“If you’re interested, my friend—different friend—has an online shop where she sells her stuff. I can send you the link if you wanna check it out. And I’m sure she’d be happy to talk with you about how she started it. All that stuff.”

“Yes, please! I’d love that.”

***

And so Truman left the party with a promise from Ginny that she’d connect him with her friend and a date to go over to Ginny’s for coffee and to discuss bullet journaling the following week. He was giddy with it (and the eggnog didn’t hurt) as he and Ash waved their goodbyes and ventured out into the cold night.

He slid his arm through Ash’s and tried to skip. Of course, since he hadn’t informed Ash of this plan, it was not successful.

Ash chuckled. “Are you tipsy?”

“Nah, just happy. Well, a tiny bit tipsy, but mostly happy. I like Ginny. Thanks for introducing us. Did you go to high school with her too?”

“Ginny? No, Ginny moved here a few years ago when she married Mort Hazeldon. She’s, like, ten years older than me. Do we look the same age?”

Truman came to a halt and made a show of peering at Ash’s face. Of course, this was really just an excuse, because Ash’s face was quite wonderful and he enjoyed looking at it. When Ash became uncomfortable being stared at, Truman shrugged.

“I’m terrible at guessing people’s ages, actually. Everyone twenty to forty looks the same age, basically. Unless they dress like parents. Then they look older.”

“That why you dress like a parent? To look older?” Ash teased.

Truman feigned outrage for a moment, but he knew it was true. He’d once heard someone say that you either dressed to express who you were or to hide it. His khaki pants, plain button-down shirts, and subdued ties were perfect for work, but they certainly didn’t express his personality.

“Okay, well, why do you dress like…however you dress?”

“I just wear what I like,” Ash said simply. “You want to come in for a bit?”

They were standing outside Thorn.

“Definitely.”

Bruce was ecstatic to see them, and Ash took him outside for a turn around the block while Truman made them some hot tea.

When Ash returned, they settled on the couch, intertwining their legs since there wasn’t quite enough room.

“That was fun,” Truman said. “People here are really nice.”

“Yeah, they’re all right.”

“They seem to like you an awful lot.”

“They love my mom. They feel sorry for me,” Ash said matter-of-factly.

“Do you want to know something embarrassing?”

“Always.” Ash gave a ghost of a smile.

“Well, I know you’re not sure about being back here, and you came because of your mom. But that’s a great reason. You know why I’m in New Orleans?”