Chapter 31 #3
“I was trying to split it with you. Wasn’t that the plan?”
She grins. “Oh yeah. I’ve never thought of using the lid as another plate.”
“I’ve learned a lot during long business meetings and trying to make it so I don’t waste away. I don’t typically like my food to touch.”
She laughs. “You sound like a toddler.”
I give her a small smile. “When I’m out, I can’t really control it. But when I’m at home, I either use a second plate to separate everything or do this.”
“Well, I’ll have to remember that. I’m sure Lila would appreciate it because she is the same way.”
We split the chicken parmesan, and she puts some on my plate.
“What do you think of this apartment?” Avery asks, glancing around. It’s the first time I see that there’s art hung on the walls as well. Daphne the designer must’ve made sure everything was put where she’d planned.
“Why do I feel like I walked into an over-fifty-five living facility?” I say, laughing.
“I guess that’s what happens when you don’t pick things out yourself.”
I sit back. “What would you have picked?”
“Well, if your company is planning on renting out these places, I would go for something comfortable. It should look nice but be durable because renters are usually hard on stuff like that.”
“You speak like you know that from experience,” I tell her.
“We rented a lot of apartments when I was younger, but most of the stuff we were given had been well-loved already, and even then, we tried to keep it nice. My dad was good about using something until it absolutely died, and I feel like Cora and I learned to take care of things, no matter the state it came to us in. But I have a friend who owns a bunch of rentals, like weekend or nightly rentals, and you would not believe the amount of stuff they have to replace and fix after each of the guests leave.”
“I can only imagine, because some people don’t care when it’s not theirs,” I say. “What would you do for the walls?”
Avery glances around. “Well, I wouldn’t put up abstract art.”
I laugh. “I can’t complain because I did stay in the Honeybee Honeymoon suite at the bed and breakfast.”
Her eyes go wide. “No way. There’s a Honeybee room? When I first came to Penrose, I stayed in a room with a beach theme. I didn’t know they have different themes!”
I grin at her. “It was the room they let me stay in after the flooding happened, but I was originally in the bear room.”
“I love that there are different themed rooms,” Avery says. “It just adds to the whole bed-and-breakfast vibe.”
“I agree. Although now I’m curious about what other themes they have there. Like, would one of them be ducks?”
She gives me a small frown. “Why would one be ducks?”
“It was the first thing that came to mind.”
She laughs and says, “I heard once that Brock said his grandma decorated them, and he didn’t want to ruin that part of it.”
I laugh. “I could see a lot of people coming just to see the random themes from other reviews.”
There’s something comfortable and cozy about being together like this, like I could do this daily for the rest of my life. Yes, I miss some aspects of my work, but I’d give it up for this.
“Thanks for having dinner with me,” I say, giving her a warm smile.
“For sure. This has been a lot of fun. What made you want to help at the restaurant?” She points toward the boxes of food.
“I’m good at processes and helping people get unstuck when they get too focused on something.”
“Kind of like me,” Avery says.
“I don’t know if you were stuck. You just needed a little outside perspective, and it didn’t take long. Look how well you’ve been doing since.”
She blushes and glances down at her plate, turning her fork around in her hand.
“I appreciate it, and I’m sorry for not understanding or taking it seriously at first when you gave me the advice.
I kind of find it hard to believe that your company only wants you out here as an inspector.
Seems like kind of a waste of their resources, don’t you think? ”
I freeze, unsure what to say. “I don’t know what you mean. I feel like, as an inspector, we have to notice the little things and make sure everything gets done right.”
She shrugs. “I don’t know. That’s not my job.”
We laugh together, and she says, “Well, I should probably get back and see what Lila is up to.”
“Well, if you get bored, I’ll be over here trying to set up this TV and survive furniture that has pins still in it.
You’re invited to watch a movie, if you want.
” It sounds lame coming out of my mouth, but I realize how much I want it to happen.
Just to have her in here longer makes it feel as much like a home as any place could ever be.
She looks at me as if trying to decide if I’m being serious. “I appreciate that. Right now, I’m trying to figure out…well, let me check on Lila, and I’ll let you know.” She cleans up her box and heads over to the garbage can.
“Perfect.”
I don’t know why I feel giddy, but I’m a lot more excited than I’ve been for a movie in a long time. Then again, I hope she decides to come over.