Page 2 of Finding Tane
Dillon’s eyes widened. “Oh wow. I don’t know if we’ve ever had a New Zealander in Foggy Basin before.”
I chuckled. “Well, I hope I don’t disappoint you.”
“I’ve always wanted to visit there,” Dillon said. “After seeing Lord of the Rings, you know.”
I did know. This was the number one thing that people overseas seemed to know about Aotearoa. Well, that and our nation’s rugby prowess.
“Sure, everyone wants to be a hobbit,” I said.
Dillon chuckled. “Are you staying long in Foggy Basin?”
I shrugged. “I dunno, a week or so at least.” I had no real idea what my future held, after all.
“Well, I’m Dillon, like you saw on my apron.” He held out a hand and I juggled my basket to shake it. He had a firm, sure handshake. I tried to match his energy.
“Tane.” I pronounced it clearly so he wouldn’t get it wrong.
“Welcome to town Tane,” he started to back off. “Let me know if you need help finding anything.”
“I will, thanks.” I added another sugary cereal to my basket, some packets of instant ramen, a couple of snack cakes and barsof chocolate and a bag of chocolate chip cookies. For drinks I got instant coffee and some sports drinks. It wasn’t exactly a healthy spread, but it was what my body wanted.
Some guy with Christian stitched onto his apron rang me up and thankfully, didn’t say anything about my choices, made pleasant small talk and bagged my stuff up.
I practically ran out of there. Maybe it was because Dillon had asked about my future? Maybe it was because Dillon was so... nice? So is the All-American good guy nice?
I wasn’t used to that. In L.A. people were nice to me because they wanted something. They wanted me to make them money, they wanted me to appear on their TV shows or Instagram Livestreams.
Had I really been in such rarefied air so long that I’d lost touch with the kinds of people who were just nice for the sake of it?
Whatever the reason, I hurried back to the car and checked into my little motel room as quickly as possible.
Chapter Two
Dillon
Six weeks earlier
“There you go, Dillon,” Dad handed the keys to Foggy Basin Grocery to me. “Now it’s official.”
I took a deep breath. It was only an old keyring with two keys on it, one for the front door and one for the back... but it was the weight of responsibility hitting me.
I was in charge now. The grocery was mine. Mine to manage. Mine to run.
Sure, I’d been working towards this all my life, I knew how the store ran. I knew all the regulars. I’d even taken a business course and read all the books on business I could find... but I was still nervous.
Taking over the family business from my folks was a big deal.
Mom must have seen it in my face, because she hugged me tight. “You’ll be great Dillon. And besides, you can always call us if you need to.”
“Yeah, I know. Thanks Mom, thanks Dad.” I hugged Dad next. They were itching to leave, you could see it in their faces.
Their second-hand motorhome was parked right outside the store ready for them to jump in and drive off into new adventures.
It was bittersweet. I was ready to stand on my own feet of course, taking over the family business was my lifelong dream. But having the two of them leave me alone to do it was frightening all the same.
Still, no one could argue they hadn’t earned this. A traveling retirement, driving around the country, seeing all kinds of beautiful sights? They had worked long and hard for this.
“Okay, get out of here already.” I put on a brave face for their sake, making a joke of it so they didn’t linger until Mom started to tear up.
