Loss and Longing

Grant frowned, “why?” he said making no attempt to take the money.

“Because it’s not right” she said.

“Why?” he asked again.

“Because it’s my responsibility. Not yours.”

Grant crossed his arms, his frown deepening.  “How’s that?” he said. “If I’d run you off the road with my car, I’d be responsible for any damage you sustained. How is this any different? It was my dog.”

“But you had no control over what he did.”

“I should have” he said. “It was my responsibility to make sure he was contained properly. He wasn’t.”

Stevie sighed and looked away.

“You weren’t speeding. You didn’t do anything wrong. Why should you pay for my mistake?”

She didn’t reply and she didn’t look at him. She didn’t want to admit, that maybe he had a point.

“Tell me how it’s different to if I’d been driving another car and caused the damage?” he asked again.

Still she was silent. When he put it like that, it didn’t seem such a big deal.

“Stevie?” he pushed.

She knew he was right, there was no difference, so why didn’t it feel right? She sighed again and admitted “it’s not I guess but....”

“There is no but, my dog caused the damage. It was up to me to fix it” he said.

Not knowing what to do now, she just stood there holding the envelope.

“Now we’ve resolved that, why don’t you come in and meet the culprit” he said “I was just making a coffee.”

Stevie looked up and gazed at him for a minute. She wasn’t sure about going into his house. Even though he’d been kind to her after the accident she didn’t really know him. She looked away and lowered her hand.

Grant opened the door wider. He said “now you’ve accepted my money, the least you can do is accept my hospitality.”

Stevie’s head snapped up at that. She was furious now. How dare he throw that back at her after she’d just tried to pay him back? She was ready to throw the money at him. This was why it hadn’t felt right to her accepting his generous gesture. She didn’t like feeling indebted to anyone. But as she saw his grin and the mischievous look in his eye, she realised he was teasing her. She looked away again and despite herself, she smiled.