by Jo Noelle
Elena shopped the whole store, every aisle as he followed not far behind. He decided that he could get to know her by what she’d picked up. He decided she was down to earth, when she added steak to the potatoes she already had in the cart. And she took time for herself—not a lot of prepackaged food in her cart. She showed a spontaneous side when she walked slowly through the international foods aisle selecting Poky sticks, Irish Breakfast black tea, medium curry, pho noodles. She didn’t consult her shopping list once, but appeared to pick up items that caught her eye and stowed them in the cart without looking at the nutrition labels like the planned items she checked off her list.
She paused before entering a checkout lane. He wondered if she forgotten something? Then she turned her cart and headed back toward the side of the store where she started.
Chase watched for several minutes as she put items back on the shelves. For a few items, she made a different selection. When she was finished, there was less than a third of what she’d had before.
He realized one more thing. She was broke, probably from the business loss he handed her yesterday. Strong instinctive feelings to protect and take care of her overwhelmed him. He wanted to do something. He could pay for what she put back. He could gather it up and, if he hurried, he could give it to her before she left. His pulse raced to gear up for the shopping spree, but something else he’d learned about Elena stopped him. She faced challenges head on.
He didn’t know what he expected, but seeing her give up the stolen items the day before without losing her composure impressed him. He thought it was a routine part of the business, like she said, but, by the way her “Hagrid” reacted, he should have known it was a big deal. From what he saw at the store, it looked like it was the kind of loss that changed her life. He was even more impressed at the way she handled the disappointment it must have been. He added another trait to the list—she was strong.
Chase hurried through the checkout furthest from where she was and followed her to the parking lot. He wanted this to be a casual meeting, a coincidence. Relax. Since we know each other, it would be rude not to say hello.
Elena opened the trunk of her Subaru and put in the first sack of groceries. When she reached for the next bag, Chase was walking up to the car.
“Hey.” He’d been following her around for the last twenty minutes, and he was just starting to wonder if it was such a good idea. Maybe he should have waited for a little time to pass before he approached her. “I was going to put my groceries in my car when I saw you. Here.”
Elena glanced around as if she was looking for someone or to see if anyone was watching them. Her eyes stopped, and Chase realize she had located his car—at the opposite end of the parking lot four lanes over.
“Well, put my groceries away after I say hello,” he added.
Her head was lowered, and Chase thought she was trying to hide a smile. That seemed like a good sign. “Hello.” Now what? He should have planned a little more to say. It had seemed like such a brilliant idea a minute ago.
“Hi. Again.”
“I’m sorry about your loss. I mean your business loss.” Really, I should have walked away after saying hello. “Or the loss of my stuff from your business.” The last thing he wanted was to look like an idiot to her, but he thought he might be doing just that. He shook his head and tried one more time. “I’m sorry the way things turned out for you. I’d like to reimburse you for what you spent to buy my stuff.”
“Don’t worry about it. The city has a fund for just this kind of thing. They’ll send me a check, so I’m really not out anything.”
She didn’t sound convincing, and he thought she was trying to put on a brave face. “I’d like to give you a reward for getting them back for me.”
“Buying stolen merchandise is a constant risk in my business. Don’t worry about it. It happens.” Elena pulled the potatoes from under her cart and put them in the trunk.
The silence stretched between them as Chase watched her stow her groceries. Maybe he should have offered to help. But he had his own grocery bags hanging from his arms. I’m stalling—I should ask what I came out here to ask.
“Do you want to go out? I mean with me. Sometime?” The rushed questions didn’t really relieve the awkwardness they were feeling.
“No.”
Usually girls gave a reason, or at least an excuse, but there was nothing more said. Her bag of apples ripped as she lifted them. They began to spill out on the pavement one by one, rolling every which way. When she squatted down to retrieve them, Chase saw a runaway shopping cart rumbling across the lane headed right for her. She heard it too. Chase drop his bags and reached out with both hands to stop it. At the same time, she stood.
Call it fate, or a happy accident, but Elena is standing in his arms, trapped between his chest and the errant cart. Vanilla. Her hair smelled like vanilla. That close, it was easy to see her golden eyes had a darker copper ring in the center, nearly the same shade as her auburn hair. Small bursts of the same color radiated outward. Her eyes were fascinating. Her face, tipped up toward him, was even more beautiful that close.
“Thank you. I’d better go.” She didn’t move, though, and Chase enjoyed the closeness. It took him a long breath before he realized that she couldn’t move unless he did.
Chase dropped one hand from the cart to give her room to leave. “You’re welcome. I’ll see you around.”
She put her apples in and shut the trunk. “Okay.”
That was almost a yes. I’ll take it. He picked up his grocery bags and walked to his car, considering his next step. He had a few weeks until he’d be out of town for concerts. What would he do between now and then. Maybe he could become a legitimate customer. He was sure there must be some items that he could use in his new house.
“Hey, Chase,” Emil called, startling him from his plans. He was a couple of cars away from him and walking his way. “Those prints you ordered came in.”
“Hey. Yeah. Can I come pick them up or is the gallery closed today?”
