They both jumped at the knock on the door.
Aly tilted her head and stared at the door in confusion. Rarely did anyone come to Aly’s room this late.
“I think it’s Garry, but he’s like twenty minutes early.” Lily stood and popped up on her tiptoes to look through the peephole. “Yup.” She flung the door open. “Come in. You want a glass of wine?”
Garry scanned the room, his attention landing on where Aly sat at the table. “Never seen purple wine like that before.”
“Witch’s brew.” Lily batted her lashes, making Garry chuckle uncomfortably. Lily was gorgeousandlarger than lifeandscary. Like most people, Garry was on edge around her.
“I’ll pass on drinks that’ll make my shit sparkle.” He turned back to Aly and smiled. “But I do want to chat for a minute.”
Lily looked like the cat that ate the canary, and Garry rarely smiled, so although the expression should have been a reassuring one, it put Aly on high alert.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, her back going ramrod straight.
“Ugh.” Lily slumped into her chair. “Why do you always assume something is wrong?”
Aly ignored her friend and braced herself for Garry’s words.
“Nothing is wrong. But the network wants to do a Christmas special.”
Aly’s heart plummeted to her feet.Shit. A special meant another location and three weeks of intense work to get the house done as the episodes aired. And it meant another holiday without her brother. She’d already missed Halloween and most of the summer. She’d flown home for the first day of school and Andy’s birthday, but she’d missed the first two swim meets. And now this meant she wouldn’t be in Jersey for Thanksgiving. Maybe not even Christmas.
Mentally, she ran through the financial implication of quitting on the spot—just turning to Garry and saying she was done. Best-case scenario? If she sold the house as-is, she’d have to take out a twenty-thousand-dollar personal loan to cover what she’d still owe on the second mortgage. And that didn’t include the cost of selling the house. And then what?
Where would they live? How would she pay for food and to keep a roof over Andy’s head? The scholarship Will had put in place helped, but her savings was nonexistent, and bills piled up every month.
“Aly?” Garry called.
She blinked, bringing herself back to the moment. “Okay.” She nodded but couldn’t look at him. She studied her fingers as she traced the base of her wineglass, accepting her fate and knowing that Andy would never forgive her. But there wasn’t another option. “Where are we headed?”
He chuckled. “You didn’t hear me, did you?”
Shoot. What had he said?
“You’ve had a hard year, and through it all, you’ve never once complained or asked for anything extra. You’ve been a huge asset to the show. Everyone here and at the network wants to do something for you.”
Aly froze. Was he saying she could skip the special? Would they still pay her? That would be the best gift ever. Extra money over the holidays would be amazing. She blinked, waiting, afraid to get her hopes up.
“Lily,” Garry tipped his head in her friend’s direction, “mentioned your childhood home—the stress of the bills and the work it needs.”
Aly swallowed. She’d told Lily that in confidence. What kind of contractor lived in a house that was falling apart?
“We sent a team to check it out last week, drew up some plans, rushed the permits, and we,Mi Casa es Su Casa, would like to fix the bones and give the house a facelift for you.”
The words took a minute to sink in, but when they did, Aly’s jaw dropped, and she turned to Lily for confirmation that she wasn’t hearing things. Her friend nodded like a bobble head and smiled.
“I’m—” Aly sucked in a deep breath before blowing it out again. “What—” She stopped again. She didn’t want to sound ungrateful.
“She’s trying to ask what the catch is.” Lily shook her head. “I’m starting to really love her, but her glass is always half empty.”
Garry looked away, a red flush creeping up his neck. “Your story pulls at heartstrings, Aly. I’m not going to pretend it doesn’t.” He still wouldn’t meet her eye. “We would want family interviews, like always. You and your brother on camera. But we’d fix up the house. You know we don’t cut corners. And the house will sell well over market value when we’re finished.” He cleared his throat. “Plus, we can spin it. Make it look like Logan is doing something sweet for you. You know viewers will eat that up. They love the idea of you two as a thing. What do they call it now? Theyshipyou.”
Aly groaned. Viewers loved the idea of her and Logan, but it wasn’t even in the ballpark of possible. “What did Logan say?”
“The dipshit is on board. He knows how much you do.” Lily scoffed.
Garry tried to hide his laugh as a cough but failed miserably. “He likes the bones of the house, and being in the New York area for the holidays opens doors to new promo.”