Sexy Man Apron
Mum: Don’t stay out too long, we have dinner guests coming.
Charlie: Quilting Guild?
Mum: Sort of.
Mum: Our newest member.
Mum: And her friend.
Charlie: Did you invite them? Are you meddling?
Mum: Charles!
Mum: I would never.
Mum: Sort of.
Sitting in the truck, I debated sending her a photo of me grimacing.
It’d be hard with a toothy grin spreading across my face.
I might not like the meddling, but she meant well.
It was only a matter of time before she commented on my “little friend” or “your playdate,” which, as an adult, had an entirely different meaning.
I surrendered and accepted my fate. Mum found an opportunity to invest in my love life, and she wasn’t going to relent.
Nick’s curse had been lifted. He and Lacie had gone back to Valhalla to celebrate. It started out harmless, a few cocktails in the parlor. His posture and demeanor said he wasn’t fully convinced. After his year, I didn’t expect it to change overnight. The fact that he participated was enough.
Then the photos of Lacie dancing with Mabel came in, clad in their PJs; it had turned into a karaoke party.
Evelyn appeared toward the end, probably summoned for the noise complaint.
I zoomed in on the last photo. He held a beer bottle like a microphone.
His eyes were shut as he belted into the air.
I found him. The Nick I met in the woods had returned.
I shoved open the door and slid out of the truck.
Putting my phone in my pocket, I rolled my shoulders as if I were preparing for a workout.
Nick had stepped outside his comfort zone, and with a well-placed slap across the face, he looked past his issues.
I’m sure there’d be slips, falls, and tactical retreats, but he had taken his first step.
I’d try to follow his lead.
With my hands in my pockets, I walked along the storefronts.
My eyes stayed fixated on the lines dividing the blocks of cement.
I passed a handful of teenagers still in their backpacks.
Then an older couple. I imagined their eyes following me, picking apart my reason for being there.
In a tank top with my shorts, I showed off as much ink as I could without winding up in the county jail.
I wouldn’t make myself less. I owed it to myself.
Reaching the door of Ivy & Cask, I slid inside.
Unlike before, Harvey and Walter weren’t in the back cracking jokes.
The only movement came from the man behind the counter.
I was hoping to see Julie so I could thank her for the recommendation.
She had been right, Seamus loved it. More importantly, I discovered the way to that man’s heart was through his tumbler.
“Can I help you?”
From the pale blue shirt to the skinny tan pants, he didn’t need to tell anybody he worked in a liquor store. Complete with thin leather suspenders and a styled mustache, I wanted to ask if there was a speakeasy in the back of the shop.
“Is Julie around?”
“She’s in the basement. She should be back in a minute.” I waited for him to twirl his mustache like a supervillain. “Anything I can help with?”
His head tilted with a raised eyebrow. The gesture sent me hurtling back to high school.
His eyes narrowed, and I returned the gesture.
We were deadlocked in a race to see who could identify the other first. I sat in Mr. Valente’s chemistry class and ran through the seating chart.
Second row, closest to the wall. Tall. Lanky. Hand raised in the air.
“James?”
“Charlie?”
Of course, the moment I identified him, I had to run through every interaction to see if he had been one of them in school. He had been the furthest thing from a bully. I remember cursing his name every time he raised his hand. While I struggled to get a passing grade, he made it look easy.
“You’ve changed.” We said it in unison.
“I hear you’re a tattoo artist?” I tried to focus on the casualness of the question. James wasn’t searching for my darkest secrets. He wasn’t after information he could feed the whisper network. I didn’t have time to dwell as he walked around the counter, unbuttoning the top of his shirt.
Uh. I waited for the porn music.
He bared his hairless chest. “I had a little too much sake and well…” He looked down at the kitten smacking a ball of yarn. “Don’t ask. I’m not allowed to drink the stuff ever again.”
“It’s—”
“Horrible.” Oh, thank God. He took the words out of my mouth. “Do you think it can be covered?”
Without thinking, I touched his chest, pulling at the skin.
The line work was shaky at best, already dulled by time.
Whoever had done it hadn’t packed the color tightly.
The red yarn would be the hardest part. I could only imagine he had walked into a shop and pointed at the first flash piece he found.
Thankfully, the inferior work meant an easier cover-up.
“Ahem.”
I froze. James continued holding his shirt apart while my eyes were inches away. We turned to see Julie holding a box. Under different circumstances, this might be a less-than-savory discovery. The grin on her face was the only thing that stopped me shouting, “It’s not what you think!”
