Stepping Up To Love (Lakeside Porches 1) by Katie O'Boyle

street.
    “Which house?”
    “The last one, at the top of the bluff. I live on the lakeside on the third floor. The studio is on the first floor in front.”
    Her smile warmed his heart. He offered his hand and pulled her to her feet.
    Manda relaxed the moment she walked through the door. “Sweet,” she pronounced. The space was small, but the high ceiling and tall windows made it feel more spacious.
    “Will it work for you?”
    “The kitchen will be a challenge, but I can make it work.” She pointed to the half-height shutters at the windows. “As long as we never have a thunder storm, I’ll be fine.”
    “Why do you say that?”
    “I’m terrified of lightning.”
    “We’ll add shades or something before storm season.” He watched her opening drawers and cabinets. “Furniture looks reasonable? You can sleep on a futon?”
    “It’s really great, Joel.” She turned to him and gave him a hug that took his breath away.
    He pulled her tight and enjoyed the feel of her in his arms. What he wouldn’t give for more of that.
    “Thirty-five dollars a week,” Manda proposed.
    Joel let go of her as if she were too hot to handle. “What?”
    “My rent. What else? And don’t object.”
    Joel let out his breath in a laugh. He tried and failed to recover his equilibrium. “I’m not objecting, but I want to know how you came up with that figure.”
    “That’s what I can afford now that I’m not drinking anymore. It’s how much I save every week being sober, minus the weekly cost of the cell phone.”
    Joel was speechless.
    “What, you think it should be more?”
    “No. When do you want to move in?”
    “Like right away, this morning?”
    Joel reached for her hand and deposited a key in her palm. “This is house number fourteen, unit one. Your parking space is fourteen dash one, around the back,” he explained. “Tony will be by later this morning to install a deadbolt and to check the window locks. You probably know he does carpentry and repairs on the side.”
    Manda nodded. “And you and I will get together to go over the books?”
    He’d forgotten about that. He nodded. “Tomorrow afternoon is best for me.” He ruffled her curls. “It’s good to see you smiling.”
    “I am hugely relieved.”
    That was music to Joel’s ears. It would make it easier to persuade her not to set foot on campus again until graduation. He still had some politicking to do on campus before he proposed it to her.
    Manda dropped Joel at the visitor lot to collect his car and raced across campus to pack. She wanted to get everything out of the campus apartment and into the studio before noon so she could show up for work at the Manse by one o’clock.
    She pounded up the stairs, burst through the door of the apartment, and walked in on Stacey and her biker friend inhaling lines of white powder at the kitchen counter. Her first thought was to go around them, but some invisible hand made her step back into the hallway and think about it.
    If it were just Stacey, she would walk right by, pack her things, and get out. But two of them—high—posed a risk she was unwilling to take. The biker was well over six feet and muscular. Tony would kill her if anything happened to her through her own carelessness. She walked back down the stairs holding her cell phone, debating which number to call. Because the situation had gone beyond unpleasant to illegal, she opted for campus security.
    In less than a minute, Stacey and the biker rushed by Manda, out of the building, and jumped on the motorcycle. Both gave her the finger as they sped away.
    It took another minute for two burly officers to arrive. Manda explained the situation as they climbed back up to the apartment. She packed her things while they investigated the powder residue on the counter and found drug paraphernalia stuffed behind the cushions of the sofa.
    Manda lined up her packed duffle and boxes, double-checked the kitchen and bathroom, and appropriated the ice cube