“I did,”he replies with such content I can feel his happiness from here.“You’ll like her.”
“If she makes you talk like that, I already do.” It’s not like he needs my approval, but people in love want everyone else to love their significant other, and I think it’s adorable.
Then I remember what we were really discussing. “She’s from Maine?”
“Yeah, from a small town in the middle of it.”
“Really? I have a friend out there, and a visit is long overdue. Do you know how far it is from Springfield?” It’s one of the largest towns in that rural area, so it’s easy to picture where this mysterious small town might be.
“What? Little Hope?”
“The town’s called Little Hope?” I freeze, sitting up in astonishment.
“Yeah, they have a local legend I’m not sure about. Yet. But the place is… home, you know?”I can almost imagine him shrugging his wide shoulders as if he were embarrassed to admit it.
“I know, Archie,” I reply with a sigh of understanding. And a bit of envy if I’m honest—I still haven’t found mine. Even though I love my apartment and this crazy city, something in my life is still missing, and I feel it more and more every day.
Maybe it’s the fact that I rent and am not able to make drastic changes to the apartment that it doesn’t feel like home. Doesn’t feel like where I want to be for the rest of my life. I was able to save enough for a down payment a little while ago, but someone very close to me needed the money more.
Although I yearn for a house, I don’t regret it for a moment.
“I’ll pay you a bunch,”he starts, clearly ready to negotiate.
“I don’t need a bunch of money.” I do, but he doesn’t need to know it. “My friend lives in the same town, so you will be doing me a favor, really. I could use a break from the city.”
“You? Break from the city?”He snorts.“I don’t think they have roads for your shoes around here.”
“Don’t you dare judge my pumps!” I laugh back, but he’s probably right. “Did you pick some nice place somewhere in downtown?”
A few seconds of silence.“Not exactly,”comes his vague reply.
“It’s in the middle of nowhere, isn’t it?” I sigh, imagining the football field he must have purchased, because Archie doesn’t do anything half-assed.
“Yes.”
“And you’re looking atitright now?”
“Yeah,”he laughs.“Hence my late-night phone call. I thought I’d just build a house on some beautiful land because Maine has plenty of it, but it was all wrong.”
I curl my feet under me, checking a tiny, chipped piece of nail polish I need to fix. “I’m finishing up a project, but I can come and check the place out in a couple of weeks, maybe.”
“That works. Thanks, Josie,”he says with clear relief.
The way he says it makes my eyes water. Everyone back in my hometown thinks I’m sitting here making money by moving plates around a table and posting pictures on social media, but only people who work with me truly understand what this job means. These people let me build their homes, places where they’ll raise their kids and grow old with their families. A place to plant their roots deep into the soil, leaving a mark on the land and towns.
Others let me help them build and design places for their businesses, where they spend hours upon hours building a wonderful life for themselves through blood, sweat, and tears.
To people who don’t understand, it’s just a money-grabbing business without any effort, which is the furthest thing from the truth.
“Thank you, Archie,” I say, my voice tight as the giant lump in my throat prevents me from saying much more.
He clears his throat.“You know what, pack a big bag. People tend to spend more time here than they intend to.”
And with this vague comment, he hangs up. A few minutes later, a message comes in.
The budget is unlimited. The only thing I want is for Leila to be happy. See you soon.
Archie, Archie, Archie. My eyes turn misty, and I wipe my nose. I’ve seen him struggling because I used to be where he is. For different reasons, but I know what depression looks like, and he’s been in one for many years. I’m so thankful to hear him actually happy, and I can’t wait to meet Leila.
