Chapter Nineteen
Dane tried both the non-cumin burgers and the ones with the spice, and loved them both. After devouring one of each and a heap of grilled veggies, he had sat back, patted his belly, and sighed contently.
Bas found that as the day went on, he felt better about the bad morning. He had every intention of paying Dane back right away no matter how he protested. Bas felt awful about what he’d said.
Nothing Dane was doing was pushing him. Dane was unfamiliar with relationships, and even friendships. He liked to touch things. Was fascinated by the texture of foods, which was how Mrs. C had gotten him interested in so many odd-looking vegetables. Dane hadn’t ever had people around him who would touch him and let him explore in return. It wasn’t meant to be sexual. And Bas didn’t mind being touched. He readily admitted to being a hugger. There was no reason he couldn’t be that open for Dane too, even if he found the guy attractive, more as they got to know each other.
Mr. and Mrs. C left them to enjoy the last day of spring break, instructing Adam to be home by nine since he had to be up early to run before school. Ru was on the couch strumming his guitar and singing for Adam, who was laughing at some silly song about bird poop and ice.
Dane had not left the kitchen for more than a few minutes at time. They’d made peanut butter, hummus, crepe batter, and now they were working on cupcakes. Bas wasn’t doing much more than coaching Dane and encouraging him. Occasionally he’d answer a question about something on a recipe, but mostly he relaxed in the chair and was glad that spring break was over.
A lot had been accomplished, and without his friends staying close, Bas probably would have fallen into a pretty rough patch of depression. Dane had recognized the drop he had today before Bas had noticed it himself. And while Bas hadn’t completely shaken the feeling, he knew he couldn’t let it overwhelm him.
Dane was pulling the first batch of cupcakes out of the oven when Marissa and Paige arrived with enough shopping bags to clothe half the city.
“Um, wow. Am I a poor little gay boy now that you’ve bought an entire store?” he teased Paige.
She grinned.
“Most of this is from the thrift store. Though I did find two dresses at the consignment shop that I just had to have.” She stripped out of her new coat, showing off a sparkling bit of shimmering blue that was way too short and strappy for the weather. “Isn’t it gorgeous? Makes me feel like spring is here.”
“Makes me cold just looking at you,” Bas told her. “I hope you bought a sweater and some hose, ’cause winter is nowhere near finished with us yet.”
“Oh, hush. Don’t burst my happy bubble.”
“I dub you royal princess of the household. Better?”
Paige laughed.
Marissa crossed the room to kiss Bas on the cheek, then made her way to Paige’s room to drop off the bags.
“Are you staying, sweets?” he asked her. “We can throw some lunch together for you.”
“We dropped everyone else off first. We wanted to share our news together,” Paige said.
“News?” He eyed the girls suspiciously. Everyone else gathered around the kitchen island. Dane was lost in the process of creating rainbow frosting. Bas wasn’t sure how much Dane actually heard, but since he didn’t seem depressed or panicky, he figured he’d leave him alone for a few minutes.
“We are both going to be working at the consignment shop,” Marissa said as she returned to the kitchen. “Mr. Dooley said his wife just can’t do it anymore, and he’s having a hard time keeping up by himself. It’s only part-time and mostly weekends, but the money will be nice. Plus we get a discount on clothes.”
“I used your address,” Paige said. “I hope that’s okay. I didn’t have anything else permanent to put on the application.”
“Of course,” Bas agreed.
“That place is so nice. I just wanted to go and dress up all the mannequins. He’s got that amazing window out front and even uses the upstairs one for display, though that’s all storage. We were talking to him about separating the areas, putting ladies’ stuff upstairs and men’s downstairs to give everyone more space. He’s got plenty of racks.”
“He is going to be buying the store next to it and opening it as a furniture consignment shop this summer. He’s got some amazing pieces in the storage area,” Marissa added.
“I’m jealous” was all Bas could think to say. Before Gran’s last stroke, he’d put a few applications in at some of the local places so he could be close to home. But after she’d ended up in the hospital, all his time went to her. He hadn’t thought of applying at the consignment shop, though he knew the Dooleys were closer to his grandmother’s age than his parents’. A lot of the businesses in downtown North Saint Paul were mom-and-pop shops with original owners long beyond retirement age. If it was going to be a while before he got a hold of his trust fund, he’d have to find paying work just to keep the power on.
“You promise to tell me when something amazing comes in that I must have, right?”
Both girls nodded.
“We get first pick of everything. It’s pretty exciting,” Paige told him. “Mr. Dooley said a lot of your gran’s stuff has sold already.” She grabbed Marissa’s hand. “Help me put my stuff away?”
“Sure.” Marissa followed Paige out of the room.
Bas breathed a sigh of relief that he had some good news. He would certainly need the cash to keep feeding this horde. And Paige would be staying, so he wouldn’t have to worry so much about her. Which reminded him, he needed to check in at the shelter soon.
