“If he’s reading, I’m happy,” she said. “Though if he makes me read him the same issue one more time, I might cry.”
Comics. I could talk about comics all day. It didn’t matter if it was a kid or a grandma. I had something to say. Stick to the safe subject. “Good news for you. The new issues came in today. I bet we can find some new material.”
“Mom!” Lucas came running back. Tugging on Lucy’s hand, he dragged her down the aisle. When she laughed, I saw why Simon found her attractive. Light and airy, the sound made me smile. Could I like her? Was that even allowed?
“Who’s that?” She asked, pointing at a poster.
“Mom…” I could hear the eye roll from Lucas. “That’s Elixir. She fixes people like you.”
Lucas might only be eight, but the kid had insight. I could very well see Lucy in spandex and a cape. She’d fightcrime by night and save lives by day. The more I thought about it, the more I realized shewasa superhero. On the other hand, I, a self-proclaimed geek, spent my days living in a fantasy.
If we were to have an epic showdown, I had no doubts I’d lose. As much as I liked Simon, I wouldn’t be a home wrecker. Lucas deserved to have his mom and dad in his life. If I caught wind of any turbulence, I’d gracefully bow out.
“Can I get one?” Lucas had moved to the posters, flipping through them at record speed. He stopped and pointed. I didn’t need to see which one he gawked at. It always came back to Valiant.
“Okay, let me see what I can do.”
Lucy walked through the aisle of action figures, inspecting the contents of boxes. While she browsed, I went digging behind the counter. I had something that would light up Lucas’s face. Where had I stashed it?
“I really need to clean back here.” There were a half dozen open boxes with inventory. The cupboard behind the counter was filled with some of the more expensive collectibles, along with items I hid away for customers. There was nothing like seeing their eyes go wide when I showed them a signed edition of a comic they read as a kid.
“How long have you had the store?”
On my hands and knees, I rummaged through the cupboard, hunting for one particular poster. “Three, no, four years, now? I went to school for art, but surprise, Ican’t draw. That dashed my dream of being a comic book artist, so this is the next best thing.”
“I bet that was more fun than reading medical textbooks.”
“We had to study anatomy. I can’t tell you how many naked people I had to stare at my freshmen year.”
“At least your naked people were alive.”
My head shot up. Lucy leaned on the counter, watching me as I shuffled through comics. Sexy, kind-hearted, and a sense of humor? My theory about her being a superheroine only grew.
“Except Benjamin.” I shivered at the memory. “I’m not convinced he was alive.” It wasn’t in the cupboard. I started hunting through boxes. “How are you liking Firefly?”
“It’s… quaint.” Definitely a flatlander. “I grew up in Boston. I’m not used to people being so friendly.”
“Nosey.” I had noticed in the city that people kept their eyes down and moved ahead as if on autopilot. In Firefly, we didn’t wait for eye contact to strike up a conversation. If she still used the word friendly, then she hadn’t heard the gossip about her arrival.
“Yes!”
“They’re mostly harmless. You should have seen them when Simon opened the Bistro. The town manager nearly declared it a holiday.”
“I know how this works,” she said. “What have the old bitty’s said about me?”
I went back to searching. “Nothing really.” It was a lie. Every woman in Firefly had an opinion about Lucy. In thepark, I’m sure the gossipers had split into two camps, pro and con.
“You’re not a very good liar. Simon warned me. He said by the time I snatched the paper off the porch, they’d activate the phone tree.”
I laughed. We had done the same thing to Simon. “Gladys likes your sweaters. Abraham wants to know why Harriet doesn’t try your haircut. The moms, well, they’re waiting to see which husband you steal in the middle of the night.”
“The towndoeshave its fair share of lumberjacks.”
“I consider it a perk of small-town living.” I found the rolled-up sheet of paper. “A-ha!” I grabbed it and climbed to my feet. “So, what brings you to Firefly?”
Did I mention we were a nosey bunch? I didn’t want to pry… okay, I lied. I totally wanted to know what was going on. Standing on opposite sides of the counter, I couldn’t help but think we had both seen Simon naked. That probably wasn’t a suitable topic for conversation.
“I’ve been doing medical relief in Africa for the last three months. Setting up hospitals, that kind of thing. I figured I’d stay with Simon while we figured out how to make things work between us.”
