“I—”
“You know what I mean,” Shirley continued. “You’ll thank me later.”
“Yes, boss.”
She smiled. “Now, I have a few things to finish before I leave for the weekend. Anything in particular that you need me to do before I go?”
He shook his head. “No. You’ve been great. You’ve given me a lot to think about. Thank you for the life lesson. Now, that still leaves me with no one to celebrate this offer with.”
“What about Bo? He renovated the place for you. Aside from you picking the right property to flip, he’s the one that made the changes that brought in all that moolah. I would think he deserves to celebrate as much as anyone.”
Ralph thought of Bo. He would love to spend the weekend with Bo. He had secretly harbored a crush on the man for some time, but Bo was in a relationship. He’d made that known once before when Ralph had overstepped his bounds. They had remained friends and partners though, professionally. Shirley’s suggestion and reasoning was sound.
“You’re right. I should call Bo. He’s working on that place up in Ellicott City right now.”
“Joey Drive?”
“Yeah, Joey Drive. It’s an old ranch. Cute, though. Howard county. Great school district.”
Shirley circled a flat palm in front of Ralph’s face. “Focus, Realty-Man.”
“It’s a good idea, Shirl. Thanks. I’ll call him.”
“You know,” said Shirley, lingering in the doorway. “Bo’s really cute. And I would venture to say you two are the same age.”
“Yeah. We are. And believe me, I know he’s hot. I tried once before... a few years back.”
“Let me guess... he didn’t want to mix business with pleasure.”
“Nope. He has a boyfriend.”
4
Bo stepped out of his truck in the massive parking lot off of Baltimore Pike. Home Depot—or Homo Depot, as he liked to call it—was not crowded at all for a Friday at noon. He’d frequented the chain often enough over the years to gauge customer traffic fairly well, and Fridays were usually up there in the rankings—folks stocking up for weekend projects inspired by HGTV and the like.
Not today, he thought.This place is practically empty.
There wasn’t much on his list, but he needed a few things that he’d made note of on-site the day before... refills for both his nail gun and electric sander, and trim paint. He would be in and out in no time.
As the sliding glass door closed behind him, a familiar face greeted him. Her name tag read Sandy, and she was wearing jeans and a flannel shirt with the customary orange apron. “Hey, Bo! How’s it going?”
The way flips went, he usually befriended a handful of employees at whatever Home Depot he frequented for the length of the project. Once the job was completed, he rarely saw them again as he started the process all over at another location.
Ellicott City was different though. This was his third project here. Ralph had said something about the county and the school district. And though the projects had been spaced over the years, Sandy had been at this particular store for as long as Bo could remember. He knew she had a husband and two boys and had met them several times. She was short, sweet, and prone to swear. Their friendship was immediate, fraternal, and, if they lived near each other, Bo felt that bond would grow even more.
“Hi Sandy,” he said. “I’m good. Just here to pick up some stuff, as usual.”
“The latter is a given, but I don’t believe the former for a minute.”
“Is it that obvious?”
“I miss your smile.”
He gave her one, but only half-hearted.
“You want to talk about it?” she asked.
“Not really. Let’s just say I’m single again.”
