But she was a single mom with two kids. She couldn’t speak up even if she wanted to. The CEO had threatened to fire her over minor inconveniences, and had her in a broad non-compete agreement. Sure, the agreement saying she couldn’t work basically anywhere in a hundred-mile radius wouldn’t hold up in court, but Marty knew she couldn’t afford an attorney. The CEO knew that too. He wouldn’t show her any mercy if she talked.

Marty wouldn’t put that on her, or on anyone.

Lucy frowned. “That’s unfortunate for your situation, then.”

“I’m pretty sure that if I even approached Dave, a bunch of helicopters would drop out of the sky and come after me.”

Lucy laughed. “I can see it now. It’d be one of those firefighting helicopters. You know the ones. They scoop up water in those big buckets and dump it on the flames.”

“Yeah,” he said with a smile. “They’d drop me off in a forest somewhere and you’d never see me again.”

She sighed. “That’d be a shame. You’re the only cousin who doesn’t hate me. Unless you just started hating me.”

He laughed. “No. I don’t hate you.”

“Good.” Lucy smiled. “I was thinking, what if I talked to David for you?”

That was a nice thought, but he didn’t want anyone else to get involved. “You’d probably end up getting arrested too.”

Lucy rolled her eyes. “That’s stupid. Do you have any friends who are attorneys?”

He shook his head. “Unfortunately no, but Claire has someone in mind. They can’t meet with us – with her – for a few weeks though.”

“That stinks. I’m sorry. I’m sure this is a sore subject.”

He shook his head. “No, it’s been really nice to talk. I’ve been sitting here alone every day, just brooding.”

She nodded knowingly. “You do seem like the brooding type.”

“Hey!”

Lucy laughed. “Don’t worry, Marty. I’m sure we can figure it out.” She yawned and stretched. “I’m sorry, but I’m actually pretty tired. And if I need to check out this hotel that Claire apparently owns in the morning, I should get to bed.”

“Sure. It’s getting late.”

“Goodnight, cousin who doesn’t hate me!” she called out as she walked into the next room.

Marty set himself up on the couch and tried to quiet his thoughts. He couldn’t get over the fact that Lucy offered to help him. She barely knew him.

Was this what having a big family was like? He’d never had much family growing up. He didn’t have siblings and wasn’t close with his cousins.

If so, it was nice. Maybe Uncle Robert had gotten it right in giving all that money to Claire. She had a nice family. Marty felt lucky to be connected to them.