AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I gnawed my lip as I considered this and let the possibility of having everything I wanted take hold in my mind.
“What did Hunter say?” my mother wondered. “Not that it’s up to him, of course, but was he supportive of the idea when you told him?”
“I, uh…” I winced. “I told him I couldn’t possibly consider it. He agreed.”
Amos smacked his forehead with one thick palm. “I changed my mind. Callin’ you two turkeys is an insult to the birds.”
I thought of last night, when I’d told Hunter about Buck’s offer. About the wide-eyed excitement that had flashed across his face before he’d tamped it down. My gut screamed that he felt some of the same things for me that I felt for him… so maybe it was time that I stopped being so scared and listened to it.
I needed to talk to Hunter. Again.
“We’ll support you whatever you decide,” my mother said gently. “What do you want to do, Charlie?”
“I want…” I began boldly. “…to go Black Friday shopping.”
Mom’s face fell, and she sighed.
Emmaline tsked.
Amos nodded disappointedly. “Decided the condoms were too good to pass up after all?”
“Not that kind of shopping.” I stood and set my hand on the table. “Where do you think Alana and Lurleen would be hunting for deals right about now?”
The three of them exchanged a look. Chairs screeched as Mom and Amos shoved back from the table. Emmaline grabbed the keys to her minivan.
“Hot damn,” Amos said, clapping his hands together. “Fetch my cane, Emmy! We going Hunter huntin’!”
“I’ll text Lurleen right now and ask where to find them!” Mom said excitedly, already tapping on her phone.
“Noooo,” I said, letting out the kind of laughter that comes with a sense of relief. I felt a strange weight falling off my shoulders and a new, tender but strong excitement taking its place. “No, no, no. We’re not hunting anyone. I just need to pick up a few things for later. Hunter would kill me if I made some huge public declaration of affection in the middle of Socks n’ More, especially before the two of us have had a chance to really talk about things. He hates being the center of gossip, and…” I shrugged. “He’s important to me.”
Emmaline clasped her hands—and keys—to her bosom. “Oh, sweetheart.”
Amos pointed a thick finger at his wife. “None of those tears, now. We need your eagle eyes on the road. Let’s go.”
When we got to town, the crowds were worse than I imagined. Who knew Licking Thicket even held this many people?
“What the hell?” I muttered as we searched for a parking spot.
By the time we parked on Francis Street, made our way through the first of several stores I needed to visit, and clawed our way through the crowds to Walnut Street, all four of us felt like the walking wounded.
“What the hell are they selling at the Kinder-potamus store that’s got everyone whipped into a frenzy?” I demanded, trying to catch my breath. “Some hot new toy the kids are asking Santa for?”
“No, they’re after the tater tots,” Emmaline said proudly. “Used to be that when you wanted to declare your affection for someone in the Thicket, you’d take ’em to the Steak n’ Bait for tots. But then my grandson Jaybird started whittling some toy tots out of scrap lumber, and now they’re all the rage with the young lovebirds in town. You get the same symbolism of abiding love and devotion you find in the regular shredded potato version, but these tots last forever.”
I stopped and laughed out loud, right in the middle of the sidewalk.
How the hell had I lived without this town for as long as I had?
How fucking lucky was I that I got to have it back again?
“Junior,” Mom said, clutching her cell phone tight, like she was afraid it might be lost and trampled in the crush, “I think we need to stop for a break now. Your uncle’s trick hip is acting up.” She grabbed Amos’s elbow supportively.
“Oh, shoot. Uncle Amos, you should have said you weren’t feeling well. But where can we stop?” I tried to peer over the sea of humanity. “Jesus. Literally every person in the Thicket must be out today. I don’t see an empty bench anywhere.”
“Naw, Junior, no need to stop on my account. I’m doin’ just… son of a biscuit!” I turned back just as Amos’s face crumpled and he began hopping on one foot. “I mean… yep, it’s my hip alright. Sometimes the pain shoots all the way down my leg. Almost makes me feel like my toes are being stepped on,” he complained.
“There’s a pop-up cafe set up in a tent on the town square, and they’re serving cocoa and cookies.” Mom pointed. “Let’s head there.”
“You sure?” I stood on my toes and squinted. Even with my height, I couldn’t get a clear view down the road. “I can’t see the far side of the street, let alone the square. How do you know there’s a tent?”
