Page 56 of Not Looking
“Just tell me to move if you need to sweep where I’m standing.”
“Will do.”
I was still digging through the scrap bin when I heard the tumblers in the lock, then the sound of a register opening as Harrison counted down his.
I finished filling my bucket, then rolled my cart to the counter.
Harrison emerged from behind his register and started reading off the product codes to Craig, who input them into his.
Russy received another treat before Craig walked me out to my truck.
“It was good to see you,” he said as I finished loading. “Will you be back before I need to look at your trees?”
I licked my lips. “Probably not. I’ve scheduled my forest guys for next week, and you’ll probably be out the first week in September.”
“I guess I’ll just have to look forward to that then.”
“I… I…” I started.
“Don’t forget that photo, ok?” he said as I fumbled over what to say. “I’m looking forward to seeing what you make with it.”
“Ok,” I murmured.
There was a moment of awkward silence, then he cleared his throat. “I'd better get back in there and close my register.”
“Yeah.”
He patted my truck’s closed tailgate a couple of times. “See you in September.”
“September,” I echoed.
It was only as he started to push the cart back to the building that the spell was broken.
“Come on, Russy,” I said, opening the door. “Time to go home.”
My thoughts—and the butterflies—continued to swirl for the rest of the day. But it was only as I lay in bed that night that I realized that he’d done more than tell me when I’d see him again. He was going to be on my property—looking at my trees—and wanted to make sure that I was prepared for that.
Chapter 14 - Craig
~September~
“Hey man, you ok?” Nate asked as he sat beside me. “You’ve been pretty quiet tonight.”
I nodded. “Just nervous. I’m scheduled to visit Randy’s property this Friday.”
“That’s the woodturner you’re interested in, right?”
I smiled. “Yeah.”
“So is this like a first date? Or…”
I sighed and shook my head. “No, this is a work thing.”
“Man, I was hoping you’d have made more progress by now,” Joey cut in. “He seemed nice, and he was clearly into you too.”
I chuckled. “It’s not like I see him that often. He came in the week after the art fair, like he promised. And I haven’t seen him since.”
“You sure this guy’s into Craig?” Spencer asked Joey. “If they’re only seeing each other once every few weeks…”
