My little heiress?I wiped the smile off my face and started the ignition, choosing my tone carefully. “He must not have connected with you.”
“Oh.” She twisted her hands in her lap and let out a disappointed sigh. “I liked him, I think. Not anything profound, but he liked my hair and talked about how important being vegan was.” She glanced out the window, and I sneaked a peek at her, admiring her long eyelashes. She was actually quite pretty once you got past all the…heiress nonsense.
“Does liking your hair and being vegan matter a lot to you?”
“Fritz, don’t get me wrong, this might be outside your comfort zone since you work for the Carters, but I’m often mocked for my short, pink hair. I got pushed out of all the social circles because I’m too weird for them. He’s the first person to compliment my hair in a year. It’s vain, I know, and my hair is for me, but…it sparked a tiny bit of hope that was foolish. I should know better.”
“What do you mean?”
“Love, relationships that aren’t a partnership, none of those things are meant for me.” She shrugged and pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on them.
Her words hit me like a bag of bricks. Her sadness, her acute moment of clarity about how she viewed her life…it felt achingly familiar.
“I actuallyloveyour hair, not that it matters.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. It’s badass.” I grinned, throwing in a wink to wipe that defeated look on her face, and she perked up. “Nora, you have a lot of unique hobbies and quirks about you. It makes you interesting. Probably the most interesting person I’ve ever met.”
“You mean weird.”
“Yeah, a little, but who wants boring?”
“You sound like my mom trying to give me a pep talk.”
“It’s not a pep talk. It’s the truth, so you should listen to it. You’ll find someone who will like you for you. Pink hair, and plant charts, and bracelets, and saving the turtles.”
She snorted, and her cheeks turned a little red. “Thanks, Fritz.”
“Of course. This is what friends do. They build each other up when they need a kick in the ass. They also help put out fires and show off their spreadsheet skills,” I teased, expecting her to laugh, but she got quiet again. I approached a streetlight and looked over to see her staring at me with lips parted and wide eyes. “What? Did I say something wrong?”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve had a friend, Fritz.” She closed her eyes, sniffed, and when she opened them again, she gave me the biggest grin I had ever seen on her tiny face. “We are friends. I didn’t realize. The workers never got too friendly with me at the house because my parents paid them, but this is different since you don’t work for us!”
“Right.” I scratched my chest as I digested her words. She didn’t mean she didn’t have friends at all, right? “We are friends though. It sneaked up on me.”
Her entire demeanor changed, and she put her legs down. The worry lines on her forehead disappearing entirely, she laughed. “Me too! Gosh. I’m so used to people wanting my money or making fun of me. This feels different.”
“Oh, I don’t want a penny, but just to be clear, I will make fun of you. As you told Victor, you putfoilin the microwave. Such a newbie adult.”
She giggled and hit my arm, and I laughed. She was naïve, spoiled, and weird, but there was a huge heart under all that and a lonely soul that I totally understood. There came an added pressure of being her first friend in a long time, and instead of freaking out, I made a plan. If she was going to be here for only another two months or so, she could try to marryAnthonyand go on dates, but I’d be there for her as a friend.
It was the least I could do.
“Now, tell me about this farmer’s market. We’re going tomorrow morning, right? What does one wear? Should I wear my overalls?”
I snorted, and just like that, we were back to her being clueless. Instead of rolling my eyes, I kind of, sort of liked it.
Chapter Nine
She wasn’t kiddingabout wearing overalls. Instead of a crop top, she wore a tight green shirt that saidplants,and her entire outfit clashed with her hair. Growing up with Gilly taught me a certain level of vanity and style, and I wasn’t ashamed of it. I was content with my masculinity.
Nora’s outfit broke every single fashion commandment, and she didn’t seem to care about the double takes people threw her way as we entered the farmer’s market. “Fritz, do you see all the booths? This is like, better than any boutique I’ve been to. Ah! They have mugs! Oh, jewelry. No way. We must explore!”
She didn’t wait before running up to the table covered in wooden jewelry. An older man stood behind the table and smiled at her as she picked up three pieces. “These are beautiful. Did you make them?”
“Sure did. I carved them. My wife loves flowers.”
“I do too. Wow.” Nora grinned widely at him, then at me. “Check it out. Isn’t it pretty? It looks like Jeffrey.”
