel road officially labeled 108N by the highways department but dubbed Golden Mile by the locals.
“Wow,” Jake said, peering out the passenger side window. Madison wasn’t kidding. These houses were nuts. “I didn’t realize there was this much money in Silver Creek.”
“I’m pretty sure Tammy is this one,” Madison said, nodding toward a massive two story home with a wrap-around porch and a four car garage. A long driveway led to a small stone fountain on an impeccably manicured lawn. She kept driving and turned down another smaller gravel road past Tammy’s property, u-turned so they were facing the house, and then turned off the headlights.
When he thought about helping Madison, Jake hadn’t imagined being alone, in the dark, sitting so close to her he could smell her skin. The leather bench seat squeaked as he shifted his weight further toward the door. Had he been fooling himself in believing he could help Madison without slipping into something unprofessional? He knew she was beautiful, but he hadn’t realized how funny, and interesting and… how fucking cool she was going to be.
Say something, stupid.
“So, did you grow up around here?”
“Yeah,” Madison answered. “I’ve lived in Snowbrook my whole life. I can’t imagine living in a big city like Kingston. I think I’d feel claustrophobic.”
Jake laughed. “Kingston isn’t really that big. Wait a minute? How did you know I lived in Kingston?”
Madison blushed and looked away from him. “Your website said you graduated from Queen’s.”
“You checked out my website?” Jake felt a smile creeping across his lips. He tried to stifle it.
“Well I wanted to make sure my sister wasn’t taking advice from some crackpot.”
Jake smirked. “And? Did I pass the crackpot evaluation?”
“An MBA from Queens and your CPA?” Madison tilted her head and rolled her eyes at him. “You know damn well it’s impressive as fuck.”
“Thanks. Can I get you to call my parents and tell them?” Jake laughed.
“What? They aren’t impressed? My dad would have organized a fucking parade down Main Street if I finished a degree. Any degree. Like a bachelor’s degree in Shoelace Tying.”
“Your dad sounds like a great guy,” Jake chuckled.
“Yeah… he was.”
He sensed a solemn tone in Madison’s voice and decided not to press.
“What’s your parents’ problem?” she continued. “They don’t care about school?”
“No, I guess they are proud of me. They’re just really hung up on this business succeeding and getting big. More my mom than my dad, really. Dad doesn’t say anything about it. Is your Mom as cool as your dad?”
