I was expecting Dan to show up on Saturday morning, which was part of why I hadn’t wanted to draw things out with Joe the night before. Dan owned a restoration company in town, and he always came to me for lumber, tools, and other odds and ends for his crew. He was a big money-maker for the store, one of our best companies. I didn’t trust anyone else to handle business with him.
That was partly because Dan was one of the most demanding customers that we had as well. I watched him run his hand down a piece of lumber. He looked up at me with knitted eyebrows. “This the best oak that you’ve got?” he asked. “We’re refinishing countertops and trim in some of those old cabins out by the lake, and the woman who has us doing it wants everything to last into the next century, not just the next decade. Look at all the knots in this piece!”
I peered at the sample and then the piece of paper attached to the pile. Then, I nodded, jabbing my finger at it. “Yep, this is the stuff for the trim. Figured you could cut it down this way,” I showed him with my hands, “and avoid all the knots. Should be good wood otherwise. And then these are the pieces for your countertops.” I showed him another pile, and he looked appreciatively over the wood.
“Of course, we wouldn’t be paying the same price per cord for that trim wood as for this,” he said.
“Of course not,” I said, refusing to be ticked off at the way that he said it. Dan had been coming to get supplies and lumber here for years now, and he knew I always priced things fairly. Hell, the guy had known me since I was a kid. I wouldn’t dare try to overcharge him for anything, even if I didn’t respect him as a businessman. And even if I didn’t need him to keep bringing his business back to me again and again.
Not that the store was struggling, per se, but Miller Hardware needed every bit of business it could get. This was a small town, and the last thing I needed was for people to put me out of business in favor of the bigger corporations. So far, we still had plenty of mom and pop shops around town. But even in a small town like Aberdeen, we were starting to feel the modern world encroaching on us.
“All right,” Dan said, nodding as he appraised the rest of the pile. “Well, it looks like you’ve got everything that I ordered. Let’s ring it up, and I’ll have my guys come through this afternoon to get it loaded on the truck.”
“Sounds great,” I said, moving to the register. I nudged Chance out of the way and rang up the customer, ignoring Joe’s muffled snickers as I did so. I was serious when I meant that I didn’t trust anybody else with Dan’s business. He wasn’t the kind of guy that you pissed off. He was a businessman, and his time was money.
Dan scrawled a healthy tip onto the bottom of his bill. “Thanks as always,” he said.
“You as well,” I said, nodding at him. “Hope the project goes well and come back any time.”
Dan nodded and walked out. Joe was next to me a moment later. “Jesus, why do you let him treat you like that?” he asked, shaking his head.
I shrugged. “He treats everyone like that,” I reminded him. “He just wants the job done right. I respect that in a man.”
“He squeezes your balls so tight, it’s a wonder you’re still man enough to respect a man,” Joe joked.
I rolled my eyes and didn’t comment on that. “What are you doing out here anyway, Joe?” I asked him. “Weren’t you supposed to be doing inventory all morning?”
“It’s more fun out here,” he said, winking at me. When I gave him a look, he rolled his eyes. “Come on, boss, you know I always get the work done on time.”
I gave Chance a pointed look. The last thing I needed was for him to start slacking off, but he would start to do so if his superiors didn’t set a better example for him. Of course, Joe always managed to scrape things together in the end. He’d been doing that ever since we were kids and all up through school. Somehow, he’d managed to graduate like that.
But Chance wasn’t quite as bright or as adept at pulling things together. I needed the kid to focus, and Joe wasn’t making that easy for him.
“Well, if you’re not going to do any inventorying right now, how about you help me move around some paint cans?” I suggested. That would at least leave Chance alone at the register, and even though I wasn’t sure that I really wanted to do that, I definitely didn’t want to leave Chance alone with Joe and the register while I shifted those cans around. And I could use a little help with the paint anyway. That shit was heavy, and the less I had to move, the better.
