Schmitt already had his measuring tape out and was making notes on a small pad as he talked. He finished up and motioned toward a couple of chairs by the window.
“It might take a bit. Just have a seat, and I’ll see what he has so you don’t drive all that way for nothing.”
“Thanks, Schmitt. I appreciate it.”
Travis pulled his phone out of this pocket and sat down with it in his hand. The notification for Alpha Meets Omega caught his eye, and he opened the app. It was flooded with messages and little wink emojis, but he found nothing of interest there. He was unwilling to admit that he had gotten lucky on his first attempt, especially considering he’d taken his date home in a state of unconsciousness, but he’d really liked her.
In fact, he found that he was antsy to call her now that he had her number, but he didn’t want to have to break off their conversation if Schmitt came back. Instead, he sent her a text to let her know he had gotten hers and would call her when he got done with some errands he was running.
“Alright, looks like you might be in more luck than we could hope for. Dakota had a linebacker come in the other day, and his measurements are only slightly different than yours. We might have to take up the hem on the cuffs and pants legs to get a good fit, but he left a half dozen suits there that Dakota says look brand new.”
“Why would someone sell new suits to a consignment shop?”
“Hey, I don’t know, but it’s your good luck. Dakota closes in an hour. It’ll take you twenty or thirty minutes to get to his place, depending on the traffic, so you best hurry up. He’ll be waiting on you,” he said, holding out a slip of paper and a card. “If you need them hemmed and I’m closed before you get back, just give me a call at home, and I’ll do you a favor.”
“That’s good of you. Thanks,” Travis told him, looking down at the paper. There was an address and quick directions on it to a place called Suitable Attire.
Travis hurried out the door and hopped into his truck, not wasting any time. He hoped that whatever happened tomorrow was worth the trouble and that, even though the suits were secondhand, he could afford at least one with what money he had.
An hour later, he walked out of Dakota’s shop with not one, but all of the suits Mr. Linebacker had left for less than the price of what one new one would usually cost. He had even had enough to grab some dress shirts and a handful of ties. He stopped off at Schmitt’s on his way home, catching him before he closed up shop.
“Come on in and let’s see what you got,” Schmitt said, leading him back to the sewing area of the shop. “These are nice suits. I don’t know why anyone would get rid of them. They’re in mint condition. Let’s get them on you and see what they need.”
When Schmitt was done with him, he walked out with one suit altered to fit and the rest left behind for adjustments. He told Travis to come back tomorrow afternoon before closing time and he’d have the rest done for him, as they were all easy fixes he could get done in a hurry.
Things were looking up. He was in decent shape for the job tomorrow. Hopefully, he wasn’t getting his hopes up for nothing. It was temporary work, but it would pay well enough for him to get on his feet a hell of a lot quicker than slinging drinks at the bar.CHAPTER EIGHTKat
“Hello?” Kat gasped into the phone as she dropped her groceries onto the living room floor of her house.
“I’m sorry. Did I catch you at an inconvenient time?” a voice replied from the other end.
She had expected her mother was calling to check on her and hadn’t looked at the caller ID before answering. Now, she did and realized it was a number she didn’t recognize. It took a moment for it to sink in.
“Travis?”
“Yes,” he replied.
“I’m sorry. I was just coming in with some shopping. It’s a bit warm out there when you’re on the go.”
“Ah, I’ll let you go then. Perhaps I can call later,” he said, his voice trailing off a bit as he spoke.
“No. No. I’m in now. I can talk to you while I put things away.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, of course. You just caught me off guard. I thought you were Mom calling to check in on me.”
“Definitely not Mom.”
“No, definitely not,” she laughed.
“Though I did call to check in on you. I wanted to make sure you are okay and to apologize for leaving before you were completely up and about. I just thought you might be more comfortable dealing with things without your date hanging about.”