I sit down at the front desk, take a deep swig of coffee, and open a blank note on my phone. I’ve got a lot of work to do.
11
“Barrel into summer,’” John reads over my shoulder.
I jump half a foot off my chair. I didn’t even hear him come into the break room.
While my heart rate returns to normal, I hold up my notepad. “Clever, right?”
“Clever for what?”
“For the event I’m going to throw at the barrel museum!”
He stares at me incredulously. I swear, that’s what my conversations with John usually are. I say something, he stares at me.
“I volunteer at the barrel museum now,” I explain.
“You’re kidding.”
“No, I’m not. It’s really fun! Or—well, I’ve only done one shift so far, but it was really fun. The cooper there—that’s someone who makes barrels—”
“I know.”
“—he’s going to help me put together a barbecue event, to help stir up a bit of interest in the museum. And I’ve got to call the local schools to see if they want to bring their kids for field trips.” I glance down at my to-do list to make sure that’s on there.
“Schools?” he says. “I would’ve thought nursing homes were more your thing.”
I open my mouth to make a sharp retort, then close it again.
Huh.
“I know you’re making fun of me, but that’s actually a brilliantidea,” I say. “I wonder if nursing homes do field trips. I should call and find out.” I scribble it onto my list.
John sits down opposite me and takes out his lunch. “Did you already do Wordle?”
Something in his tone makes me look up. John rarely uses any inflection in his voice, so it’s hard to read anything into it, but does he sound sort of... hopeful?
No. Can’t be. He’s probably just inhaled a bunch of car fumes or something.
“Not yet,” I answer. “Just give me a sec, I’ve got to finish this first.”
I look down at my lengthy list. I never realized how much planning you have to do to throw an event. I’ve got to figure out food, decorations, advertising... plus, I’ve got to convince Shelley to actually let me do it. That’s number one on the list.
“Do you know anything about making websites?” I ask. “I’m thinking I should set one up for the museum, to help advertise the event.”
“You know the average age of this town is, like, seventy-five, right? Put a flyer on the community center bulletin board and call it a day.”
Hmm. That’s actually not a bad idea.
“And at the grocery store,” John adds.
Damn. Another good idea.
“Thanks,” I say. “I’ll add ‘design super-cool flyer’ to my list.”
“It’s a flyer for a barrel museum,” he says. “You might want to lower your expectations a bit.”
I laugh automatically, then do a double take. John made ajoke.