“Please tell me you’re going to cover Mittens.”
“Mittens?” I leaned back as James buttoned his shirt.
He frowned. “She named it.”
“If you get rid of Mittens—” She dropped the box on one of the barrels turned to tables. “—I’ll give you a discount on everything in the store.”
James leaned closely and whispered. “She loves reminding me about it.”
“What if you got a tattoo of me?” She framed her face, attempting to appear angelic. Not sure if she joked, we both kept our mouths shut. “Fine. Get your whisky barrel.”
At least that would be on brand for his hipster lifestyle. “Soon as I find a shop, I’ll hook you up.”
“Find a shop?” Julie walked over to the shelf, pulling a bottle of whisky. “You know there’s empty space next to Sheryl’s shop?”
“A tattoo shop in Firefly? There aren’t enough people to keep it open.”
With her free hand, she made a sweeping gesture to the shelves. “You think Firefly can keep a liquor store open? We’re competing with cheap beer at the grocery store.”
She wasn’t making the argument she thought—
“Our online orders are more than enough to keep us open. Word of mouth got us here. When fall hits, and the leaf peepers stay at Valhalla, Evelyn sends them our way. When Merryville’s snowmobile club stops at the Legion, who supplies the drinks? Us. That’s who.”
That answered quite a few questions. The barber shop? Everybody needed their hair cut. I couldn’t fathom how the comic shop and the bakery remained open. I hadn’t realized the hustle behind their businesses. Consider me impressed.
“Something to think about,” she said before handing me the bottle. “Tell Seamus I say hello.”
It was the same bottle as the other night. “How’d you—” I raised an eyebrow, trying to figure out what she had heard. I couldn’t imagine Seamus sharing our conversation the other night. Patrick, on the other hand? He’d be more than happy to call a town meeting to provide every detail.
She had a curious expression as she brushed her bangs behind her ear. Julie didn’t know anything. There were no tells that she had a secret that didn’t belong to her.
“You’re justifying a sale,” I mumbled the words.
“Want me to recommend something more expensive?”
I took the bottle. Julie didn’t have ulterior motives.
She wasn’t fishing for information to compare against the rumor.
Her only goal in this conversation was to make money.
Of course, she used my connection to Seamus to make it happen, but there was no prying.
I let out a sigh of relief. Firefly had its moments of normalcy, where it didn’t leave me gasping for air.
“Thanks.” It wasn’t for the alcohol.
“Can I interest you in a new bourbon? It’s—”
“Wine?” I chimed in. “Dinner party. Mum’s hosting a get-together.”
Without her fishing for information, I could feel my guard falter. It was easy to be on the defensive when I felt somebody violating my personal space. When they accepted things at face value. Things shifted, and I didn’t hate it.
“How much do you want to impress?” asked James. “Are we talking casual? Or is it important?”
I paused, searching for the underlying meaning. I had spotted the nosiness from Bonnie, but this seemed… genuine? Was it possible to have casual small talk without there being subtext? Was I trying to find a problem where none existed? I took his curiosity as a shopkeeper looking for a sale.
“It’s a guy.” What? My mouth betrayed my brain. “She’s meeting a guy.” My head hung in embarrassment. “She’s meeting my guy.” I could have just said important. Instead, my mouth continued running, ignoring my common sense. “My guy.”
“She’ll love Nick,” Julie said, moving behind the counter.
James said nothing as he went to a shelf. Pulling a bottle, he set it next to his wife. “The perfect bottle to ease the nerves and impress a man.”
Julie wrapped her arm around his waist. “It’s the one he brings when my mom’s in town.”
A minute later, I was standing on the sidewalk, two bottles of booze in a brown paper bag.
Did I just have a positive interaction with somebody in town?
James and I had never talked in school, and yet Julie walked in on me caressing her husband’s chest. I could have gotten out of there with little more than a head nod, and yet…
I couldn’t help but smile. It felt good to brag about a certain man coming over for dinner.
I’d dissect every word later. After I made a delivery.
Ronnie: So, I’ve been thinking…
Jeff: That’s dangerous.
Ronnie: We can go camping on our own.
Ronnie: We’re basically survival experts.
Jeff: Your dad will kill you.
Ronnie: Not if he doesn’t know.
Jeff: That’s never going to happen.
Ronnie: I want to wrestle a bear!
“I wanted to say thanks.”
I set the bottle on the counter.