Page 19 of When a Soul Cries

“You always avoid simple questions?” I asked.

“You always ask strangers personal ones?”

“Only when the stranger looks like she needs somebody to ask.”

Her hand paused over the scanner.

For a moment, the guard in her eyes slipped. Something vulnerable appeared behind it, but she covered it so quickly I almost thought I’d imagined it.

“I’m fine,” she said.

It was automatic.

Too quick to be true.

I could’ve pushed, but something told me she would shut down completely if I did.

“Okay.”

Her eyebrows pulled together. “That’s it?”

“You said you’re fine.”

“You don’t believe me.”

“Not even a little bit.”

A soft laugh escaped her before she could stop it.

There it was.

A real smile.

It changed her entire face. The heaviness didn’t disappear, but for one second, it loosened its grip.

The sight landed somewhere in my chest I wasn’t expecting.

“That’s better,” I said.

“What is?”

“That smile.”

She immediately tried to hide it. “You flirt with every cashier who rings up your groceries?”

“Only the ones who make me nearly destroy a cereal display.”

Her eyes widened. “That was you?”

“You saw that?”

“I heard it.”

“Damn. I thought I recovered smoothly.”

“You almost knocked Tony the Tiger into the next aisle.”

Her laugh came easier that time, and I found myself smiling with her.