as I walked up. “Otherwise, I’ll get you whatever you need.”
“Where’s the loyalty?” I asked. “Where’s the love? I’m like family to you people.”
“Tough love, darlin’,” Arlene said. “Can’t ask for more from a family than that.”
“Tough love’s supposed to prevent bad things from happening. You think this new guy … what’d you say his name was?”
Arlene only smiled. She held up a loaf of wheat and raised her eyebrows. I nodded. She put it through the slicer.
“You think he’s that bad?”
“Honey,” Arlene said, “he’d be the best thing in the world for you, and I’m still not going to tell you his name.”
I groaned. “That doesn’t make any sense. Besides, this isn’t about romance. This is a quest. You’ve got to help me win. We’re both women, right? We can’t let these guys beat us.”
“No dice.” She turned to a birthday cake she was preparing to decorate. “See you, Joannie.”
“Hey, not so loud. You at least haven’t told him my name, right? Right?”
Arlene didn’t answer. There was nothing left to do but pay. I hoisted my basket and resolutely made my way toward the checkout. He looked away and sighed as I reached the front of the line. “Not you again,” he said. “Don’t you work? I mean, really. Get a job.”
“Early shift,” I said.
He scanned my cheese and held it up. “Oregon Blue. Don’t you worry that this’ll make your breath stink?”
“It keeps the vampires away.”
Judging his face, I’d say he was baiting me, testing me, and for a moment, I thought he’d add another remark. I noticed that he hadn’t commented, for instance, on whether or not he liked cheese. Instead, he scanned the oranges.
“Hmm. Either you love fruit or you have a visitor who does.”
“Good work, detective,” I said.
“Which is it?”
“Just me and the oranges,” I said. I raised my chin and looked him in the eye. “No name tag today?”
“Not once I saw you in my line.” He met my gaze unflinchingly. “$24.97.”
I handed him a twenty and a five and his fingers brushed my palm as he placed the three pennies in my hand, resting lightly there. “Normally,” he said, “this is the part where I say come back and see us again.” His fingers hadn’t moved. “But with you, that seems totally unnecessary, so I’ll just say, ‘scram.’”
“Thanks. Very good business sense you have there.”
We were looking at each other a little too long in a store where everyone knew us. I let my hand drop. “See you tomorrow?” he said.
“Let’s leave that a mystery. Give our lives some suspense.”
He laughed and turned to smile for the next customer.
The waning moon rose in the twilight. Heat still radiated from the asphalt, though the air itself was cooling toward night. He hadn’t called me by name; the game was still on. I wanted to be angry with myself, to remember Dave and complications, but somehow the brush of fingertips on my skin pushed all other memories aside.
Saturday, the girls and I saddled up early. The still quiet of that peaceful morning imbued itself in us, and there was little other sound except the clink of stirrups against girth buckles.
Once astride, Dawn and Jenny chatted softly about their husbands, and I allowed Foxy to fall back. Russ had been complaining that Dawn and he never had pancakes on Saturday mornings anymore. Eyes flown wide, Jenny looked shocked that Dawn wasn’t at home making breakfast. “What’d you tell him?”
Dawn slumped back in the saddle like an old cowboy. “I told him his options. One, he could get his lazy ass out of bed earlier and we could have pancakes; two, he could fix his own damned breakfast; or three, he could have pancakes with me on Sunday.”
“What’d he say to that?”
“He whined a bit.” She leaned over and plucked a piece of wheat to stick between her teeth. “Men always whine.”
Jenny laughed. “Dave complains sometimes, too,” she admitted. “It’s
“Where’s the loyalty?” I asked. “Where’s the love? I’m like family to you people.”
“Tough love, darlin’,” Arlene said. “Can’t ask for more from a family than that.”
“Tough love’s supposed to prevent bad things from happening. You think this new guy … what’d you say his name was?”
Arlene only smiled. She held up a loaf of wheat and raised her eyebrows. I nodded. She put it through the slicer.
“You think he’s that bad?”
“Honey,” Arlene said, “he’d be the best thing in the world for you, and I’m still not going to tell you his name.”
I groaned. “That doesn’t make any sense. Besides, this isn’t about romance. This is a quest. You’ve got to help me win. We’re both women, right? We can’t let these guys beat us.”
“No dice.” She turned to a birthday cake she was preparing to decorate. “See you, Joannie.”
“Hey, not so loud. You at least haven’t told him my name, right? Right?”
Arlene didn’t answer. There was nothing left to do but pay. I hoisted my basket and resolutely made my way toward the checkout. He looked away and sighed as I reached the front of the line. “Not you again,” he said. “Don’t you work? I mean, really. Get a job.”
“Early shift,” I said.
He scanned my cheese and held it up. “Oregon Blue. Don’t you worry that this’ll make your breath stink?”
“It keeps the vampires away.”
Judging his face, I’d say he was baiting me, testing me, and for a moment, I thought he’d add another remark. I noticed that he hadn’t commented, for instance, on whether or not he liked cheese. Instead, he scanned the oranges.
“Hmm. Either you love fruit or you have a visitor who does.”
“Good work, detective,” I said.
“Which is it?”
“Just me and the oranges,” I said. I raised my chin and looked him in the eye. “No name tag today?”
“Not once I saw you in my line.” He met my gaze unflinchingly. “$24.97.”
I handed him a twenty and a five and his fingers brushed my palm as he placed the three pennies in my hand, resting lightly there. “Normally,” he said, “this is the part where I say come back and see us again.” His fingers hadn’t moved. “But with you, that seems totally unnecessary, so I’ll just say, ‘scram.’”
“Thanks. Very good business sense you have there.”
We were looking at each other a little too long in a store where everyone knew us. I let my hand drop. “See you tomorrow?” he said.
“Let’s leave that a mystery. Give our lives some suspense.”
He laughed and turned to smile for the next customer.
The waning moon rose in the twilight. Heat still radiated from the asphalt, though the air itself was cooling toward night. He hadn’t called me by name; the game was still on. I wanted to be angry with myself, to remember Dave and complications, but somehow the brush of fingertips on my skin pushed all other memories aside.
Saturday, the girls and I saddled up early. The still quiet of that peaceful morning imbued itself in us, and there was little other sound except the clink of stirrups against girth buckles.
Once astride, Dawn and Jenny chatted softly about their husbands, and I allowed Foxy to fall back. Russ had been complaining that Dawn and he never had pancakes on Saturday mornings anymore. Eyes flown wide, Jenny looked shocked that Dawn wasn’t at home making breakfast. “What’d you tell him?”
Dawn slumped back in the saddle like an old cowboy. “I told him his options. One, he could get his lazy ass out of bed earlier and we could have pancakes; two, he could fix his own damned breakfast; or three, he could have pancakes with me on Sunday.”
“What’d he say to that?”
“He whined a bit.” She leaned over and plucked a piece of wheat to stick between her teeth. “Men always whine.”
Jenny laughed. “Dave complains sometimes, too,” she admitted. “It’s
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