Mark’s head came up. “What?”
Gus shrugged. “She wouldn’t stop. Just went on and on about—well, you probably wouldn’t be interested.”
“Gus, so help me—”
“Nah.” Gus made a face. “It’s none of my business anyway.”
Mark stepped within reach and swung at him. Gus ducked and popped up to his left.
“You call that a swing? My grammy swings better than—” He ducked just as Mark swung again, but Mark recovered quickly and put him in a headlock.
“What did she say?” he asked.
“I take it back. You are seventeen.”
Gus was shorter than Mark but stockier, and Mark wouldn’t be able to hold him very long. “Tell me what she said, or I’ll tell Heidi about the time you left Gabi in her baby carrier in the shopping cart at the IGA.”
“You would not.”
“Or the time you ran over the diaper bag, and Heidi’s camera was in there so you bought the exact same camera and said nothing when she couldn’t figure out how she’d lost all the pictures on it.”
“Hey, that’s—”
“Or the time you left the dirty diaper behind the—”
“That’s enough!” Gus shouted and twisted out of Mark’s grip. He straightened his shirt and ran his hand over his head. “See if I ever tell you anything about the joys of fatherhood ever again.” He stretched his neck. “That’s quite a grip you’ve got there. You been working out?”
“It’s all this manual labor my dad’s been having me do.”
Gus reached and squeezed Mark’s bicep. “Hey, that’s coming along.”
Mark flexed. “Yeah, I—gahh!” In a blink, Gus had Mark in a half nelson.
“This is for threatening my happy time with Heidi. You never threaten a man’s happy time with his wife.”
“Okay,” Mark shouted. “Okay, I give.”
Gus shoved him away. They both bent over, out of breath, and laughing.
“I can’t believe you still fell for that,” Gus said.
“Happy time?” Mark asked, not wanting to know more. He stood and walked over to the couch they’d set up by the utility sink and mini-fridge. He collapsed against the cushions, gesturing to the small counter. “You were wrong. We have a kitchen.”
“Nice.” Gus eased himself onto the couch. “I’ll have that tequila now.”
Mark laughed. Then he quieted and shook his head.
“So,” Gus said, serious. “What’s going on?”
Mark considered the question. “I don’t know. I don’t. She’s just helping me with a project—something for Dad, for Christmas. A surprise, so don’t say anything. But I just . . .” He turned to Gus. “Was she really talking about me?”
Gus studied him, probably deciding if he should make a joke or not. He must’ve chosen not. “Yes. And she had some pretty insightful things to say, considering she kept insisting she didn’t know you that well.”
“Like what?”
“Oh, Nate was asking her some questions about you—as Nate does—and she answered him really thoughtfully. And besides totally agreeing with everything she said, I couldn’t help but get the impression that she sort of digs you, man.”
Mark shook his head. “Shut up.”
“I’m serious. I wouldn’t pull your chain about this. There was something.”
“What something?” Mark was sitting on a wall of frustration with reality on one side and hope on the other.
“I don’t know. She was just different. It was like she knew you better than I do.”
Mark leaned forward, his chin on his fists. “She is different. From anyone I’ve ever been around.”
“And she’s kind of hot.”
Mark shot him a look.
Gus chuckled. “Well, she is. Or have you not noticed from behind your hood?”
Mark was too tired to swing at him again. “Yeah, I noticed.” He’d noticed how she filled out a thermal T-shirt and a pair of jeans better than anyone he knew. He’d noticed how her cheeks blushed the same color as her lips. He noticed how one small lock of hair near her temple curled even though the rest of her hair was straight. And he remembered the touch of his fingertips on her palm, and again just in front of her ears when he’d put her safety glasses on. That had been a reckless move, but he couldn’t stop it.
“Hey, Ground Control to Major Tom.” Gus snapped his fingers in front of Mark’s face. “Come in, Major Tom.”
Mark swiped his fingers away and rubbed his face. “I’m meeting her at five for this project, and I’m bringing dinner.”
“Sounds like a date to me.”
“It’s not. It’s not that easy.”
“Uh, sure it is. You asked her to help you tonight. You’re bringing dinner—”
“Actually, meeting tonight was her idea.”
“Even better. But dinner was your idea, right?”
Mark hesitated, remembering his botched job at offering to bring food. “We need to eat. But Gus, this isn’t a date.” He frowned. “At least not the kind I’d like to ask her on.”
“So, you do want to ask her out.”
“I want to do a lot of things, that doesn’t mean I’m stupid enough to do them.”
“What’s stupid about it? Just ask her. You’re already miserable, so you’ve got nothing to lose, right?” Gus elbowed Mark’s arm.
“I still have my pride.”
“Maybe that’s your problem. I’m telling you, you’ll be surprised when she says yes.”
Mark’s stomach knotted. “If I ask her, and if she says yes. Which I won’t, and she wouldn’t.”
“Why not?”
Mark stood and walked a few steps, filled with too much restless energy. “Because I’m not the kind of guy someone like her goes for.” Even as he said it, he remembered the way she’d looked at him in the woodshop, and the way—for a few minutes—he’d forgotten who he’d become while he was with her.
“My friend,” Gus said, “there’s only one way to find out if that’s true.”
“I don’t want to find out.”
“That is definitely not true.”
Mark let out the breath he was holding.
“If you don’t ask her out,” Gus said, “it’s going to drive you crazy.”
Mark turned away, his hands in his pockets. He was halfway there already. “I can’t do it.”
“Sure you can. Rumor is you’re some kind of hero, not that I listen to gossip. And while it’s mostly
