Page 14 of Lovesick
“Pinnable? What’s that?”
Her eyes widened. “Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of it.”
“Never.”
“JJ!” Shock threaded her voice. “Are you so removed from the world that you don’t know what Pinnable is? It’s one of the biggest social media platforms ever. You can organize things by corkboards and notes and images and...”
I shrugged.
She laughed. “I’m not sure if I’m impressed by the fact that you’ve never heard of it, or frightened by it.”
“You should be impressed.”
Her smile broadened. “Then I am. It’s a social media app that I use all the time, and have for years. Working there would be ... a dream. At least, I hope it would. I think it would. I could use my expertise in computer programming to help them improve basic layouts, functionality, etc. I’d hopefully work more on the back end. The layers of complexity in that kind of coding have me intrigued.”
Another stretch of calm fell between us as she rearranged a few letters. Her thoughts seemed far from the game, however.
“Is it a job that would make you happy?” I asked.
She frowned. “I don’t know. I think so. I mean . . . I’m concerned that it’s based out of Florida because I missed my sisters so much when I was away for college, but I guess I’ll have to deal with that.”
“Whatdoesmake you happy?”
Why I asked, I had no idea, but a hint of color appeared in her cheeks, so I didn’t regret it. For a moment, I thought she’d change the subject, but then she laid down her letters.L-O-V-E.Her eyes slammed into mine like a wall of bricks.
“What makes me happy? Well, that’s easy. My wall of romance books at home in the Frolicking Moose.”
“You have a wall of books?”
“Last count was 956.”
“What?” I leaned back. “That’s incredible!”
“They’re all romance.”
I almost laughed, then realized she was serious. Instead, I managed to only lift my eyebrows. “Wait, what?”
“I have almost a thousand romance novels.” She grinned. “They make me so happy.”
“Romance makes you happy?”
“Deeply.”
Stunned, I could only blink for a moment. “Do tell.”
“Romance is a lifesaver.”
If I hadn’t been curious before, I was utterly transfixed now. Instead of considering my tiles, I just stared at her. Living with Mark for the last thirty years meant I’d heard a lot of crazy things, but not that.
Never that.
“Please,” I said, “explain.”
She grinned. “Gladly. That cheesy saying thatlove makes the world go round?I actually believe that. I think romance saves lives. It enhances. We crave it all the way to the marrow of our bones. Look at Hollywood. At the top music charts. Everyone talks, acts, and sings about love.”
“Well, it sells, right?”
“Yes! You prove my point.”
