Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
ALEX
In my defense, I was in Chess Club and part of the Student Senate. My father did not have a workbench he tinkered around on the weekends. I was not raised rough-and-tumble. When I visited Uncle Jerry, we went to the bookstore and fished a few times. We also built a model rocket, but it was a kit with everything we needed and step-by-step directions. Full disclosure, it blew up when we tried to launch it.
So no, I’m not mechanically inclined. I suppose I could be embarrassed about that fact, but I’d rather focus on what I can do. I can crunch numbers. I can make money. I can look at a business model and forecast exactly what will happen and what they should do to grow rather than wither. I also happen to know my way around a crossword puzzle. So yeah, we all have our strengths and weaknesses.
“So that’s what I’m proposing,” Dylan says, finishing up her explanation.
“Let me get this straight,” I say. “You want to come help me make repairs on my house? And in exchange, I help you crunch numbers and look at your business plan to see if there’s a way to save the store?”
“Yes,” she says, then takes a bite of the cheeseburger in front of her.
“Otherwise, you’ll have to shut down the hardware store, which has been here since your dad opened it forty-seven years ago?” I ask.
“Correct,” she says before taking a sip of her lemonade.
I study the hopeful expression she’s attempting to mask, her eyes fixed on mine. Damn, she’s beautiful. I thought it back in the store the moment I walked in, and I tried really hard not to look at her as I was shopping. But as I approached the counter, all I could seem to do was let my eyes roam over her features. Even now, her thick black eyelashes make her pale green irises pop. Her high cheekbones are peppered with the lightest freckles, and her perfectly full pink lips, well, those are my favorite. Her long nearly black hair cascades over her shoulders in natural waves, and when I followed behind her in the store to get the correct nails, my eyes skated down her body, drinking in her perfect curves.
I learned two things inside her store. One, Dylan McDowell is very knowledgeable about hardware things. And two, Dylan McDowell has a perfect ass, and tits I wouldn’t mind putting in my mouth. Maybe that’s three things.
“So what do you think?” she asks.
I realize I haven’t spoken in several minutes. I’d like to say I was mulling over her proposal, but it was actually just spent thinking about her ass again.
“Have you considered a small business loan?” I ask.
Dylan lets out a long sigh. “They won’t give me one unless I can show proof of new income or an increase in income. That’s the goal, though. If I could somehow increase my income, I could get the small business loan to make more updates and really get the place in shape.”
I nod along, absorbing the information. “Admittedly, I don’t know a lot about the hardware business. But maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe I can step back and find something others are too close to see.”
“That’s what I’m hoping, too,” she says.
I realize in this moment that she’s sharing information with me, a complete stranger, that’s probably difficult to talk about. In the aftermath of her father’s death, she now has to switch gears and save his store and ask for help.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I won’t pretend to know how this is all making you feel, but I’m sure it can’t be easy.”
“Oh,” she says. “Thank you, yeah. It’s been hard.”
I nod as silence falls over the table again. “Well, you can count me in.”
“Really?” she asks, her face instantly brightening.
“Really,” I say before popping a fry into my mouth. “When do you want to get started?”
“How about after we finish up here, we go to your house so we can make a list of what all needs repaired? And you can give me a list of what all you need from me to assess the business?”
“Sounds good to me,” I say. The rest of the meal is spent making comfortable conversation, talking about my uncle and her dad, how I spent summers here as a kid, and at one point, she remarks that she’s surprised we never met. Honestly, I am too. But I seem to recall being centrally focused on spending time with my uncle anytime I was here.
As I sit across the table from Dylan, I can’t help but admire her strength. She’s only a couple of years younger than me, but from what I’ve gathered, she’s pretty alone in all of this, aside from the one friend she mentioned. And here she is, trying desperately to save her dad’s store. That sort of relentless loyalty is unheard of in the city. She’s so brave.
And if I’m being completely honest with myself, she’s exactly the kind of person I could see myself falling for.