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“Okay. The thing is to have it all ready to go by the opening date I’ve been publicizing. As long as it’s on the right track.”
“It is. And this place—I can’t wait to see it finished, you know? It’s got so much potential to do good for this town. Just the after-school program alone. You have no idea—” I said.
“I do know. Daycare costs are a major problem for the working-class population and providing two hours of free afterschool care with homework help and a snack will be so helpful. I got a grant to operate that for three years. That’s one of the things I’m most proud of. Because economic opportunity and support resources are the primary reason that young people move out of rural communities. If we can keep more young people in Rockford Falls, the town will grow, the tax base will expand, then the schools have better funding and—then you have all these events that bring people into town—people come watch their grandkids play ball and then they eat out at a restaurant or go to the movies or go shopping.”
“We don’t have a movie theater,” I pointed out.
“I’m working on that. I haven’t found a chain that’s willing to expand into this small market without being exempted from taxes. I mean, we want the entertainment and the jobs, but not at the expense of giving up their contribution to infrastructure. Do not get me started on corporate greed and how it’s impacted small towns.”
“You seem to care a lot about small towns for a city girl.”
“I grew up in Atlanta, which you know, but I spent every summer at my granny’s out in High Pine Run in the north Georgia mountains. It’s a bunch of farmhouses and a gas station with a hardware store attached. The year the gas station got a freezer with ice cream bars by the checkout was the highlight of my childhood.”
“I thought you went to private school and everything,” I said, trying to reconcile what I knew about her with this new information.
“I did. I had really great schooling and went on ski trips and went to Spain after high school with my friends. But I also spent summers on the farm with my granny. I’m not complaining about being so lucky growing up, not at all. But I loved the slower pace and the beauty of the woods around my granny’s place. It’s where I felt most at home.”
“That surprises me,” I said.
“Why? Because I wear nice shoes and don’t drop the ‘g’ at the end of all my words?” she asked.
“I guess so. You never struck me as a country girl.”
“Do you think aliens dropped me in this town by accident or I took a wrong exit?” she challenged, rising to the bait.
“Maybe,” I grinned.
“I like it here.”
“You planning on staying?”
“Maybe,” her eyes slid away from mine suddenly.
The easy banter had dropped to a lull again. I ate my food, snuck glances at her. She was wearing pajama pants and a t-shirt, her hair up in a messy bun. She was so pretty, and she looked young and pale and not so sure of herself as usual. This felt a little like a first date. If you went on a first date when you already knew someone biblically and when they were in their pajamas. She was acting shy and I was acting awkward. As if I wanted her to like me but I wasn’t sure how to make that happen. I kind of liked sitting here talking to her, learning about how she grew up. Getting to know her was suddenly a thing I wanted. It turned out that talking to her was nice. Liking her, wanting her to like me was unexpected, or I’d like to pretend it was. If I didn’t care about her, I wouldn’t be showing up with soup randomly at her door, and I knew that on some level even if I wouldn’t admit it to myself.
“So how did you decide to become a builder? I mean, I heard it was a family business, so was that the reason?” she asked conversationally.
“It wasn’t the plan, but it was how it turned out. I was going to college on a track scholarship. My dad had some health problems, and I came back to take over the business. It was too much for my mom to handle on her own. But she didn’t want me to quit school.”
“I’m sure she didn’t, but you did what you thought was right. That’s very noble,” she said, “I’m sure your dad was grateful.”
“I hope not. I didn’t do it for him. I did it for my mom, and to get the business out of debt, make a name that stood for something other than a deadbeat drunk,” I said ruefully.
