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Chapter Nine
Brady
My unglamorous life as the Christmas Inn’s maintenance man smacks me in the face the moment we return from the bakery. Willow hands me a list. I glance at it, knowing that it won’t be good news. The boiler is on the fritz again and the slow leak under the kitchen sink has turned into a small fountain. Thank goodness the cook knew where the water shut-off valve was. Sigh.
It’s times like this that I question my life choices. When I was in school, I loved math and science, but funds were tight, and I couldn’t afford to go to college. Instead, I took the easy route and continued as the inn’s maintenance man, which was a job that was only supposed to fill the summer between high school graduation and the next phase of my life. But, somehow it evolved into the next phase of my life. Is this really what I want to do forever?
Funny how Lexi’s presence has made me take stock of my own career. Her honesty about her profession and the dissatisfaction she’s currently feeling has opened my eyes to my own discontent. I’ve allowed myself to become complacent. There’s nothing wrong with being a maintenance man, but, I feel like I should strive for more.
Where’s the guy who wanted to go to college and get an engineering degree?
Staring at the long repair list in my hand, I stride off to the kitchen to address the leaky sink first. The things on this list aren’t going to repair themselves.
~*~
At the end of a long day, I spot Lexi standing by the shelves in the far corner of the lobby’s conversation area. I chuckle when I realize what she’s looking at. Striding over, I say in a teasing tone, “Trying to find a board game? Is that on your list?”
She jumps at my voice, then grins. A pink blush heats her cheeks. “Yes, it’s on my list, but I can’t remember which one we played last time.”
I select one of the gently used boxes and say, “Probably this one, you were only four at the time.”
Lexi squints at the brightly colored box in my hand, then laughs. “I think I’ve outgrown Candyland. Suggest another one.” She gives me a teasing elbow in the ribs as we stare together at the other boxes.
“How about Monopoly? That’s always a good time,” I say.
“Whatever you pick is fine. I’ve never played any of these,” she says with a wave of her hand.
She sure missed out on her childhood. When I was a kid, I remember playing Battleship with my brothers and my oldest brother would cheat by moving one of his ships around during the game. We also played Monopoly but always got into fights over who would be the banker. My mom was always playing referee between the three of us.
“Well, it’s about time you played this one then,” I say as I grab Monopoly off the shelf. “Let’s go to the back patio. Nobody should be there at this time of day.”
Just as I suspected, the patio is empty since it’s long past the afternoon snack time. I crank up the heaters and we settle at a nearby table. Lexi listens carefully while I set up the game board and explain the rules. “Which token do you want to be?” I ask, remembering that was another thing my brothers and I fought over. We all wanted to get the battleship, although the Scottie dog came in a close second.
Lexi taps her bottom lip, scanning over the pieces for several minutes, as if the outcome of the game hinges on this weighty decision. When I clear my throat and say, “Any day now,” she gives me a stink eye, but finally selects the Scottie. Deciding to live a little, I choose the racecar. Play commences with me as banker. I was self-appointed to the role because I have vast experience in playing the game, at least that’s what I told Lexi.
After a couple rounds of play, the look of concentration on Lexi’s face is comical. She bites her lip, debating whether to purchase Park Place. I’ve already amassed two railroads and a couple other properties, so she needs to acquire some real estate fairly quickly.
“Would you buy this one?” she asks, pointing to the rather pricey Park Place.
My eyes go wide. “You want your competitor to give you advice?” I tease.
She giggles. “Guess not. Am I allowed to Google for advice?”
A roar of laughter rumbles out of my chest. When I played with my brothers this question never came up because none of us had cell phones at the time. “Sure, go for it.”
Clutching her cell phone so I can’t read the screen, she types on it for a while then reads the results of her search. A slow smile crosses her face as she plunks down the money to buy the real estate.
“What advice did the article give you?”
“You expect me to share expert advice with my competitor?” she fires right back, with a flirty grin.
Okay, I see how this is going to play out. The competitive Lexi just showed up and she’s in this to win.
Forty-five minutes later Lexi and I are still battling it out. We’ve both been in jail twice, and I almost went bankrupt until she landed on one of my better paying properties.
“When does the game end?” Lexi asks.
“When one of us goes bankrupt.”
She eyes my stack of cash and I’m sure she’s calculating in that pretty head how many more rounds I can go before I’m out of money.
“You’ve turned into quite the real estate tycoon,” I say in a grumpy voice.
“I’m just playing the game,” she replies, with an innocent expression on her face.
Rolling my eyes, we continue to play.
Not more than fifteen minutes later, I’m out of cash. Lexi rubs her hands together, with a gleeful expression in her eyes as I pay her my last dollar.
“I need a loan from the bank,” I say.
She grabs the game instructions from the box. “Can you do that?”
After tediously reading through every page, she gives me a saucy wink. “According to the rules, the player who collected your last dollar, also gets to take all your properties.” Lexi points to herself. “That would be me.” She fist pumps the air. “Game over, Mr. Stewart.”
I grumble, then reluctantly hand my properties over to her. No bank loan is going to help me get out of this situation. “I want it noted that the racecar is unlucky,” I say with a pout.
Laughter bubbles up Lexi’s throat as she helps me put the game pieces back in the box. “This was fun!” Her eyes shine with happiness and her smile warms my heart. I’m amazed at how she gets delight from the simple things in life like sledding down a hill or playing a board game. I sure had her pegged wrong as being a spoiled, entitled celebrity brat.
I’m drawn to her, but how can a guy like me have any future with a movie star? When she returns to California, she’ll forget all about me. Our lives are like opposite ends of the spectrum. Hers is glamorous and exciting, while mine is mundane and boring.
