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“No,” she said firmly, making sure he was paying attention. “Thank you.I appreciate it.”
Brendan’s throat suddenly felt like he’d swallowed an apple whole. Not trusting himself to speak, sure that his voice would come out in a strangled warble, he just nodded. That seemed to be enough for Nicole, who went to the counter and added the belt to the pile. Janet tallied it up without a second glance.
He tried to think of the last time he’d gotten a simple thank-you that serious and sincere from someone other than his sister. He came up blank.
* * *
Clothes in the truck, Nicole led Brendan the short distance to the general store where they would be able to get everything else on their list.
It was one enormous open room with a few other customers milling about getting what they needed, all of them staring at Brendan as he walked past. He just tried to smile as warmly as he could, which didn’t seem to make much of a difference. The shelves were packed with everything from flour to powdered milk and eggs, shampoo for both humans and horses; there was a section for garden tools, for soil, and animal feed. There were refrigerators along one side filled with TV dinners and drinks, and next to those was a small stand filled with a mixture of crime and romance novels. Nicole seemed to know where everything was, like she knew the place like the back of her hand, and disappeared with her cart, leaving Brendan to wander about on his own.
“You a friend of Nicole’s?” said a voice so deep it sounded like it was coming out of a speaker. Beside Brendan, a man in his fifties had appeared. Like a lot of other men in town, he wore a checkered shirt and jeans, but he had a long gray beard so impressive that it took all of Brendan’s willpower to keep his hand from reaching up to brush at his stubble.
“Um, yes?” Brendan really didn’t know if they could call each otherfriends, but in this context he was just going to roll with it and hope for the best.
“I heard that she’d sold the farm already. That’d be you that bought it?”
Unused to small-town gossip, Brendan was taken aback with how much complete strangers already knew about him.
“That would be me,” he said, holding out a hand for the older man to shake. “Brendan Greenwood.”
“Axel Fisher,” said the man, taking Brendan’s hand and enveloping it in his own.
“Great name,” said Brendan, which made the man rumble out a laugh like a Santa Claus on steroids.
“I’m quite fond of it myself,” said Axel. “I run the store here.”
Brendan took another cursory look around at the shelves filled with every imaginable product.
“Must keep you busy?”
“I bet buying a farm doesn’t leave you with too much free time either.”
“Well, Nicole’s been a saint,” said Brendan, more than happy to sing her praises to whoever would listen. “She’s stayed on to help me run it, teach me the ropes, you know.”
Axel nodded his head, his expression taking a somber turn.
“You take care of her, you hear?” His tone wasn’t threatening but it was serious.
“Oh,” said Brendan, not really sure what to say. “Well, I was planning to?” It came out as a question, but he realized it was the truth. He had no ill intentions towards her.
Axel smiled a little beneath his beard and shrugged. “Don’t mean to be sticking my nose in where it don’t belong, and she certainly wouldn’t appreciate it either, but that family’s had it hard enough over the years and she’s always been a good kid, if a little prickly. Just don’t want anyone making her life harder than it needs to be is all.”
“She mentioned her dad had passed away,” said Brendan, wanting this man, who really did seem to care, to know that Brendan knew at least a little of what had happened in Nicole’s life. But from the sounds of it, that really didn’t begin to scratch the surface.
Axel nodded sadly. “Adam was a good man, and you don’t get a lot of those. Men who are good all the way through. He could be a little foolish sometimes, but if you ever needed a hand harvesting or getting an engine repaired, you could give him a call and he’d drive out to help.”
“Which is saying a lot,” said Brendan. “Considering how long it takes to drive everywhere out here.”
Axel chuckled again. “Yes, it is. But he raised his kids right, and Nicole’s done her best over the years. I’m glad she can stay on the farm, even if it don’t belong to her no more.”
Brendan felt a pang of guilt, which didn’t entirely make sense — it wasn’t like he’dstolenthe place from her, after all.
“She certainly knows her stuff,” he said, even though that was the understatement of the century.
“You ever get stuck or need help, you just call the store, all right?” said Axel, giving him a pat on the shoulder that nearly buckled Brendan’s knees. “No use sticking to yourself out here, young man.”
With that he left the aisle, off to continue his day and talk to other customers, leaving Brendan feeling like he’d just been given some sort of blessing.