“I’m headed there now. Come on over. Regular hours today. I can deliver them if you want, but your car’s big enough.”
“Thanks for the soccer ticket the other night. You’ve got great seats. I’m going to have to buy some season passes.”
“So who was that in the Subaru?”
Of course he saw that.
“Being turned down? Because it didn’t look like, from here, that it went very well.”
This time. Chase opened his back door and swung the grocery bags inside. “You’re one to talk. Didn’t your last date still have braces?”
“She wasn’t young, and plenty of adults have braces. The date was—fine.” Emil’s words didn’t match the pained expression on his face.
“But you’re not seeing her again.”
“Nope. I never do. Maybe it’s a principle thing. What guy wants his mother to select his girlfriend?” A smile broadened across his face. “New England Revolution and Columbus Crew play tonight. I’m meeting some of the guys in my soccer league at a sports bar downtown. You want to come?”
“You know I’ve got nothing to do. I wanted to live in a peaceful town, and I got it—but now I don’t know what to do here. I’ll definitely be there.”
“If you want something to do, I could ask my mom to introduce you to some women.”
“No, thanks. I’m sure she’d do it.”
“Later.” Emil left.
Chase got home as the construction crew was packing up to leave. Eli, his foreman, approached him. “One more day, and you’ll have a new deck,” Eli said.
“Thanks. It looks great.” The deck would be a great place to throw a party. He wondered if that was something Elena would do. It wouldn’t be a date. Might work.
“Emil texted to say you were coming tonight. Do you need directions?” “Yeah.”
“You know the shopping center on the north side of the lake?”
Chase nodded. It was only a couple of blocks f
rom Treasure Mountain Pawn.
“It’s in there. See you tonight.” Eli picked up his tools and walked a ways off, then stopped. “Wait. Are you a Crews fan or Revolution?”
“Revolution.”
“Okay. You can come.”
“Is everyone for Revolution?” “No. But you’ll even out the group on that one. See you later.”
At least he had something to do tonight. He wondered if Elena liked soccer. He hoped so. They could watch games together. First, he had to get to know her, and get another yes from her. When he got back in the house his phone buzzed. He opened a text from Dean, the front guy in their band. How was the move?
Settling in. He was finally getting to know people. Peak City was starting to feel like his town.
You really staying there?
Yeah. It’s great. And there was at least one person he still wanted to know.
Check your email. New contract dates.
Chase opened it and saw the tour was going to be a few cities longer. He added the dates to his calendar and signed the electronic file.
5
Elena Maurell
Elena left the office door cracked so she could hear the front bell if someone walked into the store. Tug had left a few minutes earlier, so she’d have at least a half hour to herself. She clicked through the menu on the server to find the surveillance film recorded the day Chase came in to get his items, fast-forwarding until the black SUV parked outside the window. Elena leaned closer to the screen to see Chase.
Before he exited the car, he ran both hands through his hair. Was he nervous? He kept glancing toward the pawn shop, maybe trying see into the store. One of the store’s safety measures was tinted glass. Since it was darker inside than out, it was hard for someone to scope out the place.
His nervous glances were so endearing, spreading warmth in her chest. Elena wondered if those were both reactions that he was nervous to see her again. More likely, he was anxious because he wanted to reclaim his items, and he’d have to face Tug. She continued to play the recording through the frame where she was shouting yes at him to the moment when he realized what she was saying, then she hit pause.
Chase looked surprised, then hopeful. Her heart beat a little faster, remembering how much she wanted that yes and the date, but then she was embarrassed and lost the moment.
Why didn’t I say yes at the grocery store? Because my life is messy right now. Because I’ve been in the habit of saying no for the past couple of years. She stared at Chase’s eyes on her computer screen. The resolution on the recording was too low to see them well. She wished he was there instead of just an image. She knew why she hadn’t made the date. Because I’m scared.
Elena rewound the tape to his “ah-ha” moment and paused it while she finished some paperwork, glancing up at him often. His smile was wide, and his eyes were bright. It was like she had a large framed pic of him on her desk. She spent more time staring at his face than she did working on the sales tax forms in front of her.
Several moments later, she noticed Tug standing beside her, the door wide open. “I’m catching up on paperwork.” Since she didn’t notice him walk in, she didn’t know how long he’d been watching her obsess. He tossed a letter onto the desk that looked just like the other one that she’d been ignoring for a few days. The outline of the mountain peaks in the return address let her know that it was a letter from the county—another notice for her unpaid taxes. She didn’t have to open it to know. Time was running out.
Tug pointed at the computer screen. “What’cha looking for?” He pushed the spacebar on the keyboard, and the video started to play again.
Elena looked up in time to see Chase’s lips mouth the words, “You said yes.” A little note of happiness chimed in her chest. As seconds tick by, his hopeful smile faded incrementally as she had shrugged off the opportunity to go out with him, talking business instead.
She was slow to answer Tug’s question. “Nothing really. Just making sure I didn’t miss anything.” Though I think maybe I did.
