Chapter 7 #2
“Yes.” She hesitated, glancing behind her shoulder, before turning back to him. “Just give me a minute,” she said, and then she closed the door in his face.
Dan turned back to give his daughter what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “Good thing we left a little time.”
Sophie just shook her head. “I don’t even know these people,” she said. “Why do I have to go?”
“So you can get to know them,” Dan replied patiently. They’d had this conversation a dozen times today, in one variation or another. “And you do know Zoe.”
“Yeah…” Sophie’s expression thawed a fraction, but she still looked discontented, and Dan knew why.
Meeting new people was terrifying at her age, especially when she’d suffered so many knockbacks already.
And he also knew that although Lindsay had at least responded to Sophie’s message from a week ago, she still hadn’t arranged a time to video call.
Sophie hadn’t told him as much, but he’d checked her phone, as he did every so often to keep tabs on her interactions, and he’d seen the breezy and slightly dismissive message from Lindsay and felt the usual mix of frustration and sorrow.
The door opened, and Zoe slipped out, closing it firmly behind her. She gave Dan a distracted smile and then waved at Sophie. “Sorry to keep you waiting,” she said as she came down the steps.
“No problem,” Dan replied. The three of them fell into step on the sidewalk, walking in silence as he struggled to think of something to say, preferably something interesting or witty.
Why was he so tongue-tied? He supposed, like Sophie, he’d suffered a few setbacks of his own.
Making chitchat now seemed to be beyond him.
“So, how’s life in Starr’s Fall treating you?” Zoe asked, directing the question to both him and Sophie. “Are you settling in?” She gave them both a quick, wry smile. “And are you tired of everyone asking you that question?”
“We haven’t met many people yet,” Dan replied, like a confession. “Just Maggie and Zach, really. And you.” Worried that made him sound slightly pathetic, he quickly added, “But we’ve only been here for two weeks, so it’s still early days, of course.”
“You should join the Starr’s Fall Business Association,” Zoe told him. “That can be a good way to meet people, and we always need more members.” She glanced at him, eyebrows raised. “You said you owned your own business?”
“Yes, I do graphic design. I thought the business association was just for storeowners, though?” He’d looked it up when he’d arrived in town and seen it was mainly people who had a presence on the Main Street.
According to their last few published agendas, their main order of business was fixing the streetlights which were continually going on the fritz.
“It is, mainly,” Zoe replied, “but it’s meant to be for everyone. And graphic design is very cool. What kind of stuff do you do?”
“Mainly branding and merchandise for small businesses, lots of clever logos and catchy phrases.” He let out a self-conscious laugh. “That was meant to be ironic. Mostly, anyway.”
“Oh, Dad,” Sophie muttered on a huff of breath. “Please don’t try to sound cool.”
“Ouch.” Dan gave Zoe a wry smile, and she laughed, seeming more amused than anything else, her hazel eyes gleaming with humor before she glanced at his daughter with a smile.
“Sophie, your dad is cool,” she said. “He wore a Garbagehead t-shirt the first time I met him. They’re one of my favorite bands, and I feel cool just for knowing about them.”
Dan laughed, secretly pleased that she’d actually noticed his t-shirt, and even been impressed.
What else had she noticed about him, and maybe even been impressed by?
Or was he foolish for thinking there had been anything?
“I’ve been a Garbagehead fan for a long time,” he told Zoe.
“Since my twenties.” He winced, because he realized Zoe was probably still in her twenties, which made him look old and sad, which he supposed he was.
“Since your twenties?” she repeated, sounding amused. “And how many decades is that?” Her eyes glinted as she looked at him and Dan found his mouth kicking up in a smile.
“I’m forty-one,” he told her. “How old are you?”
“Twenty-eight.” She paused, and for a second her laughing expression turned serious. “I know that might seem young to you, but I feel a lot older.”
Before he could ask why that was, Sophie declared, “Garbagehead, like, stinks.” Dan met Zoe’s laughing gaze, a thrill going through him at the thought that they were sharing something, even something as small as a joke. He didn’t know whether that made him pathetic or just hopeful. Maybe both.
Really, he wondered, was he crazy to be even a little bit interested in Zoe?
And was he only interested in her because his life had been so lame for so long, work and Sophie and not much else?
He barely knew this woman. She was considerably younger than him, too.
Whatever he felt, at this point it had to be entirely superficial.
And she most likely saw him as nothing more than a middle-aged dad and erstwhile neighbor.
“Here we are,” Zoe said, and Dan saw they’d come to stand in front of Your Turn Next, Starr’s Fall’s best, if admittedly only, boardgame café. Maggie had told him she and her son Ben lived above the café.
“Looks like it’s open,” Dan remarked as he nudged the door. “I think Maggie said we could just go right up.”
From upstairs, they heard a sudden peal of laughter, and a ripple of trepidation went through him.
Was he really ready for this level of social interaction?
Was Sophie? Judging from the tense look on his daughter’s face, Dan suspected she wasn’t.
And judging from the apprehensive one on Zoe’s, she wasn’t, either.
For a few seconds, they all stood there, not one of them willing to make the first move. Then, to Dan’s surprise, Sophie let out a huff of breath and then started forward, marching through the door and up the stairs.
“Well?” she demanded, turning around to glare at them both in challenge. “Are you coming or not?”
Dan glanced at Zoe, who gave him a shamefaced smile in return.
“I guess we’re coming,” she said, and headed into the store. After another second’s hesitation, Dan followed her.