There’s a heat wave on, which means it’s even hot in the stockroom. The AC is cranked to the limit but it’s barely puffing out cool air. Doris is up working the register again because Byron’s on his lunch break, and we’re short-staffed with Cat gone, so it’s just Grant and me in the back together. The store is busier than ever after all the news coverage—people keep coming in and wanting to buy the coins, or at least see or touch them, but they’re still with the appraisers. We use the opportunity to try to sell them something else, which usually works. We’re unpacking as fast as we can to keep things on the shelves.
Grant’s untangling a mess of cords from a laptop computer that we found in a bag I’ve dubbed the Nigel. When we finally get the plug into the socket, the computer powers on—but it’s been wiped clean. Grant and I are debating what turn of events would have led to this, and from that we get deep into the logistics of witness protection—how do you just start responding to a new name, for instance? Don’t you miss your old friends and family members, or do they get to come along with you? Is there really a town in Hawaii that has the greatest concentration of people enrolled in the Federal Witness Protection Program? Yes, says Grant, it’s Puna, on the Big Island.
“How did you know that?” I ask.
“Google,” he says. “Let’s just say there’ve been some times in my life when I’ve wondered if what I really needed was to get away from everything and everybody I knew, too.”
“But no more?” I ask.
“Not at the moment,” he says, smiling.
I hear my phone from inside the locker where I’ve stashed it. It’s Ashton’s ringtone, so I can’t resist pulling it back out.
I walk to the back of the inventory racks for privacy.
“Hi, baby,” I answer.
“Hey, Pony,” says Ashton. “I can’t wait to see your face! I’m going to kiss it all over.”
I close my eyes and wish him here already.
“I get into Huntsville airport at four p.m. on Friday. Can you still pick me up?”
“I’ll be there! Doris and Grant are coming, too!”
“Should I be nervous? These are the people I’ve been hearing about all summer. The people who have replaced me in your life!” He laughs. “Or maybe I should be more nervous that I’m about to be way below the Mason-Dixon Line for an entire weekend.”
“You are irreplaceable,” I tell him. “And you’re going to love them! And everybody will love you! We have a going-away party to go to Friday night. A woman we work with is leaving to get her MFA and business degree—”
“Sounds fun,” he says. “But I want to spend some time with just you, too. And I can’t wait to see Jack! How’s my little buddy?”
“He’s been talking about you nonstop since he heard you were coming.” This is true, though I don’t tell Ashton I only just got around to telling my family about the visit. “He wants to show you all of his new video games.”
“I’m so ready,” says Ashton.
Part of me is impatient to get back to the suitcase I’ve been unpacking, and I’m aware of slacking my responsibilities. “Hey, I’m at work. Let’s talk tonight, OK?”
“You’re always there!” he answers. “Do you ever get tired of it?”
“No,” I tell him. “Weirdly, I really don’t. It’s so much fun. Especially since Doris found the bag of old coins in a suitcase. They might really be worth something!”
“Selling lacrosse sticks and bike helmets to people at the mall just doesn’t compare to finding buried treasure, I guess.”
“Wait till you see the stockroom. You’ll understand.”
“I can’t wait.”
“Bye, Ash.”
“Bye, Pony. For now.”
I walk back out to Grant. I can’t hide the giant grin on my face.
“Excited, huh?” he says. He’s holding a pair of rhinestone-studded jeans against his legs, as if to see if they’ll fit him. They came in a rhinestone-studded duffel bag, not even kidding.
“I’ve been trying to name the bag these were in, but it’s impossible without you,” he says.
I close my eyes for a second and think. “Velma. That bag is most definitely a Velma.”
“You’re too good at this.” He smiles and folds the jeans and puts them in the for-sale pile. “Hey,” he says. “I have a question.”
“Yeah?”
“There’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while,” he says. “Do you think Doris would ever go out with me?”
My grin gets even bigger than I ever thought possible.
“Don’t tell her, though, OK?” he asks. “I need to think about how to approach it, and really do it right—really do something right, for once.”
I nod. Keeping this secret from my best friend is going to be so hard, but I think it will be worth it.