The Arrangement

Mandy bolted upright as a scream tore through the night. She threw the bed covers from her and rushed to the window; The mountain lions were back again. She growled under her breath in exasperation and dropped back into bed. If her Grandmother hadn’t been so persistent about her coming, Mandy would never have agreed to stay in such a remote cabin. She rolled over and blocked her ears, eventually succumbing to sleep.

It had been nearly a week in the town of Presque Isle, with few leads to find the mysterious address on the letter her Grandmother entrusted her with. Where was this place? Mandy tucked the letter in her sweater pocket and headed out the door. She stopped at the entry mirror to check her appearance.

At nearly twenty-six, Mandy had the youthful look of a teenager, much to her dismay. Her straight blonde hair was cut in a short, mature style that framed her oval face and accentuated her emerald eyes. She tamed a few flyaways before heading out the door to her car. She drove slowly down the winding dirt road, looking for the fork which took her to the main road; it was nearly an hour later before she made it into town.

The town of Presque Isle reminded Mandy of Boston; it was filled with blocky brick buildings dating back centuries, yet still held many new conveniences and plenty of life. She pulled her car up to the Town Hall; perhaps there were records kept of the address there. She stepped out of the car and headed inside.

“What a great surprise, seeing a new face.”

“I’m sure you don’t see many around these parts.” Mandy countered, letting the Town Hall door close behind her. The woman at the front desk put down her reading glasses.

“It is a rare occurrence, but much welcomed. Can I help you with anything?”

Mandy nodded and strode to the desk, offering the thick letter to the stout older lady.

“Actually, I was wondering if you could help me find this address. My Grandmother asked me to deliver this in person, but I cannot seem to find the house.” Mandy leaned against the front desk while she waited.

The woman slid her reading glasses on and studied the letter for several moments. She placed the glasses on the paper-filled desk and handed the letter back to Mandy.

“Unfortunately, that house burned down years ago. I lived just down the street at the time. I’m sorry to say but there won’t be any delivery of this letter; Herald Matthews, the owner, passed away during the fire. He was such a nice man, so dear to the community...” She trailed, muttering something incoherent at the end.

Mandy frowned; she had wasted the last week and would have to break the news to her Grandmother. She thanked the woman, who had introduced herself as Barbara, and turned for the door.

“Oof!”

“I’m so sorry! Are you okay?” Mandy’s hand flew to her gaping mouth in surprise, and she looked down at the man she had slammed into. He was sprawled on the floor looking up at her with wide golden eyes; a pair of sunglasses hung from one ear.

“You should watch where you are going.” The man gruffed before rising gracefully and righting his sunglasses. He brushed off invisible dirt as though her touch had sullen him in some way. Mandy noted the worn jeans and thick, plaid shirt.

She looked down. “I’m sorry. Really. I didn’t see you there.” She muttered more apologies and started walking to the door, set on making it back to New Hampshire before the weekend was over.

“Young Matthews,” Barbara chastised, “If your Mother saw you acting like that--”

Mandy abruptly turned and interrupted. “Matthews?” she questioned. “Are you related to Herald Matthews?”

The tall man turned, crossing his arms over his wide chest. “Who’s asking?”

Mandy slid the envelope from her pocket and held it out to the man as she walked over to him. “My Grandmother insisted this be delivered to Herald Matthews in person. Unfortunately, even my Grandmother did not know what had happened. I believe they had been friends many years ago.”

The man took the letter and slid his sunglasses up over his dark hair. He studied the letter for a moment before opening it. His eyes widened.

“Well?” Mandy pressed.

The man looked taken aback and anxiously ran his hand through his hair, knocking the sunglasses to the floor; he didn’t notice.

Mandy, exasperated, stepped forward and tore the letter from his hands. Hundreds of hundred-dollar bills spilled out from the folded portion of the letter.

“Oh my God!” Barbara exclaimed, gaping at the money dotting the floor like confetti.

Mandy looked to the letter, ignoring the money for a moment, and began reading.

“I can’t believe this. How could she?” Mandy scowled.

The man knelt to the floor and began cleaning up the fallen money in silence.

“Our grandparents arranged our marriage while we were children?”

The man stood and handed her the bills. “It sure looked that way in the letter.” The man drawled. “But don’t go getting any ideas; I sure didn’t promise to marry you.”

The man’s attention fell to counting the money. “It looks like they saved up twenty thousand dollars over the years, to give to us to use as a nest egg when we were to wed.” He chuckled sadistically. “What fools. To think that, without ever meeting, we would just marry because of a single letter.” He handed Mandy half of the money. “Sorry little girl, but your wish to marry won’t be coming true today.”

Mandy gaped. Little girl? Her wish? How cocky could one man be? She tossed her hair in annoyance. “I don’t want the money. You can have it.” she looked him up and down in feigned disgust, “You obviously need it more than I do.”

Not waiting for a reply, she strode from the building as gracefully as she could manage.

“Wait!” The man’s deep voice called as he ran towards her, stepping in front of her path. Mandy frowned, but intrigue made her stop.

“What is it?” She ground out.

“I’m sorry for being such an ass back there. I was just as surprised about the damn letter as you were. I wasn’t thinking straight. Can we start over?”

Mandy sighed. “Alright. I’m Mandy. I’m also nearly twenty-six, for your information.” She was still mad about the ‘little girl’ comment.

The man chuckled. “Good to know. I’m Danial, but you can just call me Dan. Nice to meet you, Mandy.”

They shook hands, lingering for a moment before letting go. Mandy had delivered the letter. She could go home. It was perfect timing to be sure; this was the last night she could stay in the rented cabin up the hill. With a short goodbye, she climbed into her car. Dan walked up to the window, motioning for her to roll it down.

“You know Mandy,” he began, leaning through the window, “I’d prefer if my fiance didn’t drive off without a proper goodbye.”

Mandy raised an eyebrow and turned to her center console. She retrieved a small black notebook and scribbled her contact information on it for Dan. He smiled childishly when she handed it to him.

“Not quite what I had in mind, but thank you all the same.” Dan placed the paper in his flannel’s chest pocket.

Mandy was confused. “What did you have in mind then?”

Without a word, his hand came around the back of her head and pulled her lips to his. A bolt of heat seared her lips as he deepened the kiss. Before she could react, he pulled away.

“Oh, I don’t know, something like that.” He drawled his reply, a hungry look in his eyes.

There was a heated silence between them before Dan remembered something.

“Your half.” He offered half of the money to her, yet again.

“No,” she repeated as she stepped out of the car, “I think we might need it.”

Without warning, she reached up and pulled Dan down for another, deeper kiss. Yes; They would be needing it, eventually.