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“All right. That sounds fair.”
“Is Griff an old boyfriend?”
She blinked. She couldn’t help it; her brows felt like they were touching her hairline before she laughed. “No! He’s totally in love with Chi. Couldn’t you tell?”
“Oh, that’s right. The lady who took our orders.”
“Yeah, the lady who owns the diner. She’s in love with some lawyer who works in Chicago and comes up every once in a while but doesn’t pay any more attention to her than he does any other available woman who will run off with him. I think so far, Chi has resisted, but I know it’s been hard for her. She thinks he really likes her.”
“I see. And he doesn’t.”
“Nope. At least none of us think so. Of course, he’s a big-city guy, and you know you kinda have to overcome the prejudice of a small town when you’re from the city.”
“Thanks for the warning.”
She put her hand over her mouth. She didn’t even realize she was kind of insulting him. But she couldn’t deny that it was true. “I think you find the same thing in the big city, don’t you? I know I did. People laughed at me, and they still do, because I’m too friendly and nice. Because I go out of my way to help people I don’t know, and that’s not something that is typically done.”
“It’s true. You’re different, and that’s in a good way. I have been happy to see that over the last seven years that we’ve worked together, that hasn’t changed. You...didn’t get jaded like so many people do.”
“Maybe that’s because I come back here as often as I can. I don’t really like it there.”
“Is that why you want to quit?”
Her eyes got big. “Where did you hear I wanted to quit?” She hadn’t said anything. “I mean, I haven’t accepted the raise and the offer to transfer to the Cities, but...I never said I wanted to quit.”
“I overheard something someone said at the water cooler. I don’t think they thought I was listening, and I really wasn’t. But they mentioned your name, and...that made me start.”
She wasn’t sure exactly what he meant by that. Those last words seemed to be important in some way, but she wasn’t sure what. “Oh.”
“And coming here, seeing that you had a whole tent full of paintings I didn’t know about, a hobby that means a lot to you, money that you’re making on the side... It surprised me. And maybe I put two and two together. Did I get four?” This last question was asked low, and there was a wobbly note to his voice that she wasn’t sure what to make of.
Was he angry? Was he scared? She almost laughed out loud at the very idea. “I don’t want to move to the Cities. And I already told you that I don’t enjoy working in Chicago.”
“And the need to move has made you think?”
“I guess. That, and the fact that my brother’s girlfriend suggested that I have a booth. And then...things sold today. I wasn’t expecting that. I... I know I don’t want to move to the Cities. I don’t want to leave my hometown and my family. It’s one thing to work a couple of hours away in Chicago, it’s a completely different thing to work somewhere where I couldn’t go home for the weekends without a lot of hassle.”
“I understand now, after seeing you today.” He paused for a moment, to look out over the lake once more, watching the horses down over the hill grazing, and then looking around the backyard. “After seeing all of this. I definitely understand a little better. I... I think if this were my family and my hometown, I wouldn’t want to leave it either.”
She’d never seen him like this. Never seen him anything less than his most competent, put together, completely at his best.
She had to admit, she liked this side of Alexander even better than she liked the business side he showed the world. This felt more personal and somehow made her feel closer, more connected to him. Definitely it made him more relatable. Up until this point, he’d almost been someone she idolized, but now, he seemed more human. She liked it.
They sat in silence for a little bit as she finished her hamburger and opened a package of ketchup, dipping her fries in it and munching on them slowly.
He always ate faster than she did, and he was finished well before she, but he didn’t move, just sat with his legs up, his arms hooked around them, staring at the lake.
“There’s definitely a peacefulness here that seeps down into you,” he said after a long time of silence. She could hear laughing and talking behind her for the first time, although the strains of the music had been drifting up for a while. Maybe people were starting to come home.
They would be fine out in the yard. There was nothing her mom would mind, and she wasn’t in any of the guests’ way, but she felt a little disappointed that her time with Alexander was over.
Maybe this is just one of those fluke things where, for just a few minutes of time, they were equals, rather than a millionaire and his hassled and harried administrative assistant.
“I can leave, but it always pulls me back,” she said, putting the last fry into her mouth and brushing the salt off her fingers.
“I’m curious to see what the house looks like tomorrow. There weren’t very many offerings on the market.”
“I didn’t even know about that one. The only thing I know for sale around here is the old schoolhouse.”
