of. The original Randall house was built in 1797, but it was lost to fire in 1861. I guess they weren’t able to rebuild until 1870, so the house now isn’t all that old.”
“Right. 150 years isn’t old at all.”
I grinned over my shoulder. “It’s all relative in a city like this.”
“I’d like to see your house sometime.”
I paused and turned around, pushing my hands into the back pockets of my jeans. “Really?”
Pink crept up her cheeks. “Is that weird? I don’t mean anything by it. Just, for the history, you know?”
I nodded. She had to mean the house’s history, but the first thing that came to mind was our history. “Yeah. Sure. I’d love to show you.”
I turned and faced forward again, pushing open the studio door. Dani was tense, obviously uncomfortable in my presence, but we were at least talking. That had to be a step in the right direction.
I pulled Dani’s suitcases into the room then stepped aside so she could follow me in. “Do you see there, on the right? Just hit that first light switch.”
She flipped the switch and the room flooded with light. Her eyes went wide. “Wow.”
I followed her gaze as she took in the cameras, the lights, the full set of Random I.
“So this is where the magic happens.” She tugged at her hair, damp and slightly frizzed from the rain, like she wanted to pull it into submission, then settled for tucking it behind her ears.
I couldn’t decide if the hint of something in her voice was sarcasm or actual awe. Sarcasm wouldn’t have surprised me; she’d never made her disdain for Isaac’s profession a secret. Still, the studio was impressive. For her to be dismissive felt cruel, even for her.
Even after a year of dating Dani and another year of working with Isaac, I still wasn’t sure I understood their relationship. Sometimes it seemed like they were almost getting along, but the bad blood clearly ran deep and boiled up to the surface at the most random moments. At the same time, there was a ferocity to them both, to the way they spoke about each other. They definitely cared and would do anything, if it truly came down to it, to protect the other. But getting them to interact as friends was nearly impossible.
“What’s down there?” Dani asked, motioning down the hallway.
“That’s the chop shop. Where they do all the editing and mixing and all those other production words I don’t know anything about.”
“Hey Isaac, is that you?” a voice called down the hall. Tyler appeared seconds later. “Oh, sorry. I thought you were—” his words trailed off when he looked from me to Dani, his smile stretching wide across his face.
“Dandelion?” He quickly crossed to where she stood and pulled her into a hug. “It’s so good to see you!”
I tensed, suddenly uncomfortable for reasons I wasn’t willing to ponder. Stupid emotions.
Dani ended Tyler’s hug with a playful shove. “Tyler Fernley, you know I’ll take you down if you keep calling me that.”
So Tyler must have been the one friend whom Dani and Isaac had actually shared. I felt like he’d told me as much once, but I still wasn’t great at keeping all the roommates and their different backstories straight. The fact they were all so alike only complicated things. They all had distinct jobs, handling everything from the sound and lighting, to the final mixing and the social media, but I still wasn’t confident I could match the right man with the right job.
Tyler looked from me to Dani, then to Dani’s suitcase. “Are you staying a while?” he asked her.
“My parents are still in Europe,” she said with a shrug. “So here’s the next best thing, I guess.”
“Right on, right on,” Tyler said. “Well, welcome. You’re taking the room upstairs?”
She nodded.
“Good to know.” Tyler shot me a knowing look. “I’ll be sure to tell Mushroom he can’t use the couch for naps anymore.”
Dani looked like the thought might make her cry. I couldn’t say I blamed her. The idea of someone named Mushroom taking naps on my bed made me want to cry.
Tyler turned his attention back to me. “Hey, have you seen Isaac? I need him to look over the final edit before I upload this morning’s episode.”
“Last I saw him, he was in the kitchen on his phone.”
“Got it. Thanks.” Tyler looked back at Dani. “The rest of the guys are in the chop shop,” he said. “You want to say hello?”