So Dell pushed the bookshelf flush with the first, returning a moment later with a stud finder and a drill, a pencil between his teeth. And while Mae knew she wasn’t truly needed for this part, she kept standing there anyway, watching his shoulders and his hands once more make his measurements and drill his holes, double checking the alignment of both bookshelves twenty times, until he finally stepped back.
“Amazing,” she said. “You’re amazing.”
“What’s going in this one?”
“Non-fiction.” She’d start general fiction in the next one. And then, on the other side of the room, her favorites: romance and children’s.
“Oh shit,” she said suddenly, rushing back behind the counter, clicking off the playlist just in time.
“Why do you always do that?”
Mae looked at Dell after she’d shuffled to something new. He motioned toward her phone.
“You always run over to turn off this playlist after NSYNC’s done.”
“It’s just…” Mae looked away again, clicking the computer awake. “The last song on Jesus’s death party playlist. I can’t listen to it.”
She could sense Dell processing this as a second ticked by, then two. Until?—
“That’s right. The death party playlist. So…thisis what you played at Jesus’s funeral.”
Mae shook her head decisively.
“No, at his death party. He had a funeral, too, at his church, but Alexei took care of that part. I don’t fuck with church.”
“So he had a funeral and a death party.”
“Correct.”
“And…you played ‘Bye Bye Bye’ at the death party. And…‘The Trolley Song.’”
“Jesus played it, technically. He made the playlist, before he died. I just pressed the buttons.”
Mae glanced over again when she felt Dell’s stare. His arms were crossed over his belly, head tilted.
“Okay. So why can’t you listen to the last song?”
“Because.” Her eyes darted back to the keyboard. “It’s just…Jesus being rude.”
Another pause.
“Why don’t you take it off the playlist?”
“Because.” A lump formed in Mae’s throat. How annoying, on such a triumphant day. And anyway, wasn’t it obvious? “Jesus made it.” Changing the playlist in any way would be like breaking her own heart.
Dell made a small, gentle sound that Mae took to mean he understood.
But as more seconds ticked by, and Dell didn’t move from his position in the middle of the room, Mae was forced to look at him again.
He had turned, scratching the back of his head. Mae sensed a mood shift in the air around him, like Dell was gearing up to say something. Her body tensed.
“Liv’ll be coming around again tonight to watch the dogs,” he finally said, staring straight ahead at the shelves. “Just FYI.”
Ah. Mae swallowed. Hugged her arms to herself. Chose her words carefully.
“Another date with your…friend?”
Dell’s hand fell to his side. “Yeah.”
