“
You think?”
He nudged my side. “Take me for a tour?”
“When we get home,” I said, checking the time on my cell phone. “You’ve never been to an antique fair before, have you?”
Reece shook his head.
“Okay. Well, bitches are crazy. They get there early and snatch up all the best stuff. We’ll be standing in a line, just so you know. To get in, that is,” I explained.
“Ser
iously? For a bunch of milk jugs?”
“You better believe it
.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him along to Erica’s truck. We swapped vehicles for the day in case I found something huge, like a bureau or fireplace surround.
“Bailey, you don’t have a fireplace,” Reece pointed out.
I chuckled. “Oh, Reece. It’s not for a fireplace. It’s for my bathroom.”
He looked at me confused. “I don’t understand a thing.”
“Well, you’re about to learn,” I replied, heading for campus.
UNCW hosted the Stockbridge Home and Hearth Country Fair—the largest antiqu
es and crafts fair in North Carolina. The lawn in front of the main administration building overflowed with vendors. Trask Coliseum was packed snugly, and the grounds around Randall Library were dotted with colorful tents featuring homemade foods.
“We’re the youngest ones here,” Reece whispered in line, and I laughed.
“So untrue,” I replied. “Didn’t you know that homemade is the ‘in’ thing? Vintage is cool? Buying local makes you smart?”
Reece looked at me dubiously.
“It’s true!” I cried.
He said nothing as he pointed to a group of old ladies in fro
nt of us, eyebrow raised at me.
“
Whatever,” I said, brushing him off. “I hope the whole fair is filled with them. All those biddies are going for the quilts first. So they won’t be a problem for me.”
“How do you know
they’re going for the quilts?”
“Because I’ve been doing this for years.” I scanned the line. Damn. Another girl who looked to be my age. I nudged Reece, and he leaned in. “That chick is headed where I’m headed.”
He looked at her, and I could tell he was devising a plan.
“She’s about three parties ahead of us,” he said at last. “If the line moves quickly enough, we can catch up to her.”
“And then what?”
“Take her out, of course.”
I burst out laughing.
“Hey, you want her nabbing your milk jug?” he asked.
“Will you stop it already with the milk jug? I don’t need another milk jug. And why are you so obsessed with it?”
“Because I’ve never seen one for decoration. Hell, I’ve never seen one.”
I rolled my eyes.
“You got the tickets?” Reece asked.
I held them up.
“Twenty bucks a pop,” he mumbled. “Ludicrous.”
I ignored him and adjusted my jacket. “Now listen. When we get in, start walking directly to Trask. Most of the furniture is in there.”
“Got it.
Where’s Trask?”
“To the right.”
“You gonna teach me how to haggle?”
“Oh, I’m not very good at that. I try, but usually vendors don’t negotiate until late in the day. I don’t like to go then because all the good stuff’s gone,” I explained.
“So what are we looking for?” Reece asked, then added, “I mean, besides a bureau and a fireplace surround.”
I smirked. “
Oh, I don’t know. Interesting stuff.”
“Interesting stuff, huh?”
We made it to the entrance, and my adrenaline kicked into high gear. Once we were through the gates, I picked up my pace. There were a few vendors I wanted to visit first. I’d mapped out our entire course last night, and Reece spent five minutes straight laughing at the notes I wrote in the margins: “Do not exceed 20 minutes” and “Check for dovetail joints—she’s wily” were his two favorites.
“Shut up!” I laughed
when he reminded me of my notes. “This is my weird thing, okay?” I took his hand and led him through the doors of Trask Coliseum.
“Your one weird thing?” he asked dubiously.
“Oh my gosh, Reece, you’re hilaaaaarious,” I replied.
He stopped short, pulling me to a halt. “Bailey! Your fireplace surround!” He pointed to the right.
“Reece, there will be loads of fireplace surrounds. And that’s not my top priority anyway.”
I watched him deflate.
“Buuuuuut,” I added, realizing I needed to nurture his enthusiasm. After all, he was at an antique fair with me, and we hadn’t even established the girlfriend/boyfriend thing yet. The guy was amazing. “I really like that surround, so I think we oughta check it out.”
His face brightened. I
ignored the poking in my chest.
You made a plan, Bailey. What are you doing? Your entire day is about to be thrown off if you walk over to that surround. Don’t do it. Don’t. Do. It.
We stood directly in front of the surround, considering its size and shape. It was pretty from afar. It was gorgeous up close, and I ran my hand over the detailed woodworking, imagining the piece in place of my headboard. I glanced at Reece every now and then. He studied the surround, observing every square inch before offering his opinion.
“This can’t fit in your bathroom,” he said.
“What about my room?”
“Where?”
“In place of my headboard,” I suggested.
He thought for a moment. “How’d you come up with that?”
“Saw it in a magazine.”
“I like it.”
“Me, too. I think I should get it,” I said, and then the buyer’s high exploded in my brain before I even spoke to the vendor. I snatched the price tag and went in search of him. Reece followed.
“Did we just buy furniture together?” Reece asked.
I nodded.
“Bailey,” he breathed. “This is . . . this is huge.” His eyes were wide and glassy.
“I know.”
I bought nothing else that day. I forgot the map. Tossed my list. Ignored some vendors I’d been planning
to visit for months. After the fireplace surround purchase, I just wasn’t interested. I wanted to take Reece for a tour around campus instead, relive some favorite memories of my time as a Seahawk.
“This campus is beautiful,” he said as we strolled down the main sidewalk connecting the olde
r part of campus with the newer part.
