Callers' Secrets by Piersol Charlie

Author:Piersol, Charlie [Piersol, Charlie]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2013-01-26T16:00:00+00:00

31

REN had just taken the first bite of his sandwich in the back room of his shop when he heard the front door open. Always when I’m eating, he sighed to himself. He wiped his mouth with a paper towel, tossed it into his wastebasket, and went out to face another computer enigma.

Ready to greet his customer, he sucked back his words with an intake of breath. His body seized instantly. His vision blurred, and his heart skipped beats. It was Will, his mind told him. It’s Will. The man in his shop was Will.

Will, of course, seemed perfectly at ease. “Hi,” he said to Ren cheerfully. “You fix these things?”

No words of response entered Ren’s head. It was the first time he’d seen Will in a couple of months, not since he’d left him asleep on his chaise. It was obvious to Ren that Will didn’t know him. To Will, Ren was a stranger, the guy who would fix his computer.

Ren braced himself, knowing he had to avoid Will’s gaze. He dropped his head to keep from looking at Will too directly. Play the geek, he instructed himself. He took a deep breath to quiet his nerves.

“Yeah, I fix them. You have a problem?” What the hell could possibly be wrong with the computer? He’d completely refurbished it.

“My DVD drive won’t open. I think it’s stuck.”

Ren groaned and then laughed to himself. He’d replaced every goddamn component in Will’s machine but hadn’t thought about teaching Will how to use it properly.

Ren bent over as though searching for something under his counter. He had to do anything to stop himself from staring at Will. He’d come this far without him, and he did not want to play Ping-Pong again. “Do you use the button to open the drive?” Ren asked, from under the counter.

“Sometimes. I usually just push the cover and it opens.”

“Yeah, it will for a while, but over time that can damage it.”

“Oh. I didn’t know that. Thought it was okay since it worked.”

“It’s an easy fix,” Ren assured Will and finally had to glance up at him. He wondered fleetingly what Will would see in his eyes. Would he notice how happy Ren was to see him despite the sadness Ren was sure was there too? Would he sense that Ren recognized him, knew him, loved him? Probably not, Ren thought dejectedly. Maybe all Will would see was a shopkeeper’s eyes. He’d miss the essence behind them.

Deep emotion swelled through Ren then. He was afraid he might cry, but the door to his shop opened again, disrupted his feelings, and saved him—or doomed him. Looking up he came face to face with…. Oh shit!

“I thought you’d be here,” Elizabeth said to Will, somewhat coolly.

Will whipped around. “What are you doing here?” he asked his mother, who had walked into the shop with Ruth right behind her. He didn’t seem happy to see them.

“We were just shopping for things for your wedding…”

Wedding? Ren felt a slam to his gut.

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