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She found chips of every brand and flavor—jerky, too—pops and beers galore, and an entire deli slash bakery slash meat counter fully stocked. What she didn’t find was anything she actually wanted.
Of course. Just her luck. Trapped in the middle of nowhere with people who lacked basic good taste. She’d bet they wore Wrangler jeans and Hanes T-shirts too. Maybe she should have just stayed in the city instead of running off like a drama queen.
But she wasn’t a drama queen. She had good reason to get out of there. Andrew had made her life hell, taken all their friends for himself, and given her the boot from their penthouse, leaving her practically destitute. From trophy wife to pauper in a matter of weeks. She was so depressed, she almost picked out a candy bar. But losing her figure would be just another black mark on her already dour mood.
You know what? Screw it! She was getting the candy bar. There were so many to choose from, but since they didn’t have coconut water, she picked a Mounds. At the counter, she opened her wallet and put down a dollar bill because she didn’t carry change, and ripped open the wrapper, stuffing a dark-chocolate nugget into her mouth.
The bell above the door chimed again, and Vivian turned to see who it was. Probably the clerk returning from wherever people around here disappeared to—Nope. Since it wasn’t her lucky day, week, or even month, it had to be the sexy cowboy.
He stopped to stare at her, amusement coloring his sunburned cheeks. Vivian stopped chewing and shifted the mountain of coconut and chocolate to one cheek.
“Saw your car down the road,” he said.
“Ran out of gas,” she replied. She resumed chewing and quickly swallowed. When her mouth was clear, she glanced past him to the door. “Didn’t hear you pull in. Horse break down?”
“He’s at the trough,” he said, hitching his thumb over his shoulder—because of course there had to be a trough—as he moved toward her, then breezed by on his way to…yep, the rack of jerky bags. He picked a jalapeno flavored one and ripped the top off. Smashing a chunk of dehydrated meat into his mouth, he gnawed on that sucker as he made his way to the back and, a moment later, Vivian heard a cooler open. When he returned, he was cracking open a bottle of Pepsi.
“The cashier isn’t here,” she told him as he went up to the counter.
“That’s ‘cuz he’s on break,” he said as he bypassed her and went straight for the door. Without paying!
“Hey,” she called after him, “aren’t you forgetting something?”
He paused and looked up at the sky, still chewing on that piece of jerky. “Gas station is down the road,” he said, answering the question she hadn’t had a chance to ask. He started walking, the door slapping shut behind him.
From nice guy to ass. The difference was so stark, she wondered what had changed.
Appalled that this seemingly honorable man had completely shirked the honor system, Vivian chased after him. He was untying his horse when she reached his side. “You’d better get back in there and pay for that, mister, or I’ll…I’ll…”
He flashed her a cocky little smirk. “You’ll what, darlin’?”
Her phone was on its last bar, and the reception was horrendous out here. There were no signs of life besides him and her. Whatwouldshe do?
“I’ll tell,” she said with a lifted chin. There had to be a sheriff somewhere, and if she didn’t find one of those, the cashier would come back eventually.
“Aw, and here I thought we were friends,” he said as he pushed by her and swung himself up onto the horse’s back.
Vivian was steaming mad as he pulled the reins and turned the beast toward the road. “Good seeing ya again, miss. If we happen to cross paths again, maybe I’ll take ya out for a bite.”
She narrowed her eyes. Yeah, and stick her with the bill, she’d bet. Man, she was a terrible judge of character! But better late than never. “I don’t plan on hanging around long, but thanks for the offer.”
He tipped his hat in that way she’d thought was sexy but now found utterly irritating. Then, without a word, he tromped off.
Making her way back inside to escape the heat of the evening sun, Vivian huffed as she took out another bit of cash and put it on the counter with her dollar. She couldn’t believe that jerk had stolen from his own town’s grocery store. Did the townspeople know they were living among a thief? It was something she would expect from people in the city, but these people were working on thehonor system. Granted, she thought that was terribly misguided but sweet in a childlike, naïve sort of way, and they clearly trusted each other…and clearly, that trust was misplaced.
Her faith in humanity took a decided hit. Was no one in this world good and pure anymore?
She was rechecking her phone, just to make sure a miracle hadn’t happened and it’d recharged itself since the last time she’d looked at it when she heard something rummaging around in the back.
Probably a raccoon, she thought to herself, her nerves rattled. But then, to her surprise, the plain white slab door in the corner behind the counter swung open and out stepped an older man with thick white hair and a matching full-face beard. He was cleaning his hands with a greasy rag when he spotted her standing there.
“Oh, hello!” he greeted. “Sorry, I was tinkering around in back and didn’t hear ya come in. Damn A/C has been on the fritz.” Overhead, there was a little grind and whir of an engine starting, and then the sound of air being pumped in. He grinned. “And there she blows. I see you saw my sign,” he said, heading toward the register to put away the cash.
Reluctant to tell the man the bad news, she decided honesty was the best policy. And he should know he had a thief in the area. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, especially since I’m not from around here, but a man came in a few minutes ago and took off with some stuff without paying.”
He paused, sending a thoughtful gaze out the storefront windows, and then said, “Big fella, about yay high”—he held a hand up above his own head—“wears a cowboy hat and rides a horse?”
She might be in the countryside, but she doubted many fit that description so well. “Yeah, I think that’s him.”
