Then there was the bingo bunch, two couples about Millie and Lester’s age, who all talked of moving to Florida for the winter months. Millie apparently knew these folks and muttered about them under her breath as she click-clacked away. Number fifteen was a doctor. He checked his beeper twice while telling Nancy about his practice. Mark didn’t think he’d last long.
Claire was mute. She watched Nancy make her way down the line, eyeing them all like the second-ranked runner warily watching the first-ranked before the race’s start.
Sixteen and seventeen were a married couple on their honeymoon. They must be insane to want to spend their honeymoon in an RV with a bunch of strangers. They looked young and gullible, still at the age where they thought the world was going to hand them good things on a platter. A few short months ago, Mark had felt the same way. Funny how fast things could change.
Eighteen and nineteen were Millie and Lester. Twenty was Mark. When Nancy asked him what he did for work, he hesitated. “I’m… I was a salesman for a software development company but now I write training manuals.”
“How cool! Like for Microsoft?”
He snorted. “Not exactly.”
“And why do you want to win the RV, Mark?” Nancy flashed him a smile.
“I, ah…” What could he say? He was dead broke, he’d screwed up royally and he needed the RV to provide himself with both a reliable ride to California and a means to right the mistakes he’d made? Instead, he said the first thing that came to mind. “I want to go to Disneyland.”
“How sweet,” Nancy stepped over by Claire, then counted with her pointer finger. “I’m sorry, you’re twenty-one.”
“But I couldn’t pass for it,” Claire joked, using Mark’s one-liner as if trying to charm Nancy into letting her stay. “I’m Claire—”
“You’re twenty-one,” Nancy interrupted. “The rules say only twenty get on. Sorry.” She pointed to the board of rules. Then she walked back to the head of the line. “Okay, people.” She clapped twice. “Bags up! Let’s get aboard!”
Millie jabbed Lester again and stood while he folded their chairs and hoisted their bags. The others who’d missed being part of the lucky twenty wandered away.
Mark turned back to Claire. He’d never seen such a forlorn look in a woman’s eyes before. “I’m sorry, Claire.”
“Give me your place.” She gripped his arm. “Please, Mark. I’ve never asked a favor of you before, just give me this one thing and I’ll…” he saw her reach for the words, knowing from past history Claire wasn’t the type to ask anyone for anything, “owe you for the rest of my life.”
He hesitated. Any other day, if a pretty woman asked a favor of him, he’d oblige, charmingly offering a date in trade. They’d wine, dine, flirt, and before the end of the night, she’d be in his bed and he’d figure he’d been the winner.
But this wasn’t any other day. And these weren’t ordinary circumstances. For the first time in his life, Mark Dole was desperate. Desperate enough to ignore a beautiful woman’s smile and deny her the one thing she wanted. “I can’t, Claire. Sorry.”
Disbelief washed over her features. “You can’t tell me your trip to Disneyland is more important than my reasons.”
“And just why do you want to win that thing? It’s a bit big for your driveway, don’t you think?”
“I need to get to California.” She said it with such determination that he doubted she was lying.
“Buy a plane ticket.”
“A plane ticket doesn’t solve my problems. Besides, up until yesterday, I was a hairdresser at Flo’s Cut and Go. I’m rolling in blue hair dye and quarter tips, not dough.” Her gaze filled with entreaty again. “Please, Mark. I know you haven’t always liked me, but—”
“Who says I don’t like you?”
“All aboard!” Nancy cried. “Last call for the RV Train, bound for Florida or maybe Disneyland.”
Mark ignored the drill instructor. “Who says I don’t like you?” he repeated.
“Come on, Mark. We had the date from hell with Jenny and Nate. Don’t you remember? We fought over everything.”
He smiled. His memories included a spirited fight, yes, but also a spirited attraction. Why they’d never pursued that, he couldn’t recall. “I remember you were pretty warm that night.”
She let out a sigh. “That wasn’t me. It was the butter at the bottom of your popcorn bucket.” She shook her head. “That’s not the point. I need to get on that RV and win it.”
Mark raised his hands in a gesture of futility. “Sorry, Claire. I wish I could help you.” He picked up his bag, and crossed to the motor home. Behind him, he could almost hear the sound of Claire’s disappointment.
He’d arrived before her. He was number twenty. He’d earned his place on the motor home. But as he walked toward the prize he intended to win, he couldn’t have felt like a bigger heel if he’d been on the bottom of a pair of loafers.
Chapter Two
Claire clutched her suitcase and watched Mark climb the first step of the RV. She hated him and envied him and wanted to throw things at him, but truth was, she had arrived here one person too late. She’d blown her chance because she’d stayed on the phone too long. A few too many minutes of conversation with the nurse. And now she was left holding a suitcase, with no way to get to the coast. To her new life. To the first person she could call family in a long time.
Buy a plane ticket, Mark had said. If only it were that simple. She’d made a promise, and now, damn it all and damn it again, she was going to have to break it. And even worse, do so over the phone, with one end of the connection on a cell phone in Mercy and the other end in a room in California smelling of antiseptic.
Despair settled over her, heavy and thick. She’d come so far, risked so much, and now she was going to lose it all. Had she really thought she could pull this off? Change her life with a risky move like this?
She dropped the suitcase to the floor, sat down on top and buried her face in her hands. She would not cry. She would not—
“I can’t do it! It’s so small! I can’t—” One of the makeup-counter salesgirls came barreling off the RV, nearly knocking Mark over in her rush to flee. “It’s like a coffin in there!” She stopped in the courtyard, took in several deep gulps of air, then ran out of the mall.
“One down,” Nancy said. “Eighteen to go and we’ll have a winner.”
“No, wait!” Claire scrambled to her feet, grabbed her suitcase, and ran over to Nancy. “The last person hasn’t gotten on yet. Technically, the competition hasn’t started. And now, you only have nineteen. The rules said twenty.”
Nancy’s mouth turned in and she narrowed her gaze. “I can count. We had twenty, now we have nineteen.”
“The rules said—”
“The lady’s right.” Mark interrupted, still standing on the step. He flashed Nancy a winning smile. “I can see you’re a nice person, someone…understanding. She just wants a chance.” He indicated Claire. “You seem the kind who would give her one.” He leaned closer to Nancy. “Between you and me, I don’t think she’ll last more than a few hours anyway. Then you’ll be back to nineteen again, all before the mall opens. Besides,” he added on a whisper, “she might sue. It’s a sticky situation, considering I haven’t gotten on yet.”
Why would Mark help her? Especially after he’d turned her down earlier? Claire didn’t bother to try to understand his motives, not when her chance at boarding