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Paul Had Kind Of A Rough Night

11/25/2023

Carol rolled over to squint at her phone. “Jeb?”

“Hey, Paul had kind of a rough night. Can I bring him over around ten?”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” She rubbed her eyes. “Sure, ten is fine. We don’t have anything specific planned.”

“Great, thanks. See you then.”

“Rough night? Jeb?” The call had already ended. ‘Rough night? How am I supposed to sleep now?’

She sent a text to Sarah to let her know of the change, but not why. She didn’t know why. ‘Rough night?’ She checked the time and moaned. ‘Quarter to five is no kind of time to call with bad news, Jeb. Who the heck gets up at quarter to five?’

Ryan rinsed the remnants of the shaving cream from his face. He looked better. He felt clean and refreshed, but he had gotten no rest. This morning was going to be a slog.

Perhaps that was better. If he was tired already and he pushed himself at work, he’d be too darn tired to worry about having that nightmare again.

‘What the hell were you thinking? It was bad enough you let those morons talk you into it.’

“Ten minutes.” Greg called from the doorway.

“Be right there, Pastor.” He brushed his teeth and gargled before heading out. “All ready.”

“How’d you sleep?”

“I’ve had better.”

“I don’t want to pry.”

“So, don’t.”

“I think you’d feel better and sleep better if you could get it off your chest. You don’t even have to tell me. Find somebody you can trust and get it out of your system.”

“Okay, you said it.” Ryan headed for the pastor’s truck. “Let’s go.”

“Ten?” Sarah yawned. “Wish I could sleep in. Nice being a fancy celebrity.”

She popped her earbuds in and rolled her yoga mat out. She had her wake up tunes cued up. “Press the button and get stretching.”

After her wake up routine, she showered and dressed for another day out in the cold. A quick breakfast and a hot cup of coffee sent her on her way.

“Morning, Earl. Carol says Megaman is going to be here at ten today.”

“Must be nice.” He chuckled. “Hey, is everything okay with you and Ryan?”

“Me and Ryan?”

“Yeah, are you guys okay?”

“I guess. I don’t know what you mean.”

“The pastor says Ryan feels like you’re watching him extra close or something. Is everything okay?”

“No, I’m not doing anything. He seems like he’s doing his job or whatever.”

“I agree. He’s been doing a fine job. He’s made some mistakes in the past. I know people can have feelings about that.”

“I’ll try not to bother him. I didn’t think I was, but I’ll be extra careful.”

“I’m sure he misunderstood whatever he thought he saw. I’ll straighten it out with him.” He smiled and strolled away.

‘This is going to be such a long day.’ She rolled her eyes and walked down to meet Carol.

“You’re up and at ‘em.”

“Business is business, boss. Since Megaman will be arriving later, maybe we can get Santa walking the beat this morning.” Sarah checked her schedule. “The vendors should be up and cooking by eight.”

Carol smiled. “Early bird gets the blini.”

“What’s the matter with Paul?”

“Jeb didn’t say. He just mentioned something about a rough night.”

Sarah hugged her clipboard and pouted. “Poor guy. I hope he’ll be alright.”

“Sure, he just needed some rest.” Carol scanned the activity of the vendors setting up for the day. “Did you have a nice time at Jeb and Aundrea’s?”

“It was fun. Sure didn’t expect to meet Mary Christmas.” She walked up the hill toward the big tree.

“That was interesting.” Carol followed. “I hope you’ll have a chance to spend more time with Paul.”

Sarah’s neck tightened. “I don’t know.”

“I thought you were interested in him.”

“He’s cute and silly, but I felt…”

Carol’s heart sank. “What’s the matter?”

“He was nice and everything, but he seemed distracted.” She squinted as the sun burned its way past a puffy cloud. “I didn’t feel like he was interested.”

“Well, this is still sort of a working vacation for him. Right? He’s only been here a week, and we had him focused on this part of the project.”

“So, you think maybe next week?”

“He’ll have more time to unwind and get comfortable. If there’s something there…”

Sarah groaned and rapped her clipboard on her forehead. “I’m putting too much pressure on him. Poor Paul.”

“You’re putting too much pressure on yourself. Let’s focus on getting through the weekend.” Sarah looked at the fried ice cream wagon. “These guys are going to be packing up tomorrow evening. Streets will work on Phase II after the vendors leave. Maybe you could invite him to dinner or a movie on Tuesday?”

“Tuesday?”

“None of us are getting a weekend this weekend. I don’t know about you, but Monday is going to be my day of rest.”

Sarah saw Ryan and held her clipboard up to hide behind it.

“Now what are you doing?”

“Earl said that Ryan thinks I’m spying on him or something.”

“Are you?”

Sarah gaped at her. “No. If I happen to be looking in a direction and he’s there, I don’t see why he needs to get all paranoid about it.”

“I can talk to him, if you want.”

“About what? There’s nothing to talk about. He’s doing his job. I’m doing my job. Nobody’s doing anything to anyone here.” Sarah hastened her step and headed toward the soft pretzel wagon.

“Okay. I didn’t mean anything by it.” Carol doubled back and headed down the hill.

Ryan was sweeping up around the fried ice cream wagon as she walked past. “Good morning.”

“Hi, Ryan. How are you doing?”

“Had kind of a rough night, actually.” He swept a pile into a dustpan and dumped it into a nearby trash can.

“I’m sorry to hear that. It seems to be going around.”

“Oh, couldn’t you sleep either?”

“No, I’m alright. It’s Megaman.”

“He’s a pretty nice guy. I hope he sleeps better tonight.” Ryan kept sweeping around the next trailer down the line.

“I hope you do, too. Are they working you too hard?”

He stared at the little pile of dirt he was sweeping. “No, work is good. I just have a hard time sleeping.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault.” He swept his pile into a dustpan and dropped it into a trash can.

“Ryan, if I upset you…”

“Huh?” He looked around for something to sweep.

“About the mistletoe. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Me either.” He clutched his broom and pan between them. “I didn’t come back here to pick up where we left off. I didn’t think coming back was such a hot idea, but Greg offered to put me up and find me work.”

She nodded. He was different now. The devil may care smirk was replaced with a careworn frown. The leather biker’s jacket was replaced with this bland, secondhand quilted coat. The volatile bad boy seemed to have been drained of, what? It was like he’d lost a piece of his soul. “Well, from what I hear, you’re doing a good job. I hope you get a chance to settle in and get comfortable.”

“Kinda hard with your little sidekick hounding me.” He winced. That sounded too aggressive. ‘Can’t afford to mess this up, idiot.’

“Hounding you?” Carol stepped closer. “Ryan, what happened?”

He pulled his hat off and itched his head. “Nothing. Forget I said it.”

“Look, if she’s bothering you—”

“Really, forget it.”

“Okay, but if it gets to be a problem, please find me.”

He nodded and wandered off in search of something to sweep.