After another short drive and beating myself up for not simply walking over, I parked in front of Gertie’s and headed inside, doing my best to keep ahold of my mental list.

“Hey, Gertie.” I said, relieved to discover nothing of mine had made its way out the door yet, “How are-”

The startled young woman, maybe a year or two older than me, sitting behind the counter most definitely was not Gertie.

For one thing, I don’t think Gertie could get earbuds past her hearing aids, for another she was outfitted in what I can only describe as a semi-modernized version of 90s grunge, and then there was the fact that she wasn’t old enough to be my grandmother.

She had her brunette hair up in a messy sort of bun and was wearing a little makeup, some eyeliner and a subtle pink lipstick, but not enough to hide the faint freckles on her cheeks, and then there were her eyes.

Gertie’s, bless her, had the beginnings of cataracts, while the stranger in front of me had eyes so brown and rich the first comparison that came to mind was Willy Wonka’s chocolate river.

“H-hi?” the woman greeted unsurely, her earbuds still in, “She said no one would be coming in…”

“Who?” I asked while struggling to regain my composure, “Oh, Gertie? Yeah, where is she?”

I’m just going to jump in here real quick and say my minor brain fart wasn’t because she was a woman, and it definitely had nothing to do with the fact that she was attractive, it was more just that with each passing moment I was losing more and more of my list.

“She said she was just heading out to grab some things,” the still confused woman replied as she finally took out her earbuds, “asked if I could watch the store.”

“Oh, okay,” I said, trying my hardest to not make the situation any more awkward than it was, “and you’re her… niece or something?”

“I am not,” the temporary shopkeeper awkwardly laughed, “I honestly forgot her name was Gertie. No, I just happened to be in the shop when she got the call. ”

“Any idea who the call was from?” I asked.

“Seemed rude to ask,” the woman replied with a shrug, “but come to think of it I probably could’ve asked a few more questions before accepting the ‘job’. Emma.”

“Alistair,” I said, shaking her outstretched hand, “but most folk around here call me Gray.”

“You look more of a pink with brown fluffy spots to me, but what do I know?” Emma joked before sitting back, “So, what brings you to Gertie’s Place of Stuff and Things?”

“Never heard it called that before,” I replied amusedly before trying me best to remember everything on my list, “I was actually looking at getting some white goods. Fridge, washing machine, dryer, those sorts of things. And a mattress.”

“Are you new in town too?” Emma asked hopefully.

“No, just… not very organized,” I said, the lie coming out significantly easier than the truth, “you seem to be though.”

“Heh, yeah,” Emma laughed, clearly slightly disappointed that I wasn’t as fresh to Darlingwood as she was, “just started out at the community college.”

“The comm-oh, the one out towards…” I trailed off as I tried to figure out the best way to clarify I knew what she meant, “yeah, I know the one. What are you in town for though? Not that there’s anything wrong with the town, it’s just that the city isn’t that far away.”

“It is by bus,” Emma replied with a shrug, “and just some bits and pieces for my dorm, didn’t exactly move out here with a lot, so…”

“Fair enough,” I said with a smile, hoping to cut off the conversation she wasn’t up for, “well, welcome to Darlingwood.”

“Thanks,” Emma chuckled, “a lot of nice people here.”

“You clearly haven’t been to the trailer park,” I joked, “anyway, any chance you know how to operate all this stuff?”

“The cash register?” Emma asked, raising her eyebrow amusedly, “Yeah, should be fine. That being said, I think it’d probably be for the best if I went around and did up a list with the prices and stuff.”

“I’m happy to help.” I suggested.

“Nah, I think I should start to figure this out on my own,” Emma replied as she got out of her chair, “who knows when Gertie’s going to be back.”

“True,” I said while Emma grabbed a pad and pencil from under the desk, “mind if I head across the street? I’ve just got some errands to run.”

“Not at all,” Emma replied, almost instinctively putting one of her earbuds back in, “I should be done in a couple of minutes.”

