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The rest of the day, we just sit and enjoy what life is like when there’s nothing to worry about except the dog, the cat, the kleptomaniac-compulsive-liar sister, basically all forms of media, and the general public.
“So,” I say, “when you told me you were going to come join me in Mulholland, were you planning to make it more than temporary?”
His face darkens a little. “I’d hoped to,” he says. “I wanted to get everything squared away at the office and then see how you felt about it first, though.”
“So, I know where I’m going to live,” I tell him. “If my landlord hadn’t brought back that last money order for rent, I wouldn’t have been able to get out here. Thanks for doing that, by the way.”
“No problem,” he says. “If you decide you need your space, I want you to know you can have it. However,” he says, “if you’d like to stay with me, the manager of the Plimpington Hotel talked me into renting out the top half of his place while I wait for the new house to be built. I’m going to recommend that guy to a few people on my way out of town. He could make a killing as a hired negotiator.”
“There’s one thing I don’t understand, though,” she says. “Why would you move the company to Mulholland? You said you knew it would always be my home, and you’re right, but why move the whole business?”
“Just the headquarters,” he says.
“You know very well what I mean,” I tell him.
He kisses me on the forehead, saying, “One of the things you talked about on our walks was how much you wanted to be a teacher. You said you knew it since you were a little kid, but that you’d never get the job because of the way things work in that town. I never understood why you loved it so much.”
“I don’t follow,” I say.
“If you weren’t willing to leave Mulholland, the only way you’d get to do what you want is if there were enough jobs in town, the place could start running as if it’s at least trying to exist in this century. Only, I realized something just now,” he says.
I say, “What if I don’t want to be a teacher anymore, or what if I’m okay with leaving Mulholland, or what if—”
“Yeah,” he interrupts. “That.” He says, “I need to sit down.” He does, and I sit next to him.
“I’ve been avoiding that store even though I own it,” I tell him. “It was never what I wanted to be doing. I thought maybe being the boss a little while would change that, but I want something more engaging than sitting on a stool and hoping someone walks in that day.”
“What about leaving Mulholland?” he asks. “The company’s moving, so the headquarters is just going to sit there until someone decides to buy it or tear it down. After the way the people there turned on you over nothing, I can’t imagine you’d want to stay there.”
He lucked out that I’m so predictable. That’s just part of growing up in a small town, though. You get used to some things, even though they’re not always the most convenient or the most pleasant.
Of course, that was before he actually came into my life. Ever since then, I don’t think I could stand living in that place anymore. I’m just surprised the townsfolk haven’t decided to trash my store again. I really should figure out what I want to do with that.
“How do you feel about irony?” I ask.
Luckily, he got booted as CEO, and thus the Mulholland office isn’t tying us down there. All right, “luckily” probably isn’t the right word there.
We talk for a long time, eventually moving from the kitchen floor of the penthouse to the living room. Some big things come up, but mostly we just try to fill in some of the pieces we’ve missed since we’ve seen each other.
After a while, we’re both tired, but neither one of us is ready to admit defeat and call it a night.
It’s half past eleven when Zach’s phone rings. He answers it, and I’m half asleep on the other end of the couch. I’m fighting a losing battle.
For a while, I kind of drift in and out of hearing Zach’s part of the conversation, but when he says, “I’ll see you soon,” my eyes open.
“Grace,” Zach says, shaking my leg.
“What?” I groan.
“Wake up,” he says. “Something’s happening.”
CHAPTER22
NO HARD FEELINGS
ZACH
“Are you sure this is going to work?” Grace asks as she looks over the place settings on my dining room table.