I slid my finger under the paper seal and pulled out a three-page document. It was a boat loan application for thirty-two thousand dollars.
Across the top sheet, a bold red stamp read Application Declined. The secondary signature line for a co-signer was highlighted in pink marker, completely blank, waiting for a signature that would tie my bank account to his debt.
I stared at the numbers on the page, my hand stopping on the paper. Thirty-two thousand dollars was more than my entire savings account.
The kitchen phone rang at twenty-past seven, just as I was putting the leftovers into the refrigerator. I carried the handset into the living room and sat on the edge of the sofa.
“Lauren, I hope you aren’t still dwelling on that business at the trampoline park,” my mother, Elaine, said. Her voice had that soft, passive-aggressive sigh she used whenever she wanted to smooth over a crisis before it touched Gage.
“Sailor pulled a fire alarm, Mom,” I said, looking out the window at the dark street. “Eighteen families had to stand in the freezing parking lot while the fire trucks arrived.”