“For real,” I replied. “I wish there was half the stuff here when I was in school. I mean, look at that student union! Are you kidding me?”
“Not like that ten years ago?”
“Please.”
We lunched in Wagoner Hall. I showed him my old dormitory—Galloway Hall. We browsed the equipment in the new gym. I ran into an old professor who remembered my name.
“Wow. You certainly made an impression,” Reece said as we loaded my fireplace surround in Erica’s truck before heading home.
“She was my academic advisor, too,” I said.
“So what? She’s gone through tons of students by now. But she remembered you,” he said.
I warmed all over.
“Reece?”
“Hmm?”
“Thank you for coming with me.”
“I had fun.”
“Truly?”
“Truly.”
“Reece?”
“Hmm?”
“Is it too early for you to meet my best friend?”
“No,” he replied.
“Would you like to meet her tonight?”
“Sure.”
“Do you mind kids?”
“I love ‘em.”
I was silent for a moment, pulling onto College Road.
“Reece?”
“Hmm?”
But I wasn’t sure what I wanted to say. No, that’s a lie. I knew what I wanted to say. I wanted to say that I’d never had so much fun sharing my life with a man—not even Brian. I considered that it might be a false feeling. After all, we hadn’t spent that much time together yet. But the more I contemplated, the more I recognized that nothing about my growing infatuation was false. It was real. He was real. This thing between us was real. And it was getting better and better all the time.
“What is it, Bailey?” Reece pressed.
I smiled to myself. “Oh, nothing.”
***
“My kids will demand all of your attention,” Erica said, shaking Reece’s hand. “Know that, and prepare yourself.”
Reece nodded. “Where are they?”
“Oh, they’re coming. Noah just left to pick them up from their aunt’s,” Erica replied. “I wanted a little alone time with you first.” She winked, and Reece chuckled.
“Okay. Lay it on me. What do you
wanna know?”
“Erica, be gentle,” I pleaded
.
I realized I didn’t know that much about Reece yet: his background, family life
, hobbies. I wasn’t sure how I felt about Erica being the first to ask. And that’s precisely why we’re best friends. She could read my thoughts and decided to switch gears.
“Well, I’m sure there’s a lot to you that Bailey still needs to learn,” Erica said, then added, “without me around. So I’ll just stick to boring stuff.”
“Work’s pretty good,” Reece replied, not missing a beat.
“Ha
ha!” Erica waved us into the dining room and poured us each a glass of wine.
“Reece is famous,” I said.
“Bailey, stop it,” he chided. “Nobody’s famous.”
“Well, I see your commercial all the time, and I’d say otherwise,” Erica said.
“He’s been featured in two big magazines,” I went on. It was bizarre—my bragging—like I had to prove that my sort-of boyfriend was amazing. Anyone who talked to him for five minutes would know it. And anyway, I don’t brag. That’s not in my nature. All the bragging genes went to Nicki.
“Let’s talk about
your
work, Erica,” Reece said, redirecting the conversation.
“Fine, but just so you know, I’ll be needing an autograph before you leave tonight,” Erica said.
Reece shook his head and grinned.
“I’m starting an airbrush tanning business,” Erica explained. “And don’t even mention anything about Bailey’s tan, all right? I know it was awful. I heard all about it from her. I’ve been practicing on my husband and getting better.”
Reece nodded.
“What’s your middle name?” Erica asked out of the blue.
“Logan. Have you gotten any clients yet?”
“No. I haven’t started marketing. I’m still learning,” she replied. “Have you always worked in marketing?”
“Yep. How many kids do you have?”
“Two. Do you have any kids?”
“Erica!” I cried.
“Not that I know of,” Reece
replied.
Erica smirked. “Do you
wanna have kids with my best friend?”
“ERICA!”
Reece threw back his head and laughed.
“That’s it. The questions portion of this evening is over,” I said, and right on cue, Noah and the kids burst through the door. Little Noah and Annie ran straight for Erica
, then hid behind her when they noticed Reece. A stranger.
“Stranger danger,” Little Noah breathed.
“No, baby, Reece isn’t a stranger. He’s Mommy’s friend,” Erica replied, and that was all Little Noah needed to hear. He started in on the fifty questions, and I looked at Erica.
“What? He’s not supposed to h
ave any of my genes?” she replied.
Noah introduced himself and added something about how I’m a really special girl (I’m not quite sure what he meant
by “special”), then asked Reece if he was interested in helping grill the steaks for fajitas.
“No, Daddy,” Little Noah said. Apparently he had other plans for Reece, and they included Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He pulle
d Reece along into the playroom, and I didn’t see him again until dinnertime.
“Oh my God, Bailey, he’s such a cutie!” Erica said as she stirred the sautéing onions and peppers.
“I know,” I replied. “He’s so funny and comfortable. Almost too comfortable. I’m waiting for something horrible to happen.”
I slipped Annie a wooden spoon to play with as she sat on the kitchen floor.
“Stop being a fatalist,” Erica said. “Embrace this. I don’t know why I have a really good feeling about him, but I do. I just do.”
I sliced
a tomato while she talked.
“Have you guys . . . ?”
“Nooooo.”
“Has he said he loves you?”
“Erica, get real. We’ve been seeing each other for like a week.”
“Well, excuse me. I don’t know how fast the kids move these days,” she replied.
We worked in silence until I blurted, “I almost like him too much! It’s too soon. But he went to that fair with me today, and, oh my God. What guy does something nice like that? And he got all excited about a fireplace surround. I bought the fu— stupid thing because of the look on his face! Three hundred bucks, Erica!”