Chapter 21
CHAPTER 21
T hey spent forever at the pet store. Suddenly Burke, who normally couldn’t care less about shopping, was all in on picking out the perfect pet accessories. He wanted Georgie’s opinion on collars, laying out several to choose between, and then spent more time picking toys than most people use when choosing a college to attend.
“I think the tiny mice are nice, but will they be too easily destroyed?” he asked, towering over them as they lay on the table, lifeless and immobile.
“I don’t know,” Georgie said. She wanted to be patient and helpful, she really did, but this was pointless to the extreme, almost ridiculous in the amount of time it took. Meanwhile she had actual work that needed to be done.
“Is catnip healthy for cats?” he asked. “Can they get addicted or get brain damage?”
“ I don’t know, ” Georgie said.
Burke sighed, eyes flitting between the two piles of toys.
“Burke,” she said, trying not to snap.
“Hmm?” he said.
“Get both,” she said.
“Oh, I guess I could. Okay. Is there anything else?” His eyes scanned the store with slow precision and Georgie had to bite her tongue to keep from screaming.
When they finally exited the store, her mind began doing calisthenics, trying to figure out what she could get done when she got home, but Burke steered her toward the food court.
“We’re eating?” she said, dismayed.
“Of course we are. I owe you for shopping with me today,” Burke said. “Anything you want, it’s my treat.” He motioned toward the food court where Georgie had her pick of cheesesteak, bourbon chicken, or egg rolls. None of it sounded good, but she couldn’t refuse Burke’s generosity.
“Bourbon chicken would be great,” she said.
“Great. Now, what do I want? Hmmm. Hmmm.” He eyed the food court with the same indecision he’d used in the pet store and Georgie wanted to cry.
“Get it all,” she tried.
He laughed. “That would be a lot of food and a lot of money,” he said, and she felt bad. Did Burke have the money for lunch? Especially after he’d spent so much at the pet store, he might be out of funds. She touched her hand to his bicep.
“You don’t have to pay for me. I can buy my own lunch, you don’t owe me.”
“Nonsense,” he said, giving her hand a pat. “I always pay my debts. Chicken cheesesteak? That’s wild,” he said, and then proceeded to read each menu like maybe it was going to show up on a test later while Georgie fidgeted from foot to foot, losing the battle with impatience.
They finally got their food and Burke ate with precision. Did he always eat like that and Georgette hadn’t noticed, or was his commitment to chewing each bite twenty times something new? In any case she wolfed down her food and then sat waiting an inordinately long time for him to finish. When that finally happened, they walked to the car and started to drive, and it took Georgette a long time to notice they weren’t headed home.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“I wanted to check out a warehouse,” he said.
“Why?” she asked. She probably sounded whiny and desperate, but she couldn’t help it. This was turning into the longest day on record.
“It’s the hub where the Pelletier farm ships their maple products. I’d like to get a read on it.”
She couldn’t argue with that, especially not when they were all the way here. They parked outside the warehouse and stared at it for a minute.
“What happens now?” she asked. “Do we get out and look around?”
“No.” Burke rolled down his window, opened his palm, and a tiny creature flew out and away.
“What was that?” Georgie asked.
“Tech. It’s going to explore the warehouses and come back. I’ll download the images when we get home.”
“Where did that come from?” Georgie asked, but Burke didn’t answer. He stared at the warehouse, watching the people load and unload the trucks. Georgie watched, too, trying to see what he saw but she had no idea. They sat for a long time, until dusk, when the tiny camera finally flew back to the car and hovered in front of the window like a pet asking to be let in. Burke rolled down the window and captured the tiny instrument, handing it to Georgie. She held it in her palms and turned it over. To anyone not paying attention it would look like a large bug.
“What happens if they catch it?”
“It self-destructs,” Burke said. “But the flight pattern isn’t easily recognizable to the human eye, it creates a blur that helps shield it from detection.”
“That’s incredible,” Georgie said. It was kind of cute, halfway between a bug and a bird.
“Don’t get attached,” Burke warned, but he sounded amused.