JesseJoe followed me into the back. “Maybe you should have hired the kid on probation,” he said.He didn’t say it loudly enough for Chance to overhear him, but I still gave him a look. “Everyone deserves a chance,” I said.Joe snorted. “Chance deserves a chance,” he said. “That’s really funny, Jesse.”I rolled my eyes. “Come on, get to work.” “Aye aye, boss,” Joe said, saluting me, his eyes twinkling.“Mixed metaphors,” I muttered under my breath, but I couldn’t help grinning as well.We hadn’t done much when Chance came running back to find me. “There’s not enough cash for me to give change,” he said, sounding panicked.I frowned. I had counted the drawer this morning, and unless someone was trying to pay with a really huge bill, there shouldn’t be any problem. Most people paid by card, so I doubted the drawer was already empty. We hadn’t had that many customers in there that morning, even.Joe gave me a look like “can you believe this fucking kid”.“I’ll be right back,” I told him
AudreyWhen I got up on Sunday morning, I could smell breakfast cooking in the kitchen. Bacon, pancakes, orange juice, and who knew what else. Mom always liked to go big on Sunday morning breakfasts, and I was sure going to get big if I started eating like I used to. I’d never get back to dancing again. I really needed to talk to her about that.I was surprised when I wandered into the kitchen, though. Mom beamed at me when she saw me, gesturing toward a plate. “I remembered when we were in Paris that you always ate those egg white omelets and fruit for breakfast,” she said.I knew the omelet had probably been cooked in butter, but I was touched again by the effort that she was making, even though I had just shown up here out of the blue. “Thanks, Mom,” I said, sliding into my seat at the table across from where Annabelle was already seated.“How are you feeling this morning?” Mom asked. “Better?”I nodded, and in fact, I somehow was. I was getting used to the idea of being here, at l
Audrey“That sounds like fun,” Mom said. “I bet you really would love it, Audrey. Maybe you’d run into some of your old friends. You could probably show them a move or two.” She winked at me, and I had to fight not to roll my eyes.Show them a move or two? Did she think I was going to bust out a few of my ballet moves right there in the middle of some small-town bar? It just showed how much she really thought of me and my career.“I’m not in contact with any of my old friends,” I said, hoping that would be the end of the matter. The last thing I wanted to do was go to a bar by myself. I didn’t want to be that desperate stranger standing off to the side, trying to attach myself to a group.I felt another pang of homesickness for my life in Paris. I hadn’t gone out alone in all the time that I’d been there. The other dancers at the Global Traveling Dance Academy of Performing Arts, the ones who had been there for a while, had immediately taken me under their wings when I had arrived, sh
JesseI mounted the sign back where it was meant to go and climbed back down, to applause from Tristan’s daughter. “You fixed it!” she said excitedly as she peered up at it.I grinned in spite of myself. “Wasn’t too difficult,” I told her, but I accepted the high five that she gave me anyway. I straightened back up and turned to Tristan. “That wind last night was pretty crazy, huh?”“Yeah, came up out of nowhere, too,” Tristan said, looking worried. “I’m afraid what that means for storms this year.” Then, his worry cleared as he clapped me on the shoulder. “At least I’m lucky enough to work right next door to the town handyman. You want to come inside for a piece of pie?”“God, that sounds great,” I said. I’d been going since dawn that morning. Not only did I have the hardware store to open, but I’d gotten calls from half a dozen people in town who all wanted to know if there was any way that I could help them with storm damage that they had suffered overnight.I’d left Tristan’s dine
AudreyI dug through my bag, trying to find some sort of outfit that would be suitable for a bar in Aberdeen. Annabelle and I had snuck out to go to shows in town when we were teenagers, with more or less success, depending on the night. What the hell had we worn back then? Jeans? I didn’t think that I had worn jeans in years now. Surely not in all the time that I’d lived in Paris.When we went out there, I was usually in a dress or slacks and a button-up blouse. But both of those things seemed too formal for wearing around Aberdeen. I didn’t really care about what everyone here thought of me, but I wanted to be comfortable and not look like a snooty rich girl out of her element. If this really was about research, that wasn’t going to help me one bit.“God, I wish I were as skinny as you,” Annabelle said as she came back into the bedroom after her shower with just a towel wrapped around her.I snorted. “You look amazing, and you know it,” I chided. “But if you want to give up on all t
Audrey“I’m in flat shoes,” I reminded her. Her shoes. She shouldn’t need reminding.Annabelle shrugged. “Come on, get in,” she said, walking over to the van.I stared at the door that she held open for me. I wanted to argue, but the words wouldn’t come. And anyway, I could tell that this was the kind of battle that I just wouldn’t win.I slipped inside. When Clayton put it in drive, the van lurched, and I winced. It made a terrible sound as it drove through town, and I felt more and more embarrassed. Finally, we came to a sputtering stop outside the bar. People were definitely staring as Annabelle and I got out.I cringed, but I was surprised to see that Annabelle didn’t seem to care about the attention. Instead, she smiled and chatted to a few people she knew, talking about how nice the evening was and how good it was to be done with winter finally.We headed inside. Gabby’s was nicer than Finnegan’s, but it was still definitely a dive bar by anyone’s reckoning. You would never find
JesseI glanced around as I walked into Gabby’s with Joe. I still couldn’t believe that I had let him talk me into coming out with him. The Long Blue or not, was it really worth it? Sure, this place wasn’t too terrible, all things considered. A bit loud. And probably only going to get louder as the night went on. I recognized nearly everyone in there. It was a pretty good crowd, though, especially for a Sunday night. Not like anyone had anything else to do on a Sunday night in Aberdeen.But I couldn’t help remembering what Joe had said about getting me to dance with someone pretty. I was so not interested in that tonight.We grabbed drinks first and chatted for a minute with Annabelle Buchanan. God, when had she gotten old enough to serve drinks behind the bar? I’d known her back when she was a kid, but she’d been so much younger than me that I’d known her sister better. But Audrey disappeared when she went off to further her ballet career, and I doubted we’d ever see her around town
JesseAudrey cracked a smile at that. “Sounds great,” she said. “Thanks.”I got her drink ordered and then sat back, unable to tear my eyes away from her. “So how long have you been back in town for?”She grinned again as she took a sip of her drink. “Long enough to have lunch at the Sub & Surf, but not long enough to run into anyone I know, I guess.” I laughed. “So, what, ten hours? The sub shop was probably the first place you hit on the way into town, wasn’t it?”“Nah, I went by Mom’s first,” Audrey said, laughing. “I got here yesterday evening, but I was pretty exhausted. Long flight.”“Yeah, I’ll bet,” I said.“Wouldn’t have expected you to still be bumming around here,” Audrey said, peering at me. “Weren’t you voted most likely to, what was it? Get involved in an international bank heist and flee to a remote island with the authorities on your tail?”I gave a surprised laugh. “You remember that?” I asked. “I don’t even know how the hell that got into the nomination pool.”Audre