Page 2 of Check You Out

“Good, good. It must be nice to live closer to school.” I knew he had moved because Xander told Nicole, who told me. “It was a busy day in the store, but overall, I can’t complain. I just got a new shipment of books. You should come in sometime.”

Xander lets out a huff and says mockingly, “I’m fine, Charlotte. Thanks for asking me. I’ve been sitting here the entire time.”

Nicole leans over before I can apologize. “Hey Lurch, do you have my 1989 CD? I lent it to your girlfriend. I can’t seem to find it, and I didn’t donate any CDs.”

“Which one?” he asks.

“Ivy?”

Xander replies with a one shouldered shrug. “No. I didn’t keep anything from a girl who broke up with me over a decade ago, Little Nicky.”

“Damn,” Nicole hisses and scrunches her nose. “Hey, any theories on what this is about? I think it’s because the port-a-potty vendor backed out for Pride and we need to find another one.”

“I think it’s something serious,” I add. “Like maybe someone’s lost or maybe there’s twenty-four Easter Eggs still missing from the Egg Hunt.”

“Maybe there’s a murderer on the loose,” Xander chimes in. “Or riots, like the last emergency town meeting.”

Aidan’s anxious gaze shifts to Xander. His brows furrow. “What happened at the last emergency meeting?”

I chuckle. “According to the town elders, there was a rumor of riots in Baltimore because the Colts left. Of course, there were no riots.” Aidan swivels back to me as I talk. He chews on his lower lip.

“The Colts?”

Nicole’s brows knit together. “The Baltimore Colts? They were the football team here before the Ravens and left in the middle of the night.”

Aidan shakes his head. “When did this happen?”

“1984,” Nicole, Xander, and I say simultaneously.

“We’ve heard the story a lot,” I add. “Georgie tells it every March 28, at Little Bennett’s. I’m surprised he hasn’t written a song about it like The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”

“I purposely avoid the bar that day,” Xander remarks and shoulders Aidan. “I swear this is the last time I agree to come with you to one of these things.”

I tilt my head to the side. “You come to town meetings?”

Aidan nods.

“Oh really? I haven’t seen you at any of the meetings. I go to all of them. I’m also part of the Chamber of Commerce Committee, the Events Committee, and the Beautification Committee.” I grin. Oh god, is he going to think I’m some sort of weirdo who likes to watch C-SPAN?

“I get here late and stick to the back.” He gestures toward the back of the room, which is now occupied by multiple groups of people.

“Gotcha, I sit in the front and pay way too much attention to notice who else is here.”

“You’re always early,” Nicole grumbles.

I turn to her and place my hands on my hips. “You don’t have to come to every single meeting with me. You have free will.”

“Not when you bring out Sad Face.” Nicole jabs a finger at my chin. “See, there it is! Your eyes get all wide and you look like you’re about to cry.”

“I didn’t even realize that I was doing Sad Face.” I turn back to Aidan and Xander. “Am I doing it right now?”

Aidan moves his head a centimeter but doesn’t say anything.

Xander looks me straight on and replies, “Yes. You look like my dog when it’s four-thirty and his dinner time is five.”

Nicole smirks. “Cats are so much better.”

Xander mumbles something that sounds like, “Cat people.”