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“If you’re not picky about the way said ride looks, I’d be happy to haul you around in my pickup for a couple of hours.”
Not at all what I expected. “Don’t you need to work? You make that offer to a lot of people?”
“Things are slow right now, and they’ll call me in if they need me. Besides, Lyndsay told me what you’re dealing with. It sucks. Plus she spoke highly of you, so you can’t be that bad a guy.”
“I’m agreatguy.”
Cash chuckled. “I’ll be by in a few.”
I had him drop me at Gage’s where I spent half an hour or so discussing distribution possibilities. In other words, what would it take for me to sell his beer at my new place if I were to open up down the street.
We reached what seemed like a great agreement for both of us. He offered to drive me to my next destination. Were all the people here so nice? I loved it. I told him it wasn’t far, and I really needed to move after being cooped up for so long inside.
I got that some people loved home, but I needed to see people. To meet new people. I had my crutches, and I hobbled across the street to an honest-to-God record store, with an empty-but-recently-remodeled shop space next to it.
This must be the place. The music shop was incredible inside. Records and CDs were framed with signed pictures of the artist, and decorated the walls. There were rows with all different mediums, from vinyl to 8-track, to micro discs, and the music playing over the speakers was classic Depeche Mode.
“Let me know if I can help you find anything.” The man behind the counter wore a faded black T-shirt that matched the music, and ripped jeans. He was probably a few years older than me.
I liked him already. “You can help me find Onyx.”
“That’s me. What can I do you for?”
“I understand the property next door, the one that’s for sale, is yours.”
His expression flickered, and pleasant became a frown for a heartbeat before his face returned to normal. “It is. You probably get this a lot, but you look a lot like that kid from that TV show, Donovan? What was his name, Austin? I mean, you lookjustlike him, all the way down to the tattoos he picked up when he gave up the child star life.”
I had a feeling he knew he was talking about me, and I couldn’t hide my grin at being recognized. “Joystick, not Austin. And I didn’t give it up, I grew up. Did yougive uphigh school life?”
“Before I ever started. Turns out John Hughes lied about how much appeal the quiet, nerdy kid held for the big star quarterback.”
Yeah, TV got a lot of things wrong about real life. “Do you even have a high school football team here?”
Onyx cocked his head and studied me, any hint of teasing vanishing. Not that there had been much. “What makes you think I’m fromhere?”
“It’s not the kind of town people moveinto.”
Onyx shrugged. “You did. Gossip says thatbig movie starDonovan came to town with the indie film caravan.”
He had me there. “Tell me about the space next door.”
“It was a diner attached to the record store, decades ago. It was already closed when I took this place over, and I wasn’t interested in running both, so I left it closed.”
Simple enough. “What do you picture there?” I drifted in the direction of what looked like a door dividing the two spaces.
Onyx pulled a set of keys from his pocket and flipped through them until he stopped on one that looked like all the others to my eye. “Wouldn’t be my call, because it wouldn’t be my space.” He unlocked the door.
“But you have a vision. You remodeled recently.”
One corner of Onyx’s mouth tugged up. “I’ve got a lot of visions, but I’m not Reese Witherspoon now any more than I was Judd Nelson in high school.”
My brain stalled. “Why Reese Witherspoon?”
“We could also go with Sandra Bullock or Meg Ryan if you prefer.” Onyx pushed into the available space. “Most likely actresses to own fictional small-town businesses that are bought up by men from the city with more money and sex appeal than brains, but in the end, through lots of humor and a few sighs, I’d win his heart and the business would stay mine.”
I liked this guy. It wasn’t often I got to meet someone whose references were so on-point. What did his big city guy look like? “What if the person who bought this restaurant space wanted to fill it with things like movie trivia night and other fandoms?” That was my vision anyway, but he’d understand it better than most.
Onyx finally cracked a smile. “I like it. Would you like the grand tour?” He glanced at my cast. “Or the abbreviated version?
