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“Hi!” cuts in the voice of the small human squeezing into the doorway with me.
Surprised, Landon drops his gaze to her.
“Oh!” His smile takes on the kind of brightness that can only come from the appearance of a heartwarmingly cute kid. “Hey, there!”
I look down and tap her on the head as I remind her quietly, “Remember what I just said about interrupting?”
She hastily looks up at me, her eyes going wide. “Oops. Yes.”
I can’t help but smile at remembering her,‘Oops!’from earlier. Then I try to distract her with our after-dinner plans. “Yeah, well, how about I talk to him for a minute while you get the cookies and wait for me on the couch?”
It works. She’s gone in a flash.
Landon laughs. “Wow. Adorable.”
“Yeah,” I agree as I look at him again. “I’m sorry she interrupted you. She did it to me just before I answered the door.”
“Nah, that’s okay.” He clears his throat and regards me more seriously. “Well, I won’t keep you long. I just want to say—in person, but thanks for that note, while I’m thinking about it! I wasn’t expecting a response, so that was nice to see. Anyway, thank you again for helping me the other night. You really have no idea what the whole thing has done for me. It’s been, like, two days and I’ve already made a major life change and gotten so much happier.” He pauses, looking like he thinks he sounds dumb but wants to keep talking. “Without you, I’d be dead, probably, and I’m really relieved I have a second chance to make my life count.”
I don’t think he sounds dumb. I understand how precious life is.
“You’re welcome,” I tell him with an easy smile. “I’m pleased to hear that you’re happy.”
“Yeah.” He nods. “Thank you.”
I nod, too.
He looks at me like he wants to say something other than, “Okay, well, I’ve got to go meet some friends, so have a good night,” but that’s all that comes out of his mouth.
He really has kept this short and sweet. “Thanks. You, too.”
“Mmhmm, and I’m glad you two had a nice day.” He starts backing down the hall. “I hope tomorrow rocks, too.”
“We hope the same for you.”
He gives me a thumbs-up and turns away.
I shut the door and lock it, and Rae is immediately upon me, firing off questions: “Who was that? What’s his name? Do you know him? Do you like him?”
“Whoa, now.” I put my hands on her shoulders and guide her toward the couch. “That’s Landon. I know him a little bit. We’ve seen him around before. Do you remember?”
“Nope.”
“Ah, well, that’s okay. And, no, I don’t like him. I mean—well, as a person, he’s nice, but I….” I blow out a breath and hum dismissively.
“He has a nice smile,” she says.
“Mmhmm.” I initiate another distraction. “All right,Beauty and the Beast?”
“Oh! Yes! Yay! I already put it in the DVD player!”
“Woo!”
We get comfortable on the couch with the package of cheap chocolate chip cookies, and our night proceeds to go as well as the rest of our day did.
*
Sometimes—okay, most of the time—working at Monroe’s is rather hellish. It’s a growing chain of department stores, which means business is often steady and customers are usually complaining about something, or being inconsiderate, or needing help with the simplest things…
