Chapter 12
Brody
Kate and I get back to the house and drop our wet jackets and hats off in the laundry room.
‘Do you care if I take a shower to warm up?’ she asks.
‘Go ahead.’
‘What should I put on?’
‘Just take something from my room. Whatever you want.’
‘Okay.’
She leaves while I remain by the door, yanking off my boots.
While she’s in the shower, I go in my room and take off my wet jeans and put on a new pair.
I also change out of my shirt, which is damp with sweat.
I get hot when I’m wearing lots of layers, but I think this time I overheated because of Kate.
Having her body over mine—twice—along with that kiss, got me all hot and bothered.
I need to get her some clothes. She can’t keep wearing mine, especially my flannel shirts, which look way too sexy on her .
Getting out my phone, I look up Mr. Finkle’s number and give him a call.
‘Finkle here,’ he answers.
‘Mr. Finkle, it’s Brody.’
‘What are you doing calling me on this snowy day? Shouldn’t you be out with your plow?’
‘I’m having some problems with it. I’m working on getting it fixed.’
‘That’s a shame. You could make a lot of money in a storm like this. I can’t remember when we’ve had this much snow all at once.’
‘Yeah, I figure it’s no use plowing it now when it’s still coming down.’
‘Hasn’t stopped Santi. I hear he’s got all his trucks out. They’ve been out since this morning.’
‘In Haydon Falls?’ I ask, my jaw tightening. Santi better not be calling up my customers, stealing business from me. If he does, I’ll sue the bastard, or I would if I had the money to.
‘I saw one of his trucks go by about an hour ago, so unless they’re just passing through town, I’d say they’re doing some work here.’
Maybe it’s for Mr. Roberson. He said he was calling Santi to plow his driveway. I’m really angry he did that. He knows I’ll do the work. I just need time to get the plow fixed.
‘So what do you need?’ Mr. Finkle asks.
‘I was wondering if the store was open.’
‘Not today. No use opening it when nobody’s out.’
‘Any chance you’d let me stop by?’
‘For what?’
‘I’ve got someone staying with me who needs a few things. ’
‘I suppose I could open the store. I’m just watching TV. What time are you coming over?’
‘Ten minutes? Does that work?’
‘Sure. I’ll go down there right now and get the lights on.’
‘Okay, thanks.’
I leave my room just as the door to the bathroom opens. Kate walks out wearing only a towel.
‘Hey,’ she says, looking startled when she sees me.
‘Hey, I’m gonna head out and get you some stuff.’
‘You’re leaving?’
‘Yeah, I just called Mr. Finkle and he’s gonna open the store for me. I’ll get a few things and then he’ll close up again.’
‘Can I come with?’
‘Wearing that?’ I point to her in the towel, trying not to look at her bare legs or the cleavage peeking out where she has the towel tied.
‘I’ll put some clothes on. It won’t take long.’
‘My clothes don’t fit you and it’s freezing out. If you go out there, you’ll just get cold again. I think it’s better if you stay here.’
‘Yeah, I guess you’re right. How far away is the store?’
‘A couple blocks. It’s downtown on Main Street.’
‘What are you getting?’
‘I’ll see if they have some clothes you could wear.’
‘It’s a clothing store?’
‘No, it’s a drugstore.’
‘They sell clothes at a drugstore?’
‘It’s more of a general store. They have a little of everything. I’ll see if they have a charger for your phone while I’m there.’
‘I didn’t know general stores still existed. ’
‘They do in small towns.’
‘It sounds adorable! I wish I could see it.’
‘Trust me, it’s not anything great.’
‘What kind of clothes do they have?’
‘I’m not sure. I never look at clothes there. They probably have some t-shirts and sweatshirts. Is there anything else you want?’
‘Could you get me some makeup?’
‘What do you need makeup for? You’re just sitting around the house.’
‘I know, but I feel naked without it.’
‘You don’t need it. And I don’t know how to buy that stuff.’
‘Well, if you can get the phone charger and some clothes, that’d be great.’
I’m trying really hard not to look at her in that towel, but I keep doing it. I need to get out of here.
‘I better head out. I told him I’d be there soon.’
‘Okay. Be careful.’
She goes to her room while I go get my coat. As I’m putting it on, I keep thinking about her in that towel, which leads to me thinking of that kiss, which makes me think about doing other things with her.
She’s my roommate, I remind myself. And just yesterday, she was engaged. I can’t get involved with her.
When I get out to the truck, it starts right up. At least the truck still works. I back it up over the path I cleared, which is now covered with a few more inches of snow.
Pulling out on the road, my truck fishtails. The road’s really slick. I see why the cops are telling people to stay home.
The downtown is like a ghost town. There’s nobody around. Not a single car. I pull up in front of Finkle’s store and see him waiting at the door.
He opens it for me as I walk toward him.
‘Bad storm,’ he says. ‘Worse I’ve seen in years.’
