Page 11 of Glad You're Here
Make out with the devil
I laughed out loud, crumpled up her list, and bounced it off her forehead. “You’re a pain in the ass, Thea.” I had to force myself to say ass instead of butt.
She winked and flipped me off.
“That did tell me something about you, believe it or not.”
Thea rolled her eyes. “No, it didn’t. I wrote pure bullshit.”
“You’re interested in psychology, history, and mythology.”
“Or,” she gave me a pointed look, “It was all bullshit and these two weeks are about you, not me.” She folded her arms, and her expression turned stony like this wasn’t up for debate. “Okay, moving on. Levi, what did you do today?”
“I uh…” I scratched the back of my neck. Wow, she had no intention of letting me get close to her. I didn’t want some completely one-sided friendship here. I didn’t want it to be all about me. How could I change that? I studied Thea’s closed expression and answered her question. “I rode the train to Silverton. Then I toured the ghost town and mine.”
Thea slapped the table as she burst into another fit of laughter. “Wow! That sounds like a dream, you know, exactly like an eight-year-old boy’s dream!”
I grinned back at her. “It was. Ask me if my parents ever took me on a train ride, even though they knew I harbored a train obsession as a kid.”
“Okay, I’ll bite.” Thea sipped her water through a straw. She had nice, full lips. “Did your parents ever take you on a train ride?”
I gave her a mock look of surprise. “Thea! I’m so glad you asked!” I leaned forward like I was about to tell her a huge secret. “They did not.”
“No!” she gasped and let a little giggle slip out.
I somberly nodded. “Indeed. You see, we had six kids in our family. That’s a lot of mouths to feed. We also gave the Lord ten percent of our gross income in tithing each month. That doesn’t leave much money for frivolous things like train rides.”
Thea looked torn between laughing and offering sympathy. She settled on both. “Aw, buddy,” she laughed, “I’ll take you on as many train rides as you want these next two weeks. Did you check out the train museum, too?”
“Not yet. I have a lot of time to kill. I figured I’d go tomorrow.”
“I’ll meet you there tomorrow afternoon, and then we can go to my favorite bakery right next door.”
“That sounds perfect.” Trains and the most gorgeous, witty, and exciting woman I’d ever met? That honestly did sound perfect.
Durango was a good fucking choice.
five
Thea
“Get your butts in the car,” I instructed Jo’s three little shits who were currently destroying two-hundred and fifty-seven dollars worth of acrylic paints in my studio.
Actually…
I paused and stood in the doorway. The blobs and splashes of color they’d smeared all over my empty canvas were pretty freaking cool. Maybe I could use that as a background for one of my pieces. It didn’t have to be my masterpiece. I’d decided I had a little more time to finish that.
“Cool painting, boys. Now wash your hands and get in the car.”
“Why?” the oldest shit whined at me.
“Because we’re going to the train museum.”