“Yeah, but unfortunately, my version of reckless was buying a property instead of developing a drug problem. I’d rather count every sweet I’ve ever had in front of the greediest friends than spend another whole weekend trying to fix fence posts.”
I laughed. “So sell it?”
She looked up at me like I’d suggested she run a casual 5k on Mars. “No. I love that place.”
“Right. Of course. Back to the fence fixing.”
To my absolute surprise, she actually laughed at that, then held the catalog out toward me. “Do you know anything about tile?”
“I once stayed in a villa in Greece with excellent tile. It was blue. Does that help?”
“No.” She scoffed down a laugh, her head shaking as those gray eyes fixed on mine. “Greece, huh?”
“Yeah, it was a family thing.”
Sort of, anyway. I’d met up with Jesse and our cousin, Jameson, years ago. Back when they’d still been crazy and I’d been in awe of them for it.
“Right,” she said slowly and smiled again. “Soblueis the best you’ve got for me?”
“What can I say? I bring the vibe to the hardware store.”
She laughed. Again. I almost fainted at the pure, simple beauty of the sound, but once again reminded myself that I was a fully grown man, in a hardware store, no less, with things to actually buy here.
It was easy with her today, though. Just the two of us, actually talking. She seemed more open and nicer when there weren’t other people around, like maybe she put up a front. Given what I knew about her past, maybe that armor she seemed to wear like a second skin was actually necessary for her to survive in this town, though.
I knew how hard it was just trying to get through a day when everyone thought they knew everything about you. Being talked about. Speculated about. It sucked.
“Alright,” she said finally. “I’ll keep the blue in mind. All I wanted today was to see what was available anyway. Now that I’ve got an idea, I’ll come back when I’ve decided, so it’s onto the cabinet hardware for me. What did you come to get?”
“Cabinet hardware also,” I said. “Some other stuff too, but as it happens, that’s on my list too. According to Frieda, people have a real affinity for breaking that kind of thing.”
Raquel winced. “Yeah, I can imagine. Not all tourists or even the contractors who stay there are always respectful of her property. You should see the clean-ups we’ve had to help out with after parties at the motel. It gets gross sometimes.”
We wandered slowly through the aisles together from there, or rather, she wandered and kept absentmindedly handing me things, which I added to my cart. There were tile samples and paint swatches, cabinet hardware, and drawer pulls.
I kept up with her relatively easily, not at all as particular about what I was after as she seemed to be. Frieda had told me to focus on cheap and durable. She was a pragmatist, which helped right about now.
Raquel, on the other hand, stopped when we reached rolls of wallpaper, seeming genuinely torn as she glanced between two of them. Finally, she looked at me. “Do you have any thoughts or are you just going to go withblueagain?”
“No, the only blue one I can see looks like it’d be chosen by a recently divorced accountant.” It was sky blue with faint little yellow flowers on it. “That’s what you choose when you’re determined to be single for the rest of your life and you really don’t like risk.”
“It could work for a nursery too,” Raquel muttered.
I arched an eyebrow at her. “Are you decorating a nursery?”
“No.”
“Then no.” I walked around the cart and looked closely between the two she was considering. “I like this one. It’s neutral and says modern desert chic to me.”
“Okay? What does the other one say?”
“That you’re too lazy to look out the window so you put cactuses on the walls.”
“It’s cacti.” She laughed, her head shaking as she reached for the neutral one. “It’s only one smattering of cacti in the corner. It’s not like they’re printed all over.”
“It’s an energy.” I shrugged. “You might as well choose one with a saloon sign and tumbleweeds on it. Maybe a cowboy walking to a duel.”
“You’re insane.”
