Three

Hudson

After waiting at the house for more than an hour I'd decided to go back to the hardware store. It was strange to be back in my hometown and not know what to do with myself. The things I used to do were lost to me over the many years of staying away from Foggy Basin, and not wanting to sit in an empty house, the store was the best bet.

I felt bad for scaring the guy that ran it most of the time according to Dad, but when I returned, he was hard at work with his earbuds in once again. To say he was not happy to be startled twice in one day was putting it lightly. He was pissed.

"It's Tuesday, your parents go to lunch and a movie in Woodland. It's their weekly routine."

I did remember them both mentioning that several times, but the past year had been so busy I hadn't paid enough attention to anything other than work. "Shit," I mumbled.

"Were they expecting you?" he asked.

"No, I mean I told Dad I'd be coming to town, but I didn't tell him when. I just thought they'd both be around." I rolled my eyes and looked up at the ceiling with the heavy rafters that resembled a barn more than a business. "When was the last time that was dusted up there?"

"Probably in the fifties," he said without looking up while narrowing his eyes at me. "Why exactly are you here?"

"I need to speak with Dad about a business matter," I said and turned away. This kid was too smart for his own good, but I was used to dealing with people more adept at getting information than he was.

"Is it about him selling the business?" he asked and crossed his arms in triumph seeing my shocked expression.

"He told you about that?"

"Yeah, a while back," he said with a lift of his shoulder.

"What did he say?" I asked and moved close enough to the front counter to lean against it.

"You're going to get your shirt dirty if you lean on that. Just sayin'," he said and pointed out the grime on the counter.

"Fuck, why don't you keep it clean?" I grumbled while wiping at my sleeve as he tried to control his smile.

"I wipe it down when I get here and again before I close up. But you never know what's going to be dragged across it or set on it during the day. If I had to keep it clean, I'd spend more time wiping than taking care of customers. Plus no one else comes in and leans on it." He looked me straight in the eye and dared me to say something

"Look, kid, I'm sorry. I'm not here to judge your performance, I just need to speak with Dad."

He pressed his lips together in a thin line before uncrossing his arms and stepping closer to me. "I told you I'm not a kid," he said through clenched teeth. He was as tall as me, and even though he was thin he was definitely fit, and the day-old growth of dark beard told me he wasn't a kid. I wasn't sure why I'd said it again when he'd already made it clear he didn't like it.

"I apologize. I think I must just be worried. Can I be honest with you?" I asked him and a voice inside my head told me to shut my fucking mouth. He held my gaze long enough to make it uncomfortable before he nodded. "I worked here when I was a kid, but I never wanted to take it over. My dad would always talk about it when I was little and all it did was make me want to leave and never look back."

"Look, I get that you're not into the small-town life and you don't want to own a hardware store, but I didn't get the feeling your dad is expecting you to take over. He's contacted a company that takes over small businesses and that's who will be running it. I'm only sticking it out to see if they'll hire me or until I can find something else," he said with a lift of his chin.

"He mentioned that. But I did some research, and the resale rate is way higher than the number of stores they save. They're more like real estate flippers. They come in, put on a fresh coat of paint, maybe rename the business, then they sell. Or they close the business and sell the property. They're not in business to actually save a business." His eyes widened at my words before he turned away and took a deep breath. He obviously cared about the store and my parents, but in the big scheme of things, there wasn't much he could do.

"You need to tell him that. He's counting on that company to keep the place open for the townsfolk. If he knew they'd sell it, he wouldn't sell to them."

"I'm not so sure about that. He wants out of the business," I said to him.

"Fuck, if this place closes, then a lot of the locals won't have access to the things they can only get here. No place in town carries plumbing supplies, or fishing gear, they can get bait at the minimart, but what about nails and screws? This is so much worse than I thought it would be." He paced back and forth in a huff. I was shocked to see he cared so much about a business he only worked at. But he very obviously did.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to be honest. I wouldn't count on working here after they take over." Every word that came out of my mouth was doom and gloom and the way his expression fell more and more made it clear to me how it affected him.

"Do you think it'll happen that fast?" he asked, but his voice was softer than it had been, and his brow furrowed with worry.

"I don't think it'll take long once he signs it over. It's what they do." I knew it was a shitty explanation, but I'd already told him how serious it was, and I knew once it was all put in motion there was nothing that could stop it. "There is another option." The words were out of my mouth before my brain had half a second to even think about it.

"What do you mean? He wants to sell. I can understand why. I mean, before I started working here, Jonas was here nearly every day. He loves it here and he loves helping people. But it was too much for him after a while," Jack said. He might look like a teenager, but he was more mature and observant than I had been at his age, whatever that was . . . I wasn't sure.

"That's why I came here today. I need to speak to him first. But there might be another way to save the store." It felt right, but I wasn't sure it was actually the right choice for me. But once I spoke to Dad I'd know for sure if my life was about to change in a big way.