“Maybe you should give your mom one of these, instead of a cat,” Georgie suggested.
“Ha,” he said. “My mom would probably repurpose it to spy on her neighbors and report their activities.”
“Everyone needs a hobby,” she said.
“She’d get deposed for being a dictator, and then I’d have to find a new facility for her to go to,” Burke said. He shook his head. “Better stick with a cat.”
Georgie smiled and faced the window, watching the sun sink below the horizon. She had fun with Burke, despite his lack of social skills and non-chatty nature. When she was with him, she didn’t feel like she was missing out. But then her mind flashed to last night, to Cotton and Elyse and all the little intimacies between them that had signified them as a couple. The warm looks and touches and thoughtful words. I want that, Georgie thought. She wanted it in the same way she wanted the town’s acceptance, as a long-held dream of what her life could and should be.
Her phone vibrated with a text and she didn’t have to look at it to know who it was. Him , Siggy, her erstwhile “boyfriend.” They hadn’t talked in days, and lately she’d had her doubts about him. He wasn’t real, and what they had wasn’t real, as much as she’d wanted it to be. But when she looked at Burke, she wondered if that wasn’t real. What made a relationship “real”?
Hey, babe. How’s the prep for your carnival going?
Not great, I had to run some errands. Not sure how I’m going to get it finished, Georgie replied.
Aw, I’m sorry. If anyone can do it, it’s you. You’re amazing, pretty girl. Wish I was there to help.
She scanned through their former conversations, noting all the times he’d told her he thought she was amazing and beautiful and wonderful.
“Is that Elyse?” Burke asked.
Georgie shook her head. “It’s…it’s the guy I’m seeing.” There. She finally said it out loud, for the first time, after months and months of talking online, she’d made it official.
“What?” Burke said.
Abort, abort, abort, Georgie thought with sudden regret. She had a bitter, metallic taste in her mouth from the rush of nerves, but she powered through. If she was doing this, she was going to do it. It was time to sink or swim, and her online friend predated Burke, who probably wouldn’t notice if Georgie disappeared for a decade.
“I’ve been talking to this guy online for a while. He’s kind of my boyfriend? And I think we’re going to meet in real life.”
“What?” Burke repeated.
“Burke, you heard me,” she said.
“Yes, Georgette, I heard you, but you can’t be serious.”
“Why not?”
“Do you have any idea the kind of psychos who stalk women online?” he asked. “This guy could be anyone.”
“Yeah, but you know who else could be anyone? A guy who shows up out of the blue and moves into your attic and then barely talks to you and doesn’t tell you anything about himself or his life,” she blurted and, oh, no, maybe this wasn’t about her online friend, maybe this was about Burke and her frustration with him.
He put the car in park and faced her, speechless.
“Even now you can’t say anything, won’t tell me anything. Everything is a secret with you, and I’m so tired of it. I want words, Burke. I need them, and you’re not that person. Fine. But there’s someone out there who does want me, who does say words,” Georgette said. She crossed her arms and faced forward and then she saw it, the inn was lit so brightly it glowed. She blinked. Did I leave the lights on? That was unlike her. She exited the car and walked up onto the porch, noting as she did so the roughly two dozen lit trees and lanterns and string lights.
“What?” she murmured. Her hand shook as it reached for the door and turned the knob. Pushing it open, she sucked in a breath. The inside of the inn had been transformed to a winter wonderland with dozens of trees, greenery, garlands, ribbons, and lights. It was exactly what she would have done, if she’d had time and money and a staff of people to pull it off. “What?” she repeated, turning in a slow circle to make her inspection, heart thumping.
Burke stood in the entryway of the inn, leaning against the jamb, hands shoved in his pockets. “I had to get you out of the inn so they could work.”
“You did this?”
“You said you wanted it to be spectacular,” he said.
Georgette had no idea what to say, none. She couldn’t say how much it must have cost, to call in a company last minute and have it all done in a day. How had he possibly afforded this? “Burke,” she began, but he shrugged. She turned in a slow circle again, making another inspection. This time when she faced him, he was gone.