After taking the last measurement, he retracted the tape measure and set it on top of the first box we’d unstacked. “I don’t want to tell you how to run your business, but if you reorganize this back room, you could pick up a pretty substantial amount of storage space.”
“Our store has functioned with this room as our stockroom for over forty years now. What makes you so sure your way is better?”
He rested his elbow on the top of the box and smiled. “Like I said, I don’t want to tell you how to run your business. But if you want, I can help you.”
“Might as well hear you out. It’s not like I have any better offers.”
He drew a couple of lines on the notebook and then added some notes. I moved around the box and stared over his shoulder. Within seconds, he’d rendered the stockroom.
He set the notebook down and measured the width, height, and depth of a few of the boxes from the trailer and then added some additional notes at the bottom of the page. It quickly became apparent that his way was better than ours, in terms of storage optimization.
“How’d you learn how to do that?” I asked.
“What, sketch?”
“No, walk into a room and figure out how much will fit when it’s organized.”
He set the notebook and pen down. “It’s something I’ve done since I was a kid. Spatial relations, math variables, calculations, they all come naturally to me.”
“So you parlayed your natural aptitude for math variables into a job at the district attorney’s office.”
He looked serious. “How’d you know about that?”
“Word gets around.” I smiled. “I don’t remember who told me.”
“After I got my engineering degree, I landed a job in the planning division of the DA’s office.”
“Organizing their stockrooms?”
He grinned. “Something like that.”
“No, really, what do you do?”
“Mostly process applications for variances and rezoning. I enforce county codes and applicable laws. Sometimes I get to review plans for ordinance regulations, and I work closely with other engineers, architects, contractors, developers, and property owners on procedures.”
“So that’s how you ended up solving Don Digby’s property line dispute,” I said, half to myself.
“I forgot about that.”
“Do you have any other talents I don’t know about? Besides assessing small spaces at a single glance?”
“And making fried rice,” he added.
“Yes, there is that. So, math and fried rice. You must be popular at parties.” As soon as I said it, a flash of Tak dressed as Charlie Chan popped into my head. I didn’t get the feeling that Tak was part of Blitz’s crowd, and even Grady had said that Blitz invited Tak to his party but never expected him to show. I still didn’t know what he’d been doing there. And if it wasn’t in some official district attorney/spatial relations capacity—not that I’d know what that was—then I didn’t know why he’d attended. Which put me back to where I was this afternoon, not sure exactly why he was going out of his way to spend time with me.
“I’ve known the Mannerses and the O’Tooles my whole life. My dad likes to play the slots and Grady’s dad owns a casino in the old part of Vegas, so, in time, I was thrown in with that group.”
“But you’re older than they are,” I said. “Aren’t you?”
He grinned. “Older, wiser, better-looking . . .”
“I see Grady isn’t the only one around here with a healthy dose of self-confidence.”
“I’m kidding. I’m more like a friend of the family, I guess. My dad’s restaurant is popular, so people accepted me.”
Even though we had a lot of work ahead of us if we were going to implement Tak’s plan, I pulled out a box that was packed full of Styrofoam wig heads and sat down on top of it. “I grew up here in Proper. How come we never met?”
“My parents moved here while I was finishing up my master’s degree. That was about ten years ago.”
“Where’d you live before that?”
“I was born in Hawaii.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you want my GPA or transcripts? Because I can arrange that if it makes you feel more comfortable.”
I stood back up. “I didn’t mean to interrogate you,” I said. “I was just curious.”
“You’re trying to figure out why I was at Blitz’s party, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I turned my back to him and pretended to be busy with one of the boxes.
He tapped me on the shoulder until finally I turned around and faced him. “What?”
“You should be happy I was at that party. Otherwise your friend Ebony would be in a lot of trouble.”
Chapter 21
“HOW DO YOU keep knowing what I’m thinking?” I asked.
“Because you’re easy to read. It’s refreshing to meet someone who is so comfortable being exactly who she is.”
In the past week I’d worn elements from go-go dancer, cowgirl, clown, and sailor costumes, and today I sported ladies of the ’80s suspenders. I didn’t know who I wanted to be until I woke up in the morning, and I dressed to suit that mood.