Giuseppe frowned at the stick and hummed like he was thinking it over.
“Alright, but if I make a mistake and you laugh—”
Jesse lifted up his hands and chuckled. “I won’t. I swear.”
Patrick piped up from behind them. “I will.”
Giuseppe picked up a random letter and threw it at him. Patrick raised his hands to block it. It bounced off one of his forearms and landed on the floor with a tiny clatter. Jesse rolled his eyes.
“Enough silliness,” Arthur said from next to the nearby Jobber. “I want to finish printing these before Emma starts wondering where everyone went.”
Giuseppe began trying to compose a line of type, copying the sentence over from the sheet of paper they’d brought with them. He wasn’t fast, but he wasn’t making any mistakes, either. Jessecouldn’t help but smile a little, a swell of pride inflating his chest. He’d always known that his roommate could thrive in a print shop. Giuseppe liked the steel mill fine, but it was because he liked working hard. He liked challenging himself and keeping busy. Of course, the short travel time to work had been a bonus as well. But Jesse had noticed that the long hours and strenuous conditions had been wearing on his friend lately, and watching Giuseppe compose the lines of type now was making him consider whether his friend might like to work at Putnam Press. Had Arthur not been the owner, that might not have been possible, given the fact that Giuseppe had stopped going to school at fourteen. Everyone else in the shop had finished high school. Mr. Putnam had seemed nice enough from afar, but Jesse couldn’t imagine that the man would have wanted to hire someone like Giuseppe. Mr. Stevenson wouldn’t have wanted to either. But there was no way that Arthur wouldn’t be amenable to it. Not that Jesse could propose such a thing to Giuseppe in such a straightforward manner. Giuseppe was stubborn. He’d have to come up with the idea himself for him to really consider it. But there was no reason that Jesse shouldn’t plant the seed in his mind. Perhaps he could solicit Patrick’s help with making it take root.
Jesse motioned for Patrick to come closer.
“Do you want to sit? I need to stretch,” he said.
Patrick smiled and nodded. “I would. Thank you.”
After Jesse and Patrick traded positions, Jesse nodded toward Giuseppe, who was now nearly finished with a second line.
“Not bad for a beginner,” he said.
Patrick’s smile widened. “Yeah, he’s a smart one. Surprisingly.”
Giuseppe swept his foot sideways under the table, knocking Patrick’s. Patrick laughed and scooted closer. He placed a hand atop Giuseppe’s thigh, causing Giuseppe to flush.
Jesse startled from the sudden sound of Arthur’s voice in his ear.
“Gosh, they’re sweet together. Aren’t they?” he whispered.
Turning, Jesse looked up at him and smiled. “Yeah, they are.”
“Not as sweet as us, though,” Arthur said, extending his hand and brushing their fingers together.
Jesse caught Arthur’s fingers and squeezed them. “Never.”
Giuseppe pretended to retch. “Gross,” he said, spinning around to face them. “I’m finished with the lines, by the way. Easy enough.”
“Hm. Seems like you have a bit of a talent for it,” Jesse said.
“Oh, I’m talented at many things,” Giuseppe replied.
“Yes, he is,” Patrick said with a wink.
Giuseppe threw him a look of obviously fake irritation. He wasn’t very convincing.
Over the next few minutes, Jesse finished up the forme. Once it was ready, he started up the Gordon Jobber, taking his time to explain how it worked with the hope that Giuseppe might be interested. Sure enough, after Jesse printed two copies of the article, Giuseppe asked if he could take over. When Jesse stepped back from the press, he had to purse his lips to contain his smile, lest Giuseppe realize that he was nudging him toward working in the print shop someday.
Leaving Giuseppe to finish printing the rest, Jesse walked over to the window where Charlotte and Claire were chatting. He leaned against the frame and sighed, happy for the break. Jesse had only closed his eyes for a moment when Arthur called out to Charlotte from the other end of the shop.
“Charlotte, could you help me with the addresses? I want to send these out as soon as possible!”
“Why the hurry?” Charlotte called back.
“Because I’mme!”
Charlotte chuckled and looked over at Claire.