“Awesome, I’ll be back soon.” I said with a polite nod before heading for the door, making sure not to look back as I did so.

I’m a loyal person, to a fault in fact, but I knew I had the potential to unintentionally slip into flirting.

Nothing overtly inappropriate, but flirting nonetheless.

Millie and Liz had had the conversation with me a few weeks prior that trust was an important part of a polygamous relationship, in some ways more so than in a monogamous one, and that they knew having two women in my life might open a door of ‘freedom’ for me.

They’d also said as long as we could all get to know each other, together and separately, that it would probably be fine to add more people to our little group.

Well, specifically more women, they were kind of anal about not having more than one guy in the group.

Whether that meant they were going to replace me with a new model at some point was yet to be seen.

Before I’d crossed the street, I’d managed to pull myself out of the tailspin I was having about potentially being attracted to another person and locked onto some relatively quiet self-confidence issues.

Sure, they weren’t any picnic, but at least I could stop kicking myself.

“Well, look who it is,” Andy said as I stepped inside his sizeable general store, “how are those girls treating you? Not giving you too much trouble I hope?”

“Not so much I can’t handle,” I chuckled while looking around at the various items he had for sale in my immediate vicinity, “how’s things around here? I heard you needed some help with a job?”

“As a matter of fact, I do,” Andy replied, walking around his counter and leaning against it, “pay’s decent, and shouldn’t take you too long.”

“What’s the job?” I asked.

“Delivery,” Andy said, “everything’s already boxed up and ready to go. Real simple stuff.”

“Sounds easy enough,” I agreed with a nod, “the regular driver sick or something?”

“Not exactly,” Andy seethed, evidently not eager to follow up with the much needed ‘why’ of it all, “he doesn’t think it’s safe, but I assure you it is.”

“Why wouldn’t he…” I trailed off as I came to a realization, “It’s for the Reformed, isn’t it?”

Andy nodded, “I know they got a bad name, but they’re good folk, and they need to eat,” he explained, “and it’s not like they can come into town themselves.”

“And why not?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“Because…” Andy sighed, “Look, we’re a tolerant people here, nobody gives Tim and his partner a sideways glance, and we have a nice black family out on Glenroe, but Ghouls, rabid or not, would be shot on sight.”

Slightly hung up on Andy’s definition of ‘tolerant’ and how it seemed to be simply not attacking our neighbors for being gay or black, I struggled to come up with a good rebuttal.

Don’t get me wrong, he was right, Darlingwood was an open-minded enough place, but damn, while I certainly wasn’t what you’d call ‘woke’, hearing Andy talk like that was enough to make me want to wince.

“You raise a fair point,” I finally said, “but still-”

“Pay’s 200 dollars,” Andy interjected, “not to mention you make some inroads with the Reformed which wouldn’t be the worst thing.”

“200?” I blurted out, “What? How? Why?”

“They have a mine up there,” Andy replied, “and seeing as it’s so difficult for them to get resources, they happily pay top dollar.”

“But 200 dollars?” I asked, “It’s a, what, twenty minute roundtrip?”

“Like I said, folk ‘round here would probably shoot them on sight for fear they weren’t the cuddly Ghouls.” Andy said matter-of-factly, “So, what do you think? You up for it?”

“For 200 bucks I’d walk the stuff up there.” I half-joked, “Just to clarify though, there’s no chance I’m going to get up there and they’re going to eat me, right?”

“If they did, they’d have the full force of Darlingwood on them by nightfall,” Andy chuckled, “I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

“Well alright then, let’s load up,” I said with a nod, “where’s the stuff?”

“Just around back,” Andy replied, visibly happy to hear someone was taking the job, “I’ll give you a hand. Where are you parked?”

“Over at Gertie’s,” I said, “want me to bring the van over?”

“It’s only a few boxes,” Andy said, dismissing the idea with a wave, “shouldn’t be a problem.”

Yeah, that was a lie.