“Oh, uh . . .” He bent down to look at the price tag. It was about half as much as I’d assumed I’d have to spend.
I decided to seize the day and go for it.
“OK, I’ll take it.”
He laughed. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah,” I said. “You have to start somewhere, right?”
“I guess that’s true,” he said.
Quiet settled over us.
“Wow,” I said. “I can’t believe I ran into you.”
“I know!” he said. “What are the odds of that?”
“Well, if we both live in the same city, I guess fairly high.”
Sam laughed. “I just assumed you were out in California somewhere.”
I nodded, unsure just how much Sam knew. “Yeah, well, you know.”
Sam nodded somberly. “Yeah,” he said, a dryness in his voice. “I hear you.”
And now I knew that he knew it all. And my impulse was to get as far away from him as possible as quickly as I could. “Well, my parents will be so happy to hear you’re doing well,” I said. “Thanks for your help, Sam. It was great to see you.”
I put my hand out and watched as Sam was surprised by my ending the conversation.
“Oh, yeah, sure,” he said.
And then I excused myself and headed to the register.
“Did anyone help you with your purchase today?” the woman behind the counter said to me as she handed my credit card back.
“Hm?” I asked her. I took it and placed it back into its spot in my wallet.
“Did any salespeople help you decide on your purchase today?” she asked.
“Oh,” I said. “Sam helped me out. He was great.”
“Sam?”
“Yeah.”
“There’s no one that works here named Sam.”
For a minute, I thought maybe I was in a ghost story.
“Sam Kemper,” I said. “He just advised me on this keyboard.”
The woman shook her head, unsure what I was talking about.
I turned around, shifted my gaze from left to right, then stood on my tippy toes to get a better view. But I couldn’t see him anywhere. I was starting to feel like maybe I was crazy. “Like six feet tall, wearing a black shirt, a little bit of stubble . . .” The cashier looked at me like she might know who I was talking about. I pushed forward. “Really nice eyes?”
“Oh, yeah, I know who you’re talking about.”
“Great.”
“That guy doesn’t work here,” she said.
“What do you mean he doesn’t work here?”
“He’s a customer. He comes in a lot, though.”
I closed my eyes and sighed. I’d been talking to him as if he were a salesman the whole time. “My mistake,” I said. “I’m an idiot.”
She started laughing. “No worries.” She handed me my receipt. “Do you need help bringing it out to your car?”
“Um . . .” I looked at it and decided I could do it on my own. “I think I’m good. Thanks.”
I picked up the keyboard and headed for the door, looking for Sam as I went. I made it all the way to the front of the store before I saw him. He was coming down the stairs.
“Sam!” I said.
“Emma!” He said it in my exact same inflection.
“You’re still here,” I said. “I thought maybe you’d left.”
“I was upstairs. I’m here looking at baby grands.”
Admittedly, it took me a second to realize that baby grand wasn’t some sort of candy bar.
“Oh, wow, you’re buying a baby grand piano,” I said, setting the keyboard down for a moment. “Further proof that you don’t actually work here.”
He smiled.
“I’m so sorry I assumed that you were a salesperson. I think I just figured because you worked at our store and . . . Anyway, I just made an ass out of myself when I went up to the register and tried to give you commission on my purchase.”
Sam laughed. “You know, I suspected at the end there that you might have thought I worked here, but I wasn’t sure how to clear it up without . . .”
“Making me feel dumb?”
He laughed. “Kinda.”
“Well, I officially feel dumb.”
“No, don’t,” he said. “It was my pleasure to help you. Really. It’s so nice to see you again.” The sincerity with which he looked at me was disarming. And I wasn’t sure whether I liked that or not. I was thinking maybe I did.
“I owe you a thank-you,” I said. “You were a great help.”
“Do you need lessons?” Sam said. “If you wanted I could . . . teach you. I’d be happy to do it. Show you a few things, just to get