God, she hoped not.
Pushy, though? She’d take that. Nana always warned her that she could get a bit pushy when she wanted something. Like Franklin and his scowl, Gloria didn’t even recognize that she was doing it. Even if she did? It wouldn’t have changed anything.
Which was precisely why she blurted out what she did next.
“So, um, hey… I was wondering, since we’re gonna be neighbors for a while, maybe you can give me your number?”
“My what?”
“Your number or, you know, whatever you call it. There’s supposed to be a way to contact people on purpose. That’s what the deputy said.”
“You want my direct channel?” Franklin slipped his hands inside his coat pockets. “I guess I can give you that, but it’s not really necessary. I’m right next door. If you have a question about your car, you can always knock.”
She could. But, considering her request had nothing to do with her car and everything to do with getting to know him better, knocking kind of defeated the purpose.
“Yeah, I guess. And it’s not like I even know how to use this thing.”
“I could teach you. I mean, if you think you’ll be needing the radio, I could teach you how to use it.”
“Really? That would be great.” Then, as if she was almost daring him, she said, “Thanks, Franklin.”
His lips thinned. Instead of saying anything, he simply nodded.
Gloria sighed. One day, she promised. One day she would wrangle that ‘you’re welcome’ out of him.
Franklin cleared his throat.
Gloria perked up. “Yeah?”
“Did he give you his?”
Huh? “His what? What do you mean?”
“Deputy Walsh. Did he give you his line?”
“Nope.” Dimples popped in her cheeks as she grinned up at him. “Probably because I didn’t ask him for it, though.”
“Oh.” Was it her imagination or did the grumpy expression on his rugged face ease up just a fraction when she admitted that? “It’s not like the radio’s all that difficult to work. They make ‘em idiot-proof, so if you’ve got any questions, or you want me to give you a tutorial sometime, just let me know.”
“I’ll do that.”
Inwardly, Gloria was doing a happy dance. Whether Franklin did it on purpose or not, he had given her a reason to come track him down another day—and she didn’t even have to play the role of a damsel in distress over her “busted” ice cream machine.
“Goodnight, Gloria. See ya later.”
“Oh, Franklin… wait a sec. I’m glad you popped your head out. I wanted to tell you… the snow tires? I saw them on my car the other day. You didn’t have to do that. It was super nice, though.” She paused, then with the most guileless expression she could muster, she said pointedly, “Thank you. I don’t know what I would do without you next door.”
Franklin blinked, silent, as if something she said—or did—had suddenly struck him even more speechless than usual.
Gloria grinned. “This is the part where you say ‘you’re welcome’,” she pushed.
“You’re… you’re welcome.”
Ha.
Success!
8