Page 20 of Winter Break

“Hi, Austin.”

“Hey, Turner.”

Brett arrived in the foyer with a beer in hand, which he passed off to Turner.

“What are we all hanging out in the hallway for? Come on in. Dinner’s ready.”

“Um, yeah. Can I just have a minute with Dalton, first? We’ll be right in,” Turner said.

If my stomach could have dropped to the center of the Earth, it would have. Turner’s face was flushed, probably from the cold and not because he was blushing, but it reminded me of the time I had seen him blush, and in a flash, I remembered how much I loved it. He had also called me Dalt and asked to talk to me in private.

For a brief and very fanciful moment, I thought he was going to ask me to prom right then and there. I knew that wasn’t really what was happening, but my mind flashed with an image of us in tuxedoes, dancing chastely in a high school gym.

Ugh! Austin was right, I needed to stop thinking about Turner, something I’d failed to do all year even though I’d barely seen him. How was I supposed to do it when he was standing before me, all flushed and adorable? The knot in my stomach coiled tighter as I smiled and tried for a casual up nod. In truth, it would have been a challenge to speak.

“I know you’re guarding at the indoor, but one of the kids we hired to help over the holidays just told me she’s headed to her grandmother’s for Christmas. I’ve got her scheduled three evenings this week.

“If you can help at all, the days are …” Turner pulled out his phone, but I didn’t wait for him to find the schedule. I was working day shifts at the pool.

“Yeah, sure. I’m happy to help!”

Turner smiled as he said, “Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday.”

I hurried to the boardwalk after my shift at the pool on Tuesday and burst through the front door of the toy store. Miss Anita was checking out a customer, and a woman was watching two kids play with the train set that sat under one of the store windows.

“Hey, Miss Anita,” I said as I walked past to hang up my jacket in the back. The storage room was empty, and I maybe went and peeked in the office, which was also empty but had been rearranged since I’d last been there. Instead of one desk pushed up against the far wall, there were two matching desks in the center of the room. Miss Anita’s ancient computer had been replaced with two sleek laptops.

It looked like Turner has made some changes since I last worked, I thought with a smile.

I exited and asked the customer if she needed any help.

“Can you help me tear them away? We’re supposed to meet the rest of the family at the Three B’s in, like, two minutes.” She chuckled.

I laughed and knelt in front of the girls, picking up one of trains. “I’m hungry.” I used a silly voice and shook the train in their faces. I grabbed a bigger train and said, “I think my mommy’s hungry too. I wish we could go to the Three B’s for dinner.” Little train looked at big train. “Mommy. Please? Please can we go to the Three B’s?” The girls giggled at my silly voice, and I tilted my head up to the woman.

“Come on, you two.” She laughed. “We can go to the Three B’s! Say thank you to Miss Anita and this nice young man.”

“Thank you,” the girls said in unison.

“We’ll be back for story time on Saturday.”

It wasn’t until I’d put all the trains back on the track and rested back on my heels that I noticed him leaning in the doorway, the curtain bunched up between his shoulder and the frame, his arms crossed, smiling.

“What?”

“Hungry trains?”

I shrugged. “Whatever works.”

“Oh, Turner, I’m glad you’re here …” Miss Anita began, but he interrupted her.

“Just picking up the deposit. I’m meeting Brett and Mal for a drink, so I can drop it off on the way. Thanks for doing this, Dalt. I’ll see you.”

“But who’s gonna teach him the new cash register thingy?” Miss Anita yelled. The curtain swung back into place, but Turner was already gone.

“Did he buy a new computer for out here too?”

“Come over here. I’ll try to show you.”