AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The passenger side door is wrenched open, and Bennet stares at me. “Come on, short stuff. Let’s go. You wantedcivilization. You wanted tosocialize.”
“Not here!” My voice sounds squeaky even to my own ears, and he just stays put, his head cocked to the side as he waits for me.
“This is not a coffee shop. This is….” My hand sweeps out toward the bags of feed and soil stacked up in front of the store. “This is a Kansas Home Depot.”
Honestly, does no one worry that things will get stolen out here? I mean, anyone could just drive up, grab the bags of feed and leave. And don’t get me started on the cages stacked outside as well. There aren’t animals inside, but anyone could just meander up and walk away with one!
I don’t trust a place that doesn’t lock shit up. It’s odd. Unethical, even. I mean, they’re basically just tempting the criminals.
“Come on. Live a little. You petted a cow. You survived Cluck Norris. What’s a little store in Kansas gonna do?”
I huff. Well, he’s right. What’s the harm? So I jump down out of the truck and march toward the country store like I’m headed into battle. I don’t know what I’m gonna find inside, but it better not be goats. I don’t do goats.
“Okay. Let’s do this,” I murmur, more to myself than anyone else.
Bennet closes the truck door and trots along next to me. And as we approach the front, the door slides open and I’m hit with the oddest smell. It’s not bad per se. Just different.
“I’m not even sure what I’m smelling right now,” I say, and Bennet glances down at me, his eyebrow cocked.
“Care to explain?”
“I don’t know, it’s like the smell of a farm without the smell of poo. It’s odd.”
Bennet reaches out and pulls me into his side, jostling me softly, and I do not snuggle up to him immediately. I struggle for a second, for good measure before sinking into him.
At least I put up a fight. I can go to bed tonight knowing I tried, at least.
As we walk inside, my eyes swivel around the store. It’s larger than I expected and spaced out with tools on the left and a bunch of pet food on the right. As I look closer, I see all types of pet food right in front of me. People in Kansas sure do like their animals.
As we walk past the register, several people recognize Bennet and wave hello to him, telling him to tell his mama hi and to get well soon. I’m used to the smiles now. Mostly. But all those teeth still make me squirm. And I see the gossip mill is out in full force, having heard about Bennet’s mom. I wonder if they not only talk amongst themselves but also announce it in the paper.
Which yes, they all still have delivered to their front door.
I’ve seen it.
It’s fucking crazy. Amazon can’t deliver to the front door, but the newspaper dude can.
“Still not seeing the coffee,” I murmur, not sure if I should step away from his body because I’m sure that people are making all sorts of assumptions right about now. They probably heard a newcomer was in town and…
I stop walking and glance up at Bennet. “Am I being gossiped about right now?”
Bennet glances down at me, confused. “Huh?”
“I mean, everyone knows everything here…do they know about me?”
The thought of it makes me nervous and also makes me feel a little…happy. Like I’m important enough to be talked about.
“Oh, yeah probably. I’m sure someone said something. Can’t escape it out here.”
I glance around and see some people whispering, but don’t have time to think about it because Bennet is tugging me forward, directing me through the store and to a large range of mowers sitting in the middle of an aisle. Don’t know why we are stopping right now, but by the look on his face, apparently this is a trip down memory lane. Maybe he enjoyed cutting grass growing up. I’m pretty sure his family doesn’t have a gardener.
“Fuck, I used to spend a lot of time here as a kid. Just sitting on the mowers and pretending I was driving around,” he says, gingerly reaching out and touching one of the steering wheels. He’s stepped away from me now, and I wonder if he’s gonna sit down and makevroomnoises with his mouth. If he does, I’m not sure what I’ll do.
May have to run. Far, far away.
“On a lawn mower?”
“It was fun, Jasper. Do you remember fun?” He jostles my shoulder with his, and I stumble slightly from the sheer mass of his bulky ass body bumping into mine. I would have rather he held me against him again instead. I don’t like being thrown about…unless it’s in the bedroom.
