AllFreeNovel
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Yes, he loved it when she came home to visit, but what he didn’t love was when she brought her trio of best friends with her. Two of the three were growing boys who would eat him out of house and home, and his daughter and her friend Kennedy required copious amounts of ice cream.
While it did a number on his bank account, it also made him breathe a little easier. A model in the big city could develop a number of issues with eating and weight. His girl had yet to show signs of any of that. She ate and she enjoyed her food. He’d buy her as much ice cream as she wanted.
Okay, he didn’t hate it, but his bank balance wasn’t a fan.
He left the four young adults at his house while he made a run to the grocery store. Their visit had been a surprise, so he didn’t have his pantry stocked the way it normally would be, but he always told his girl she didn’t need to ask to come home. She could just show up, and that’s what Nevaeh did.
As Rex parked his truck in a spot in the middle of the parking lot in front of their local grocery store, he reflected on some of the choices he made as a parent. One of the things he had always done was tell Nevaeh that her friends were always welcome at his home. It drove her mother crazy, because she didn’t have the same rule.
When Nevaeh was in high school, he would come home to find eight or nine teenagers hanging out in his living room. Was his house always a disaster that he had to spend hours cleaning after they were there? Yes. Did he know what his daughter and her friends were up to? Also, yes, which made it all worth it.
Her friends trusted him and came to him for advice. They told him their struggles and their successes. They told him about their heartbreaks and their first dates. He knew it all, but in return for that trust, he gave them the best advice he could and kept their secrets unless it was a safety issue.
When he got out of his truck, he snagged a row of carts from the corral and pushed them toward the front of the store, making a mental list of what he needed to get.
Nevaeh liked chocolate ice cream. Kennedy liked the salted caramel. Hunter and Devin requested beef jerky and peanuts. He also needed to get the ingredients for meals. He decided on Hamburgers, Chicken Chili, and Taco Lasagna for dinners. For lunches, he added lunch meat, bread, cheese, and the makings of salads to his mental list. French Toast and cereal would work for breakfast.
Stepping into the store, he took one of the carts and left the rest near the entrance and gave a nod to the older woman who was working the register. She was a sweet woman, but she didn’t take any shit. He liked that. He also liked that when he came through the line, she was able to efficiently ring up the order and have a conversation without holding things up.
After getting the return nod and smile, he took a left and headed for the produce section. After grabbing lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes, avocado, onions, and green peppers, he grabbed lunch meat from the deli section and headed for the bread section in the back left corner of the store. Rex had just put two loaves of white bread and two packages of hamburger buns in his cart when he heard a familiar voice coming from his right.
“Ah.” A loud, deep sigh came from beside him. “There’s nothing like tender meat.”
Rex snorted a laugh as he turned and saw Doc standing in front of the meat section with a package of high-priced steaks in one hand and a container of meat tenderizer in the other. Wearing a set of scrubs, light blue with cats and dogs all over them, she turned and put both in her cart. When she went to turn back to the meat section, her gaze lifted and met his own.
Rex headed in her direction, happy to see her again after two and a half months. Mama Hen had told him Doc would be returning sometime this week, and there she was, looking as beautiful as the last time he saw her. “You’re a meat lover, are ya?”
Doc straightened and turned her body to face him. “Who can deny good sausage or a slab of beef? Not I.”
Smiling, Rex stopped his cart next to hers. He grabbed two large packages of hamburger and a package containing four large chicken breasts.
“A breast man, I see.”
Rex gave a nod. “But I also like a good rump… roast.”
As he went to put them in his cart, she asked, “Are you one of those I-grill-all-my-meat types?”
Rex put the items in his cart, looked down at his crotch, and then looked over at Doc. “Well… notallmy meat.”
As Doc laughed, Rex reached around her and grabbed a container of chorizo and two packages of bacon. As he set the items down with the rest, he looked over at her cart. She had various meat products, veggies, and fruit.
“Are you a once-a-weeker, or a multiple times a week type?”
She raised an eyebrow. “If you’re asking how often I like meat, I’m not sure that’s appropriate grocery store conversation.”
Grinning, Rex commented, “We could always have it over dinner. How about some tenderized meat and veggies?”
“Are you asking me out?”
Rex shrugged. “I’m asking you in.”
She looked over at him with amusement in his eyes. “I am all for letting the dogs in the house.”
“I’m a wolf, Doc.”
“Okay, Fido.” Doc pushed her cart forward toward the dairy section. “And if I agree to this date, does this mean I have to cook for you?”
Walking next to her, pushing his own cart, Rex answered, “No. I’m very capable of cooking. I would just need to know if there are any no-gos in the culinary department.”