A small crease appeared between Tug’s eyebrows, and there seemed to be a thought on the tip of his tongue, but it didn’t slip out. She wondered if he was holding back a comment on the video or on the letter. His hand rested on her shoulder, and he gave a slight squeeze.
When he turned to leave the office, he said, “I’ll be here for a few hours. You wanna take your lunch break?”
Elena reached over to turn off the playback and accidently turned off the surveillance recorder as well. Tug’s phone and hers rang in unison. As part of the security system, if the surveillance was disabled, the company sent an immediate call to check it out. Tug answered his phone and pointed his thumb over his shoulder, reminding Elena to leave for lunch.
She sat in her car, holding the letter from the county treasurer in front of her. Although her curiosity burned, there was an equal amount of fear. If she didn’t open the letter, it wouldn’t seem as real. It was harder being the owner of the pawn shop than her dad made it look. Lately, there had been plenty of people wanting to sell things to her, but few wanting to buy.
The business was going under slowly but as surely as the sun set each day. Maybe it had been when her dad was running it too, and they were living on his retirement checks from the Marines. When the taxes came due this year, she hadn’t had enough money and had to make the choice to pay the property taxes on her dad’s home or on the business property. The house’s tax bill was substantially smaller, and she really hoped she’d had the money needed for the other in time.
She swallowed deeply, but her throat felt dry. Will I lose another connection to Dad? The last letter she’d received warned her of an upcoming tax sale. If someone else paid her taxes, she’d lose the business. Though her stomach twisted, warning her that it wasn’t going to be good news, she open and read the letter.
Two weeks. The sale was in two weeks.
***
Pausing at the large glass doors, Elena stepped inside the bank lobby. Tall ceilings. Dark paneling. Leather chairs. Spotlights over each teller’s window. She felt small and out of place. Desks for the officers were enclosed on four sides with glass to give the illusion of privacy.
It didn’t help that Martin Jed was the loan officer she had an appointment with. They’d gone to high school at the same time, and she might have set a record in the number of times she’d turned him down for a date. She hoped he’d forgotten about that long ago. She was completely overwhelmed and under-confident. This had to work. She just needed to have a better attitude. I can do this. I have to. Worry had gone way past niggling in her stomach and was a full assault as she dropped her head into her hands to take a deep breath. She pushed her fingers through her hair.
“Do you have the paperwork filled out?” A pair of shiny black shoes stopped in front of her.
She looked up and smiled brightly, handing Martin the pages and following him into the glass room. “Yes. My tax documents are also there.” She sat and then realized she’d perched on the front of the chair. She slid back, but only a bit, as he leafed through the papers, softly grunting or huffing and shaking his head.
“I’m sorry, Miss Maurell. It is miss, isn’t it?” He tapped the papers on their end and settled the stack in front of him.
“Knock off the Miss Maurell bit, Martin. You know who I am.” Her smile faltered momentarily, but she pushed it back into place. “We were in junior high and high school together.”
He thumbed through the paperwork and mumbled to himself, though loud enough for Elena to hear. “No. If we were together together in school, I would have noticed.”
“What?” She tried to sound calm, but he was the same jerk he’d been back then. Shake it off. I need the loan.
“I’ll present this at loan committee tomorrow, but from the way it looks right now, it’s a long shot.” He slid her papers into a manila folder, mumbling again. “Like it was to have a crush on you.”
“Is this your not-so-subtle way of sayin
g I could improve my loan application by dating you?” Exasperation kicked up the volume of her voice, and Martin took a sly look around as he stood quickly from his chair.
“Thank you for coming in.” He handed her a business card as she was leaving. “Call me if your situation changes, and we could discuss this further.”
Elena sat in her car in the bank parking lot, going over her finances, looking for anything she could sell to get the money she needed. She could sell everything in the store, but that was the problem. If she had put the backlot up for sale earlier, she wouldn’t lose it all now, but she had wanted it for her own antiques store. She blamed herself. If she’d spent more time on making the pawn shop profitable and less time on her own dreams, it all might have worked out. I’m sorry, Dad.
She drove back to Treasure Mountain in a daze. When she walked in the back door, Tug greeted her with a frustrated look and threw his thumb over his shoulder. “He’s been shopping for the last hour and a half.” Tug pantomimed air quotes around the word “shopping.” His head ticked over his left shoulder toward where Chase was feigning great interest while looking at a rusty wrench that had probably been in the store since it had opened.
He looked up and their eyes meet, and immediately he was walking toward her. “How much for the…this?”
Laughter bubbled from her lips at the confused look on his face. It felt good to have something except complete disaster to think about. Tug walked behind her as she headed toward Chase. Halfway there, she turned around and patted Tug’s arm. “I’ve got this. Thanks, though.” Reluctantly, he turned back toward the register, and Elena continued toward the tool aisle. She stepped past Chase and continued toward the sign posting various prices, knowing he’d follow.
“Let’s take a look.” She wasn’t going to mess it up that time. She was going to find a way to get that date. Elena reached out for the wrench, thinking she’d put it back on the table, but Chase didn’t let go. His other hand covered hers, and he moved closer.
