Funny Scene from "The Cinderella Deal"

“I should probably start back to the inn.” She looked at Evan and batted her eyes.

Here's your chance, old buddy, Linc thought, and nudged Evan.

Evan looked startled. “Oh?”

Linc closed his eyes and sighed. He liked Evan a lot, but sometimes—

“Is it dangerous to walk back to the inn alone?” Julia asked, still looking at Evan.

“Well—” Evan stopped, helpless.

Linc looked around for Daisy. This was obviously her kind of problem, getting two people together. Unfortunately, he couldn't find her. That bothered him. She was supposed to be there with him. He was going to have to find her and explain that to her, but first he had to take care of Julia and Evan.

“Yes, it's dangerous to walk back alone.” Linc stopped to think. Just getting Evan to walk Julia home wasn't going to do it; he was going to have to actually get her into his apartment for the night. “But it's more dangerous at the inn,” he said carefully. “You really shouldn't be staying there, Julia. The doors don't lock.”

Julia looked at him with hopeless contempt. Well, he deserved it, that last bit had been feeble. He had to do better, but the eggnog was fogging his brain. What would Daisy say?

“They have rats,” he said suddenly. “Big suckers. They've been known to carry off small children. You're small, Julia. An especially big rat might grab you. And there you'd be.” He stopped. Where would she be? “Rat snacks.”

“Rat snacks?” Julia looked incredulous.

Linc shook his head. “It would be terrible, just terrible.” He drank some more eggnog.

They were looking at him as if he were insane. He'd seen the look before when Daisy had gone into one of her narrative fits in front of strangers. “So,” he said, winding his story up in a hurry. “You really shouldn't be staying there. We'd let you stay here, but we don't have any room. So maybe you should stay somewhere else.” He looked at Evan, who was looking like a bemused codfish. Julia, on the other hand, had the look of a woman on whom light had dawned.

Linc kicked Evan smartly on the ankle. “Have you got any room at your place, Evan?”

“Ouch,” Evan said, and Julia said, “Would that be too much to ask, Evan, if I stayed with you?”

“What? Oh. No.” Evan took a deep breath. “Absolutely not. My pleasure.”

Linc sighed in relief and looked around to see if Daisy had come back.