“There’s no better sandwich in this world than roast beef and Swiss,” he responded after meeting my gaze.
“Thank goodness. I was about to pack my bags.”
We ate and made a list on the back of a return envelope, several, with everything that needed to be done. Room by room, we made a bulleted list and agreed that every day, we would get things done.
“Starting with the kitchen?” he asked.
“Absolutely. Starting with the kitchen. But we might have to agree to one meal out a day.”
I shook my head. “Okay. One meal.”
Chapter Twelve
Greg
After we returned to town, I was too excited to settle in and work. It was the middle of the afternoon, and I had another plan. Parked down the driveway, I turned off the engine and faced the omega. “Oswald, would you like the penny tour of town?”
“Don’t we need to work?” He climbed out and followed me up the side steps to the kitchen. “I need to earn my keep.”
“We can start in the morning. I’m too full and the wine was relaxing. I’ve been slaving away every single day since I arrived in town, and I did get in a few hours this morning, but I’m thinking I deserve a break.”
“You’re the boss.” He walked around the kitchen. “This does look like a big job, so maybe you’re right. I’ve been pretty busy, too, finishing up my previous job and moving. Shoot, my stuff is going to be delivered in a couple of days. I need to divert the movers. But I don’t know where to tell them to take my things.”
“If you don’t have a crazy amount, there’s a former barn out back I’ve been using to store things and you’re welcome to use it too.”
He eyed me, shaking his head. “What would I have done if I hadn’t met you? I’d have had nowhere to sleep, nowhere to put anything I have being delivered. At some point, I decided it wasn’t meant to be.”
“But with me just waiting here to help out, clearly it was meant to be. Kismet.”
I hadn’t said Fate, but I might as well have. A silence lengthened between us that lasted for a long moment before he laughed. “Right? You’re my hero, and now my tour guide. What are you going to show me?”
“Oh, it’s Oliver Creek. High-rises and amusement parks.”
“Really?” He narrowed his gaze at me. “Because I didn’t see any of those things so far. Are they hiding them underground?”
“Exactly. Do you need to do anything before we head out? Want to freshen up?”
“I think I’d like a minute. I spilled a little wine on my shirt and it was the white, so no stain, but I smell a little winey.”
“I think you smell great, but go ahead. I’ll meet you on the front porch in five?”
He went upstairs while I considered my determination not to push him. If he thought we were mates, he would have to show me. And my telling him how great he smelled? Kinda pushy. But, fortunately, he didn’t seem to have taken offense, and when he arrived on the porch wearing a fresh dark-blue polo shirt, nothing about his attitude seemed uncomfortable. I could be grateful for that. “All set. Let’s have the tour.”
It was truly nice. We set off down the street, talking like old friends while I pointed out the house of my nosey-but-kind neighbor who he would no doubt be meeting in the near future. “She comes over several times a week, and she knows everything about the neighborhood, since she’s lived here for over forty years.”
“Oh really? I wonder if she’d like to give a talk at the library one day?”
“I think she could be convinced.”
We might be a small town, but we were getting a high-quality librarian, for sure. “Let’s just stroll down to the main street and I’ll point out some of my favorite eateries.”
“Is that all that’s here? I mean, I love eating out, but I hope there are some other businesses.”
“Oh yes. Some touristy and others more for us in town. We don’t have a single chain place, but we have a local grocery, a farmer’s market, I forget what days it’s there, but probably not this late in the afternoon anyway.”
We strolled along, talking about his plans for the library and mine for the house, and it wasn’t until we got home with a bag of take-out sandwiches from the PB&J place that I realized we hadn’t been paying all that much attention to the actual places we were passing. It was such a nice experience, being with him, and if I got lucky, maybe we’d be walking the streets of Oliver Creek years from now.
We ate our sandwiches picnic-style on a blanket on the porch then went up to bed, parting in the hallway outside my room while he continued on up to the third floor. My bear was not happy to see him go.
