LITMIR.BIZ

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the manager here quit with no notice last week, so they offered me a transfer, as long as I started immediately. Things are a big mess, but this is a good promotion, so I couldn’t turn it down.”

      Randy shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound bitter about the parking. I’m still trying to convince myself that it’s for the best, because it’s cheaper for my insurance. But it sure does make it inconvenient.”

      “Now I know why the rest of my staff take the bus.”

      “I don’t take the bus. Ever. I used my inline skates to get here today. It was kind of fun, actually, but I may change my mind the next time it rains.” Randy paused to check his watch. “We should get going. I just have to get my stuff from the back, and we can leave.”

      “…and then she told me her husband was a used car salesman!”

      Randy nibbled on his lower lip, then allowed himself to laugh at his own joke, but only after Lacey laughed first.

      Randy didn’t know why he couldn’t shut up. He shouldn’t have been nervous. It didn’t matter if he couldn’t remember the last time he’d taken a woman out for dinner. This wasn’t a date. All he had to do was impress Lacey with his knowledge of computers, which was extensive. She didn’t have to know anything else about him. He didn’t even have to worry that she would want to—it was to his advantage that she already had someone.

      He picked up his cup, wrapped his hands around it and rested his elbows on the table. “If I’d been thinking properly, I would have brought a catalog. In the store, all I do is point.”

      “It’s okay. I know that you’ll help me pick the best one. I just want to make sure it’s a surprise.”

      Randy sighed. Not only had no one ever given him a surprise birthday party, no one had ever given him an expensive gift. Of course, he didn’t expect such gifts from his friends. They routinely gave each other the standard guy-gifts—CD’s, tools, computer paraphernalia and, lately, music books. The biggest surprise was when it was wrapped.

      His family had never given gifts. Not that they couldn’t afford them, they just never did. All his life he’d learned how to get by without asking or expecting anything. That way, he was never disappointed.

      But lately, he’d seen the other side of the fence from his friends. Adrian had been thrilled at his latest birthday gift from Celeste, handmade mouse and keyboard covers that were cleverly made to look like a real mouse and a piece of cheese.

      He focused back on Lacey. “Don’t worry. I can hold the computer of your choice in the store until the day before the party. That way you don’t have to worry about spoiling the surprise.” He smiled and tried to turn on his “salesman patter.” “You’ll get a surprise, too, with how good a deal I’m going to give you on this computer. I’ll even throw in a bunch of extras.”

      Lacey smiled back weakly. “I honestly don’t know what’s standard. I’m just going to have to trust you.”

      “Don’t worry. I won’t take advantage of you.”

      “Just remember that if I do find out one day that you charged me too much, I’m right next door, all day, every day.”

      Randy opened his mouth, but no words came out. He didn’t know if she was teasing him, or if this really was some kind of warning. Either way, it intrigued him. The woman had guts, and he liked that.

      He sipped his coffee, speaking over the rim of the cup. “You go right ahead and do all the comparison shopping you want. Then you’ll know how good a deal I’m going to give you.”

      “That’s fine. And the next time you come in to buy more panty hose, I’ll do the same for you.”

      Randy choked on his coffee, then lowered the cup to the saucer. “Now just a minute. Those weren’t for me, and I never…” His words trailed off when Lacey’s stifled giggles broke through.

      “Gotcha,” she said from behind her coffee cup.

      “Not funny,” he pretended to grumble, struggling not to laugh back. He suddenly became very serious. “I need to know one more thing, and that’s how much time you and…Bryce, was it? are going to spend together on it.”

      Lacey looked puzzle. “Together? None. I frankly don’t see how some people spend hours and hours on the computer every day.”

      Randy smiled. “I couldn’t be without my computer. Computers are my only source of income, so I have to keep up with all the latest and the greatest.” He grinned wryly. “Sometimes my online activities make me late for practice on Wednesday nights, but, of course, I’m never late for work.”

      She stared blankly at him. Randy hadn’t meant to get so personal, but his computer and all that went with it had played a big part in his recovery.

      “What is it you’re practicing? Are you in a league?” Lacey asked.

      “Uh…” Randy felt his cheeks flush. “Actually, it’s not sports, it’s music, and it’s my friends who are really practicing, not me. When we first started I tried to learn to play keyboards from a book, but that went about as well as you might expect, so they found someone else to do it. But Celeste is phenomenal. Maybe even the best piano player I’ve ever met. So now I work the sound system and do all the computer stuff, which is right up my alley.”

      She smiled. “That sounds like fun. Does your band have a CD out?”

      Randy laughed. “No. It’s nothing like that. It’s just the worship team for church.”

      “Just? Don’t say that. The worship team is important. I think it’s wonderful that you’re utilizing your talents. I wish I could do something like that, but I don’t seem to be good at anything besides sewing.”

      “That’s a skill not everyone has. Maybe you can…” His voice trailed off. “Wait—you go to church?”

      “Yes, I do.”

      Randy smiled. “Great! Would you like to join me in a short prayer before we eat? It’s always awkward to ask that in work situations, or when you don’t know someone very well.”

      “I was just thinking the same thing. I’d like that.”

      Just at that moment, the waiter arrived with their meals. Randy led with a short prayer, and they began to eat.

      “So, did you move to Appleton recently?”

      “No. I live downtown, where I just rent an apartment. Now that I have the new job, I think I’m going to move closer to it. Do you live near the mall?”

      “Yes. I grew up not far away from here. It seemed natural to get a job in the neighborhood, too.” More than that, his friend Bob knew Tom, the store owner. Because of Bob’s reference, Tom offered Randy a job when no one else would consider him. He’d been there ever since, which was coming up on six years. And now he was the assistant manager.

      “I’ll never move. I live within two minutes of my friends, within five minutes of my church and ten minutes from my job.” He didn’t know why God blessed him like this, especially when he’d once blamed God for so much. But now his life was in order, and he didn’t intend to ever change a thing.

      Randy dunked one of his fries in the blob of ketchup, coating it just right. “Where do you go to church, then, if you live downtown?”

      Lacey smiled, and her eyes turned dreamy as she spoke. “Every Sunday morning I drive back to the west end where I grew up and go with my family, and we spend the day together.”

      Randy nodded. He spent a lot of time at church, but it was with his friends. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his family. Usually it didn’t bother him, but today, watching Lacey smile at her private thoughts, it reminded him of the big hole in his life. For the past few years he’d been so busy with his friends that he hadn’t really noticed, but now that Adrian and Celeste were married

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