Chapter 21

HOPE

We finished lunch and Nicco sat down with his laptop again. I wandered out onto the little balcony, amusing myself with figuring out what all of the buildings were. If I leaned way out and looked even farther, I imagined I could see Central Park. I was leaning out when I was grabbed from behind.

“Jeeze, Hope. You could fall!” Nicco put me back on my feet. I shook my head at him, laughing at his fear.

“No, I’m good with heights.”

Nicco shrugged. “I’m not. So, please, don’t do that.”

I sighed, following him back into the room. “You’re exceptionally grumpy. What’s wrong?”

Nicco pointed to his laptop. “It’s this spreadsheet,” he admitted. “I know that the numbers are wrong, but I don’t know where to even start.”

I sat down on the couch. “Mind if I look? I’m really good with numbers.”

Nicco hesitated a moment and then shrugged, handing over his laptop. “Wouldn’t hurt anything,” he admitted.

I popped open the laptop and started scrolling through the pages. When I said I