Savannah laughed at his joke. “I figured. You look like the ultimate HFMF.” Her head tilted down a bit and her look became conspiratorial. “And that sounds like a family name. Tell me you have a sister named Lynne-in.” Sav had never met a pun or a play on words that she didn’t like. If given free reign, she’d start asking if ‘Granny’ was short for Granite.
His surprise when she offered a couple of random facts of her own was met with a laugh. Clearly, she wasn’t as good of a salesman as he was, but when she nodded a second later, it was enthusiastic. “I think they both are! Unless the media gods lied to me. And, be forewarned, if you want to go down that path, I rabbit hole very easily.” As in ‘go down the’. Sav wasn’t exactly a conspiracy theorist and she genuinely, generally believed the best and trusted things at face value, but she also had an open and curious mind. It helped her as a researcher, but it also created a lot of elasticity in how far she was willing to follow something. If he wanted to expose fraud in Big Vocabulary, he’d found the right partner.
When she said her name, Harding’s expression lit up in a way that told her a lot before he even said anything. Sav wasn’t surprised that a stranger in Willow Creek recognized the McKenna name. She had a big family, in both quantity and personality and it was a relatively small town. His delight zapped her excitement to another level. “Yes! Kevin’s my uncle. And I agree! They’re some of my favorite people, too! They’re awesome.” Harding’s comment about her name made her laugh, but she didn’t agree or disagree with him. She’d always thought that her name was more reflective of her mother’s sense of humor than anything to do with her. Her smile stayed bright until he mentioned Jake and a pang of sadness struck her. Her expression gentled with understanding when he offered his condolences. “Thank you. There’s been a lot of bad news these last few days. And no. I’d been planning this for a few weeks. I did come down about a week early because of what happened, but everything else is just… timing.”
To say it was good or bad didn’t seem right, either way. It was just a coincidence. Her shrug had a helpless quality.
Her thoughts wanted to stay on Jake; there was a stubborn resistance when the subject changed, but it dissolved and relocated easily enough with a nudge. His words of encouragement buoyed her spirits again. “Thanks. It’ll be interesting. I mean, I moved out of my dad’s house a few years ago, but New York is so prohibitively expensive and I haven’t totally struck it rich, yet, so, you know, roommates were kind of necessary. This is an adventure!” Willow Creek wasn’t particularly cheap, but it afforded her some more freedoms.
Sav laughed when he reaffirmed his desire to help, but she still threw in a, “As long as you’re totally sure…” She smiled. “Thanks. You’re going to have to give me your professional opinion; if you like the couch, tell me the truth. If you don’t… lie.” There was a playful glint in her eye. Her steps were light when she did as he told her and she skipped down the stairs and towards the van. Looking over her shoulder, she asked, “Have you lived here for very long? Do you like the apartments?”