“Oh, I didn’t…Russ, I mean…”
“It’s okay. I can sense his meddling from a mile away. I’m appreciative. Of both of you.”
For once, I don’t sense any sarcasm in his voice. Maybe being friends isn’t that crazy of an idea. “Great. I’ll text you when I have the curtains for your room.”
He gives me a curt bro nod before he walks off.
That went well. At least I think so.
CHASE
When I said curtains, I thought Nix would go out and buy a simple set, probably in a shade of tan or taupe. They’re curtains, how complicated could it be?
Veryis the correct answer. Nix sent me no fewer than thirty text messages from the hardware store, all with different options. For a small town, they have a wide assortment. While some were clearly out—no thank you on the pink ruffles—the vast majority looked basically the same.
Like. Curtains.
As long as they let me sleep past sunrise, I don’t really care what color they are or what’s on them. Eventually, I resorted to simply using the thumbs-up and thumbs-down reactions. That seemed to slow him down a bit at least.
When he arrives at my front door, he looks a little worse for wear.
“Tough day at the hardware store?”
“You would not believe how many people are in the middle of big projects right now.” Before I can snatch some of the bags from his hands, he stomps across the room and dumps his haul on the bed.
Given that I expect this town to be home to approximately a hundred people, I really can’t.
“And everyone is frantic. I think it’s because of the Pride celebration coming up next weekend. My friend runs the craft store, and he said things have been bonkers.”
Bonkers. I don’t think I’ve heard someone use that word in years. “Well, I’m glad you were able to find something.” I desperately need to get real sleep tonight. No sunshine. No cat.
“Oh, yeah. It’s great having someone to test the space out. I know some people are super picky, and while it’ll never be a glamorous hotel, I’m hoping people will like the idea of sleeping over at a bookstore.”
“It’s a great location.” Based on what I’ve seen, it’s close to everything. However, that can’t be hard around here. It must be fifteen minutes from one town line to the next. At twenty miles per hour. “Not sure I’m your target demographic for the rest of it. Reading isn’t my thing.”
“You don’t like books? At all?” Nix looks like my head just spun around in front of him.
“It’s nothing personal. I can’t get into it.” Unless it’s to get information that I desperately need. Even then, there’s probablyaYouTubevideo I can watch instead. Even when there have been those big crazes, and everyone is screaming about a new series, it doesn’t work for me.
“Okay, well, then in addition to being my test tenant, I’m going to make it my personal mission to find books for you.”
“That’s really not necessary. Really.” I tack the second really on in hopes that it will keep him from getting carried away. My life is just fine. Always has been. That part isn’t going to change. Besides, that’s why I have subscriptions to eight streaming services. There’s no lack of entertainment around here.
Except when I didn’t know the wi-fi password.
The last thing I need is him shoving book after book into my hands, hoping for some sort of miracle. If nothing’s popped up in thirty years, it’s unlikely to now.
“It’s no bother. It’s what I do for other people all the time.”
I’m not getting out of this. That much is clear. Even if I know it’ll fail. Parents, teachers, girlfriends, they all tried. Attempt after attempt left me feeling like there must be something wrong with me. After a lot of introspection, reading isn’t right for me. It’s not that different than my time on the track and field team. I was never going to be a sprinter, doing short one-hundred-meter events. I’m not built for it. That’s fine because I was great at longer distances. Five kilometers. Ten kilometers. Being part of a team with diverse talents helped me discover that everyone is suited for different things.
Reading just isn’t suited for me.
But if Nix wants to try, then so be it. I’ll spend more time arguing with him about it than I will smiling nicely as he passes off his next great find.
“Great. Thanks.”
“Let’s get these up so you can sleep in tomorrow.”
