“Oh, yes. It’s been one of the last big jobs on my list for forever. I think I was waiting for Vik to come help me.” Mae stepped back inside the small room, gesturing for Dell to follow. He’d almost laughed atfor forever, almost reminded her that she’d been in Greyfin Bay for barely over thirty days. Most folks took months to accomplish what she had somehow done in one. There was something so cute about her berating herself for not getting to bathroom decoration yet, when he still had at least seven bookshelves to complete, that he struggled to keep the grin from his mouth.
When he fully blinked inside the surprisingly bright room, though, the grin came to an abrupt halt.
“What do you think?”
Dell attempted to gather his thoughts.
“More wallpaper, huh?”
“Yeah, and let me tell you, having someone help you wallpaper makes the job go bywayfaster. And I’ve beendyingto put these prints up.”
Mae held an illustration of Bea Arthur against a turquoise background, encased in a gaudy gold frame, up to her chest.
Dell glanced, again, between the huge palm fronds of the wallpaper, the pastel-painted Golden Girls in their Rococo frames, and the much more sophisticated palette Mae had cultivated in the store.
“This design style is…different.” He had never felt so fully South Florida in the middle of the Oregon Coast.
“It’s for Jesus!” Mae shouted, eyes glittering even brighter.
Vik circled a hand in the air, speaking in capital letters and an indiscernible accent: “Une Toilette pour le Gay Men of a Certain Age.”
Dell stared at both of them.
“You’re dedicating…the bathroom? To your best friend?”
“Oh, I think he’d be honored,” Vik said easily, and Mae nodded forcefully in reply.
“It’s an important room.”
And…Dell found he could not disagree with Mae there, at least.
“What do you think?” Vik held up another framed painting. “Is Dell more a Blanche or a Rose?”
“Sophia,” Mae answered immediately, and Dell frowned. He was obviously, clearly, a Dorothy.
“I’ll leave you to it,” he said, finally turning to leave as he should have done ten minutes ago.
“Dell, wait! I have an important question for you.”
Mae scampered into the shop after him. Dell absolutely did not turn in time to note how Mae’s scampering made her chest bounce.
“I’m actually going to head back to Portland with Vik tomorrow, to get some more of my things from storage. I left a lot of winter coats and things and there’s some furniture I want and—well, I know it’s a big ask, but I was wondering if I could borrow your truck. I won’t be able to bring back as much in my little Kia. And Ihavehad experience driving trucks before, just as an FYI, so I’d take good care of it.”
Dell stared at her. His brain had stopped fully comprehending things the moment she’d saidhead back to Portland, but slowly, delayed, it filled in the rest.
“Your little Kia won’t make it over the pass in winter,” he heard himself say.
Mae frowned.
“It does just fine. But also, it’s not winter yet. And also, I’m asking to use your truck.”
Dell looked away, scratching at his beard. “Just something I’ve been thinking about.”
And now Mae stared at him.
“Anyway,” she said after a long beat, “so can I use it?”
Eventually, Dell returned his gaze to her face. She looked so happy, like Vik’s visit had restored her, and it made some jealous, irrational part of him frightened, in a real way this time. Not in the bullshit way he’d reasoned it away to Luca.
