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He sighed and shook his head. “See what happens when I go and open my mouth?”
He sat back down and started writing out the ingredients.
This was going to be a very interesting evening. And a longer one than she’d anticipated, but fortunately she didn’t have anything else planned—except for working on her special contribution to the fundraiser.
*
This feels so natural.
But how is that possible?
Avery had never gone grocery shopping with Jillian. He’d always gone alone while she was watching the kids. And now, here he was pushing a shopping cart down the aisle of the Monroe Grocery Store while Jillian made small talk about the Bake-Off.
He nodded or gave a one-word response at the appropriate spots. He hadn’t told Jillian, but he hated grocery shopping. These days he did it rarely and grudgingly. Most of the time he opted for takeout from one of the local restaurants.
No sir. He didn’t like grocery shopping at all. It made him think of when he was struggling to finish raising his brother and sister. And in the solitude of grocery shopping, he had too much time to think.
And today his thoughts had drifted to his visit to the bank first thing that morning. He knew securing a loan to buy the Crooked S wouldn’t be easy, but he didn’t expect a quick and firm denial. Being a rodeo cowboy, he was classified as self-employed. To make a living, he had to be out on the road and thus unavailable to run the ranch. And the bank didn’t believe he’d be able to turn the ranch’s finances around quick enough, especially if he were to split his time between the ranch and the rodeo. They deemed the venture too high risk. Still, Avery refused to give up.
Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t realize Jillian had stopped in front of him. The cart he was pushing ran right into her. She let out a small ompf before turning in his direction and leveling him with a frown.
“Sorry,” he said hesitantly.
And then she surprised him by smiling. “Is grocery shopping that boring to you?”
“It’s not exactly enjoyable.”
“Really? I love it. Except when I’m hungry. Those are the times I buy far more than I intended and my credit card cringes. Not to mention half of my loot isn’t exactly on the healthy side of life.”
It was hard to remain in a foul mood when he was with Jillian. “Ah…so you’re a junk food junkie.”
She shrugged. “I call it fun food.”
He laughed, liking this less serious side of Jillian. “And does changing the name make it healthier?”
“So anyway, what’s first on our shopping list?”
He shook his head. “Oh no, you aren’t going to change the subject. I’m curious about this.”
“There’s nothing to be curious about.”
“Oh yes, there is. You’ve always been so perfect in school, at home, and with your business. So I really enjoy hearing about this rebel side of you. So what’s your favorite? Chips? Ice cream? Candy?”
A rosy hue came over her cheeks. “Avery, do you have to? It’s not that big of a deal.”
“It must be or you wouldn’t be blushing.” His smile broadened. “You know, I’m beginning to see how much fun this grocery shopping can be.”
He’d definitely been doing it wrong all of this time. He should have been shopping with Jillian. Perhaps he’d see about them shopping together in the future. The idea definitely had possibilities.
“Avery,” came a voice from behind him.
He turned to see Mrs. Monroe approaching him. Her arms were outstretched
and before he knew it, he was enveloped in a warm hug. It’d been a long time since anyone had hugged him. He remembered vividly at his parents’ funeral how everyone in town had shown up. With most of them knowing him since he was in diapers, a handshake just wouldn’t do. There was hug after hug. At the time, he’d been so numb that he was able to get through it.
After the funeral, he hadn’t been able to take the coddling any longer. He had been angry at the world for stealing away two healthy people who had a loving family counting on them. Avery had distanced himself from people except for his brother and sister, but they had never been a touchy-feely family.
Marietta was such a small town. Everyone knew everyone else, and they all wanted to comfort him, but in reality, no one could. The devastating loss of his parents was something he and his siblings had to get through on their own—in their own time.
