He cupped his hands around his mouth and called, “Danny, can you come in here a minute?”
Alex’s mouth went dry. She’d thought she might see Daniel at the theater, but she hadn’t expected to find him at the store. She quickly glanced around, nervously seeking an exit. But leaving was ridiculous and would call more attention to herself than staying.
Dusting off his hands on a rag, Daniel came from the back storeroom. His eyes lit up, and a smile spread across his face when he saw her. An honest reaction or a politician’s gimmick?
“Hey, Alex! Imagine seeing you twice in—what? Four days. Must be my lucky week.”
“Hello, Daniel. Lizzie was hoping you’d be at the theater today.”
“Nope. Not today. I’m helping Pop with inventory. I expect Glen will have me working a few hours tonight, though. The sets are pretty complicated for this musical.”
He removed a Cleveland Indians ball cap long enough to smooth a lock of dark hair from his forehead before replacing the hat and tugging the brim low. “How is Lizzie this morning?”
“Excited. I dropped her off at the theater.”
“She’ll love working with Glen. He makes it fun.” Tucking the rag into the back pocket of his jeans, Daniel crossed his arms over an Ohio State T-shirt. His gaze, however, never left Alex’s face. She suddenly felt small and vulnerable. “What can I do for you?” he asked.
“She’s got a list of things,” Gus said from behind the counter. “If you don’t mind...”
“Happy to.” Daniel took the list, grabbed an empty box from the floor and said, “Follow me.”
With the expertise of someone familiar with every nook and cranny of a hardware store warehouse, Daniel went about selecting the items from Jude’s list. When he filled the box and had seemingly exhausted every bit of small talk about Greenfield town life, he turned to Alex and said, “So how’s your stay in Ohio going?”
“It’s all good. This is home, so you know.”
“You bet I do. I spend most of my time in Columbus these days, but it’s always nice to come back to Greenfield.”
Unable to pretend any longer that she knew nothing about Daniel’s career, Alex said, “I heard you were elected to the state senate. That’s quite an accomplishment.”
“I don’t know about that. I like to think I connected with voters on a basic level of honesty and caring.”
“I guess you did. Sorry I wasn’t here to vote for you.” As if he needed her one measly vote.
He smiled. “I would have gotten your vote, Alex? That means a lot to me.”
Her face grew warm. “I must admit I didn’t know your opponent, but yes, I’m pretty sure I would have voted for you.”
He made a quick check through the box and set the list inside with the items.
When the silence became uncomfortable, Alex said, “So, do you have aspirations beyond the state senate?”
“We all have aspirations, don’t we? But for now I’m content. I’m working on a few projects that I believe will benefit both the citizens of Fox Creek and the Greenfielders. Just need to acquire more funding.”
“Well, I’m sure you’ll succeed.” Alex nodded at the box. “I have to be on my way now. Can I carry this?”
“Probably, but why should you? I’m the jack-of-all-trades around here. Is your car out front?”
“Yes, but I think I’d better stop and pay.”
“Oh, sure. Pop would appreciate that.”
Alex reached out a hand almost as if she would touch Daniel’s arm, but immediately pulled back. “He’s okay, isn’t he? Your dad, I mean. He seems a bit frail.”
Daniel’s face clouded with an emotion that could only be pain. “I don’t suppose there’s any reason not to tell you, at least not now that certain decisions have been made. Pop’s ill, Alex. He has bone cancer. Even a bone marrow transplant won’t help him now.”
Her heart clutched in her chest. “I’m sorry, Daniel. This must be so hard.”
“It is. He’s got some time left. A few months, so the doctors tell him. That’s why I’m here and why I took hiatus from my senate job this month. I’m helping him clear out inventory so the building can be put up for sale. Once that’s done I figure he might take a short trip, see some of America he never had a chance to visit before.”
“Will you go with him?”
“I can’t. I wish Mom were still alive, but his sister has agreed to go. They get along well. And I’ll stay in touch with them every day.”
“Why doesn’t he try to sell the business?” Realizing she might be crossing a line between concern and poking her nose into someone else’s family matters, Alex amended, “What I’m trying to say is, this store has been here for decades. It’s a shame to see it close and the building be turned over to some other establishment. This town would miss Chandler’s Hardware.”
“You just said it, Alex. This store is Chandler’s. That’s why people keep coming back. If it changed hands, I think the big-box stores around Cleveland would get our local customers.” Daniel sighed. “I think Pop’s right. It’s been a good run, but it’s time to close it up.” He picked up the box. “You stop at the register and I’ll meet you outside.”
Alex paid her bill. She tried to keep her voice cheerful, but she could no longer ignore the lines etched in Gus’s face, the signs of the pain he must be enduring every day. And that cane, propped against the counter like some bleak reminder that everyone’s future had an ending.
“You have a great day now, sweetheart,” Gus said when she was ready to leave. “It was great seeing you again.”
“Same here, Gus. I’m sure I’ll be back a time or two before I return to Chicago.”
Marveling at the way Gus kept his spirits up around other people, she went outside, motioned to her Honda CR-V and beeped the hatch open in back.
Daniel slid the box into the cargo area. “Nice seeing you,” he said when he’d closed the door.
“Again, Daniel, I’m so sorry.”
“Thanks.” He paused while she went to the driver’s side and got in. “Oh, Alex, before you go...”
“Yes?”
“Would you like to get together while you’re in town? Maybe take in a movie?”
Was she reading his question correctly? Was he suggesting they take up where they left off eighteen years ago? Didn’t he remember she was a widow? “Are you asking me on a date, Daniel?”
He grinned. “And if I were, what would you say?”
I would say that my racing heart couldn’t take an entire evening with you. She cleared her throat. “Considering the recent events in my life...” and a few significant ones from the past “...I’d have to say no.”
He leaned his forearm on the top of her car. “Okay, then. I’m not asking you on a date. We’d just be two friends going out for the evening to catch up on time lost. What would you say to that?”
She smiled. “Still no, but thanks anyway.”
“You know where I am if you change your mind. Either here, at Pop’s house or at the theater. People can always use friends, Alex, and you and I were tight once, as I recall.”
That was the way he remembered that night under the dock, the last night of the summer? They’d been two hormone-driven teenagers who couldn’t keep their hands to themselves. He’d had a few