“Bye, Walter,” Clara and I both called out as he headed toward the door.
He threw us a wave over his shoulder.
“We should go one day,” Clara said when the door shut behind him.
“Fishing?”
“Yeah. Dad was talking about wanting to take his boat out. It’s been a while since he has, and the weather has been nice. He’s been feeling good lately and hasn’t had any accidents getting around.”
I didn’t even need to think about it. “All right, let’s do it.”
“We can launch—”
She stopped talking at the same time I spotted the man at the door, holding his cell to his face.
It was Johnny, Amos’s uncle.
“Go help him,” I whispered to Clara.
She scoffed. “You do it.”
“Why?”
“Because he dated my cousin, and I was serious, I’m not ready to date, and I like him but not like that,” she explained. Clara gestured to where he was kind of wandering around. “Go help him. You’re single too.”
I huffed. “I’ll just see if he needs help.”
I’d made it about halfway to where he’d stopped, at a rack holding a waterproof shell, when his eyes flicked to me. It took a second, but a smile crept across his mouth. “I know you.”
“You do. Hi, Johnny. Need some help?”
“Hi, Aurora.” He set the jacket back on the shelf and eyed me from my face down to my shoes and back up. I ignored it like I had when two other guys had done the same earlier.
“How are you? Can I help you find something?” I’d found that it was a lot easier to delegate work if I asked first if they needed to find something. Stuff in the store, I could find, easy-peasy. Answering complicated and specific questions, I was still not a professional at, even though I’d gotten a hell of a lot more informed about all outdoor things. The time I’d spent with Mr. Rhodes had helped, but I’d been doing research and bugging Clara now that business had calmed down a bit. The bulk of tourist season was over.
“I came in for some leaded weights,” he started to say.
I knew now that was used for fishing.
“Then I got sidetracked with this jacket here.” He eyed me down again, and the sides of his mouth curled up even more.
“We have leaded weights over there in the back where you see that display, but if we don’t carry what you’re looking for, I’m sure we could order it.”
Johnny nodded, that goofy-pleased smile still on his mouth. “All right, I’ll wander over there in a minute.” He paused. “You really work here?”
“No, I just steal Clara’s shirt and come hang out with her when I have free time.”
He grinned. “That was a stupid question, wasn’t it?”
I shrugged. “I feel like stupid is a very strong word.”
He laughed, and it made me smile. “You just don’t… I can’t see you working here. That’s rude. I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right. I’m learning as I go.” I shrugged again. “If you need more help, let me know. I’ll be standing around.”
He nodded, and I took that as my sign to walk away. I headed back toward Clara who was looking at her phone, but I was pretty sure it was just a fa?ade and she was really eyeballing the shit out of us.
I wasn’t mistaken.
“What did he say? Does he want to bear your children?”
The loudest fucking laugh burst out of me, and I had to lean forward and press my forehead against the counter between us so that I wouldn’t fall to the ground.
“Hold on. Men don’t bear children.”
“Not that I know,” I cracked up, still facing the floor.
We both started laughing our asses off. The next time I managed to peek up, she had disappeared behind the counter. She might have been lying on the ground because I could hear her laughing but couldn’t see her.
I wiggled my eyebrows at her. “I need to bring some of my romance books over to teach you some things.”
“I know things.”
“At your age, you should know more.”
“We’re the same age!”
“Exactly.”
Clara laughed, and I could see the top of her head starting to peek back up before it suddenly disappeared again about a split second before I heard, “Would you mind ringing me up?”
It was Johnny.
I turned toward him, wiping the tears from under my eyes from laughing, and said, “Of course.” I went around the counter where the register was and unlocked it. Johnny handed over the two small packages that I scanned quickly.