The stranger – the very good looking stranger – had been wandering from rack to rack for the better part of a half hour. Sherry had been happy to stay behind the counter totaling up the day's receipts while periodically checking out the newcomer. A tourist, probably, they're always looking for something she didn't have (even though their stock was pretty impressive, being close enough to the city to get in the new titles pretty quickly). Last Chance Video was just that, everyone's last chance for entertainment when they'd seen the movies at the duo-plex, were sick of the cable TV crap, and had run through their own collections seventeen times. This guy was probably looking for some obscure foreign title. Foreign they had, but mostly the French/Italian/Brit mainstream stuff. He was probably looking for the Russian production of War and Peace. Another reason she could tell he was a tourist (aside from the fact that she'd definitely have noticed a looker like him around this half-a-horse town by now) was that he'd come in just an hour before closing. By eight o'clock on a weeknight everyone had already picked their pleasure and were fully engaged in it. But hey, checking out a sweet eyeful like this one was a fine pastime for the last dead hour of business. Except he was the last one in, and a sure bet the last one for the night, and she'd like to get balanced out and locked up on time for once.
"'scuse me, can I help you find something?" He was so absorbed in his search for… whatever… he didn't answer, so she walked around the counter and kept going until she stood just a couple feet away. He looked even better close-up, tall and strawberry-blond, real tasty in those black jeans and leather jacket. Of course she'd noticed that when he'd parked that fancy black bike out front. Not a Harley hick, for sure. "Mister? You looking for something special?" Christ, that sounded bad. She loved checking the guys out, but wasn't any kind of sleaze.
"What?" When he turned and looked at her she could see she'd been right, totally zoned out. But check out those dark blue eyes…
"You look a little lost, is all. You've been here awhile now and don't seem to be finding what you want."
Nick shrugged a little sheepishly. "Well not exactly. I don't have anything particular in mind, just looking for the right thing…" Maura had been so down in the week since they'd arrived; she'd thrown herself into arranging the stuff the movers brought and setting up the kitchen to her taste but had shown no inclination to go out and get acclimated to their new incarnation. Aristotle had had to arrange for several casks of blood to be delivered until they could find a local source, and had also sent along a crew to install a large cooler in the artist's studio. Other "tailoring" such as the blackout blinds were installed by local contractors, but anything related to his "unique condition" had to be undertaken by those known to the Community. The stuff they'd decided to keep didn't nearly fill the new house, but Maura hadn't been inclined to venture out in search of furnishings or much of anything else. Nick had to ask Aristotle to have some groceries delivered along with the blood. It didn't seem wise to invite immediate questions from their new neighborhood by requesting deliveries from local stores. While she hadn't been moody or short tempered, Maura was obviously not interested in venturing beyond their life at home. Odd, because their sometimes insular tendencies had worried her in Toronto.
"Why don't you give me an idea? Is it a special occasion or something? For a friend?" Ah, nuts, when he gestured she could see the flash of a wedding ring. Oh well, win some, lose some.
"Well we've just moved here from Toronto this past week, and Maura seems to be having a little trouble adjusting."
"Your wife not happy to be dragged to the middle of nowhere?" Sherry asked rather snarkily.
"Not exactly." Nick's response was a bit drier than he'd intended. Nobody knew them here, after all. "I mean she's just a little down, not feeling herself. We always enjoy watching movies together so I figured I'd pick out something that might cheer her up."
Sherry cast a jaundiced eye at the copy of "Cries and Whispers" he was holding. "Well not that I know her or anything, but my guess is Bergman isn't the way to go." She took the DVD from him and replaced it on the shelf. "If you like foreign films, how about this?" She retrieved a copy of Cocteau's "Beauty and the Beast" and offered it for inspection. "Subtitles, not dubbed."
Nick was delighted. How could he have missed this? "No problem, we both speak French anyway." He looked at the salesgirl for the first time. She was maybe a few years younger than Maura, though shorter and brunette with deep brown eyes. "Thank you so much."
"Don't mention it. Now let's get you signed up, even tourists have to fill out the form and get a membership card."
As he followed her to the front counter Nick corrected, "We're not tourists, we're new arrivals." Remembering his manners he extended his right hand. "I'm Nick Knight, Maura and I just bought that lovely red house with the barn and studio on Cow Hill Road."
"Sherry Nadeau. Yeah, I knew the Millers had sold the place and moved to Winooski but their realtor was based all the way in New Hampshire so we couldn't get any dirt on the new owners. Which would be you and, Maura? Your wife, right?"
Nick hadn't gotten completely accustomed to their newly adopted status, so he often forgot to refer to her as his wife. "Right." He filled out the form, realizing couldn't remember his new phone number. "Sorry, I haven't memorized our phone number yet. We were hoping for cell phone service, but it seems that's not an option around here."
"Welcome to the Deep North. At least you can get Internet here."
That had been set up before they'd arrived, of course. "Here it is, best I can do for now. How much?" Having run out of cash after paying the window blind contractors, he pulled out his platinum card.
"Not that much," she laughed, and pushed it away. "It's a buck-fifty for old titles. You can pay when you bring it back, and bring your phone number too."
It had been a very, very long time since Nick had lived in anything resembling a small town. "Thanks. You always this trusting of strangers?"
Sherry finished ringing out the cash register and locked the money in the safe. "You talk like my uncle Roy. He's a cop in Burlington."
"We tend to think alike. I was a homicide detective in Toronto. Maura was manager at a nightclub. It's gonna take us a while to find our rural style. No offense."
"None taken. And don't worry, it's not 'rural style'. It's that everybody knows everybody, and your life can be made hell in a heartbeat." They were standing outside as she locked up.
Nick sighed to himself. "Now that, we're used to," he muttered.
"Whoa, you just said a mouthful, Nick." Sherry looked a little more closely at Nick. He really did seem like a nice guy, married or not. And something was brewing inside, no question. She wondered how she'd feel in a brand new place with nobody much to talk to except a depressed spouse. "Sorry, none of my business."
"Don't worry about it, everyone arrives with some kind of baggage, right? I won't take up more of your time, thanks for the break on the forms and payment." He zipped the DVD inside his jacket and climbed aboard the bike. As he dropped it forward and got ready to gun the engine, Sherry told him, "No worries. And it's only baggage if you make someone else carry it."Nick cut the engine abruptly, rolled the bike back up on the stand and held the keys in front of him, staring down at nothing.
"I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?" Sherry took a step toward him.
He shook his head, then looked at her. "Not at all. In fact Maura's been known to remind me of that." He didn't know what else to say.
"Look, Nick, I know you don't know me from Adam, and I don't want you to take this the wrong way or anything, but can I buy you a cup of coffee or a beer? Like the song says, take a load off."
This forced a smile out. "My name's Nick, not Fannie."
"That's okay, I ain't Carmen or the Devil, myself. C'mon, the sidewalks roll up early here but Ernie's is still open. Just a couple blocks." Nick glanced at his watch. "You can use the bar phone to call home. Hey, moving's tough. Take a break and meet some of the locals. Then when you can pry your wife out of the house you can introduce her around."
The invitation appeared so genuine, and her estimation of his situation so accurate, he agreed. "Lead on, Sherry. It's always good to find a local guide…"