‘Yeah, it’s pretty bad,’ I say, going inside. ‘Thanks for opening the store for me.’
‘I don’t mind. Like I said, I was just watching TV.’
Mr. Finkle lives above the store in a small apartment. Sawyer does the same thing. His brewery is across the street and he lives right above it, or he used to. Now that he has a girlfriend, he spends most nights at her place.
‘So what are you looking for today?’ Mr. Finkle asks.
‘I need clothes that would fit a girl.’
‘Over here,’ Mr. Finkle says, motioning me to follow him to the back of the store. ‘We don’t keep much in stock in the off season, but we probably have something that would fit her.’ He stops next to a rack of shirts. ‘What size is she?’
‘I don’t know. She’s small. And short.’
‘So extra small?’ he asks, taking a gray sweatshirt from the rack.
‘Let me see it.’
He holds up the sweatshirt.
‘Yeah, that looks about right.’ He hands it to me and when I turn it to the front, I see Kanfield Orchard written across it. ‘Is this all you got?’
‘I got a few Haydon Falls shirts, but not in her size.’ He looks over at me. ‘You don’t want her wearing your name?’
‘I don’t really care. I just don’t want her thinking I purposely picked these out. It’s kind of embarrassing, like I’m asking her to promote the orchard. ’
‘Nothing wrong with that. It’s your family’s orchard.’
It’s also one of the main reasons people come to Haydon Falls.
People drive for hours to go to the orchard, then spend time eating and shopping in the downtown.
That’s why Mr. Finkle sells Kanfield Orchard shirts.
They’re some of his bestselling items in the fall, along with my mom’s jars of apple butter and apple jam.
‘Is one going to be enough?’ Mr. Finkle asks.
‘I should probably get two. What else have you got?’
‘I got this one here.’ He holds up a red zip-up hoodie with the Kanfield Orchard logo on the upper right side. ‘This is an extra small.’
‘Okay, I’ll take that one too.’
‘You should get it for free,’ he jokes, handing it to me.
‘Or ask your parents for a cut of the profits. Does she need any shirts?’ He shows me a white t-shirt with Kanfield Orchard written in red across the front.
It’s one of those fitted ones that looks really hot on the right girl.
And Kate is definitely the right girl. She’d look great in that.
‘It’s her size,’ Mr. Finkle says. ‘And they’re on sale.’
‘I’ll take a couple.’
‘Will that be it?’
‘You got any pants?’
He walks over to a shelf of black sweatpants and takes one from the stack. He checks the size, then tosses it to me.
I see Kanfield Orchard written on the leg and laugh. ‘She’ll be all set to work at the orchard after this.’
‘You should take her there. Show her around.’
‘She won’t be here that long. What about gloves or a hat?’
‘Take your pick.’ He points to a stack of them on a shelf .
I grab a gray knitted stocking cap and matching mittens and follow him up front.
‘Hold on,’ I say as we walk by the makeup aisle.
‘What is it?’ Mr. Finkle asks. ‘What do you need?’
‘Just give me a minute. I want to look around.’
He takes the clothes from me. ‘I’ll bring these up to the register.’
While he’s up there, I look at the racks of makeup. I don’t know shit about makeup. There’s all these different colors. How do you know which one is right?
I get out my phone and call up Lindsay, Nick’s girlfriend.
‘Hey, what’s up?’ Nick answers.
‘This is Lindsay’s number. Why are you answering her phone?’
‘Because she’s not here. She’s taking a bath. What do you want? Why are you calling Lindsay?’
‘I just had a question.’
‘Yeah, so what is it?’
‘Nothing. Forget it.’ I’m not telling Nick I was about to buy makeup for a girl. He’d give me a hard time, and then tell Sawyer and Jason, who would also give me a hard time. Knowing that, I don’t know why I called Lindsay. She tells Nick everything.
‘Where are you right now?’ Nick asks.
‘I’m at Finkle’s place.’
‘He’s open today?’
‘No. I asked him to open because I needed a few things.’
‘Couldn’t it wait? You shouldn’t be out in this storm.’
‘That girl who’s staying with me didn’t have any clothes so I’m getting her some stuff. ’
‘The only thing they have there is Kanfield stuff.’
‘Yeah, I know. That’s what she’s getting. Anyway, I should get going.’
‘Hey, I was thinking about that problem with your plow. I think I might know what’s wrong. I want to take a look at it, but I probably can’t get over there until tomorrow when the roads are cleared.’
‘Tomorrow’s fine.’
‘I’ll come over first thing in the morning, if that works.’
‘That’d be great. You really think you can fix it?’
‘I don’t know, but it’s worth a try. I’ll text you before I head over.’
‘Okay. Thanks, Nick. Talk to you later.’
I end the call and go up to the register.
‘It’s ready to go and already rung up,’ Mr. Finkle says.
‘Hey, do you have any charging cords for a phone?’