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She shook her head. “I’ve been trying to get this website up and running so I can sell things directly and build a brand. But the guy I hired to develop it is so stinking slow and I keep having to make him change things and then he’s charging me more…”
“Wait—you hired a developer?”
“Just some website guy. I don’t know what he’s developing, exactly. I wanted a basic website that I could sell directly from without paying fees to Etsy. Maybe do blog posts…content strategy…SEO—some of those are words I hear people saying but don’t really get.”
“You know that I kind of get all that stuff, right?”
“Really? I thought you did tech-coding-app-something or other,” Colby said.
Nate laughed. “This is not your wheelhouse, huh?”
“Nope. That’s why I hired someone. But instead of helping me make more money, all my money is being drained and I’m no closer to making a full-time income.”
“That’s what we’re doing when you’re done. Are you done? I’ve got my computer. Get yours. We’ll sit here at the counter and talk shop. I bet I can do better than your developer and fast. And—magic word—for free.”
Colby turned off the water and turned to face Nate. “You don’t need to do that. I mean, that sounds really nice, but—”
“No buts. I love problem solving. Our app got hacked and I can’t work on anything until we get it under control. I’m itching for something to do.” There was a crash outside and they both jumped slightly. “Wind’s picking up. I should get the rest of my things from the car.”
“Can I help?”
“I’ve got it.”
“Whatever. You helped drill plywood into a house that’s not yours and not even mine. I can carry some stuff in from the car. Plus, I want to go out like one more time before it gets too crazy. Just to see what pre-hurricane looks like.”
“Fine. Just watch for debris. It’s windy, but shouldn’t be so bad yet.”
As they walked outside, the evening was eerie. Clouds moved at a rapid pace through the sky above them, visible because of the full moon, which kept appearing and disappearing behind them. There was an odd sort of calm, punctuated every so often by a really strong gust of wind.
“Is this the calm before the storm?” Colby said.
“I think we passed the calm a few hours ago. This is more the ramping up to the storm.”
Colby followed Nate to the trunk of his car, noticing the houses up the street. A few others had boarded up windows, but most hadn’t. She poked Nate in the arm. “Did we overdo it? Not many other people boarded up.”
He followed her gaze up the street. “Huh. I don’t know. If nothing much happens, then we’ll feel like we did too much. If your neighbors all lose their windows, we’ll feel like the smart ones. Didn’t they ask you to do this?”
“Yeah, my friend’s husband is pretty uptight about things. I appreciate you doing it for me.”
“Hey, we’re a team. We did it. Together.”
She smiled. “I guess I did hold the board pretty well. I also rocked the job of handing you screws. Very tough.”
“You should probably add that to your resume when you’re looking for jobs,” Nate said, giving her a sideways grin as he popped open the trunk. “But maybe I can help you with your website and you won’t have to.”
A sudden gust of wind sent her hair flying into Nate’s face. He coughed and stepped back, trying to brush it out of his mouth while Colby gathered it up into a loose ponytail with a rubber band from her wrist. “Sorry,” she said, laughing.
He laughed too and stepped closer. “That’s okay. I think I got a little extra protein there. A nice chaser after dinner. Okay, let’s get inside before anything else flies into my mouth.”
Colby was fascinated by Nate’s trunk. It was perfectly organized, with a whole host of things that seemed really odd for a trunk. “Wow. What is all this stuff? Were you a Boy Scout or something?”
“Eagle Scout, thank you very much,” Nate said. “Here, take this.”
He handed her a plastic storage crate that was half-full and loaded a few more things into it: batteries, some kind of electronic gadget, and a few packs of batteries and various cords. He put a duffel bag over his shoulder and picked up what looked like a computer backpack.
“Looks like you’ve got your whole life in here,” Colby said.
“Are you calling me a pack rat?”
