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He glanced into the cart. “We might have enough carrots. But we can go get some potatoes.
She wanted to cry. Never in her life did she think she would be undone by potatoes.
Chapter 27
Gunner understood why Nova might be feeling a little out of sorts, but she was acting like she had a phobia of grocery stores.
“What else do you like to eat?” she asked him again.
“I would rather you pick out what you like to cook or what the kids like to eat. I’m pretty easy to please.” He’d never been particularly good at reading people, but she seemed to be trickier than most. What exactly was she planning to do with three dozen green peppers? And why were they standing in the middle of the aisle in a grocery store? She stared at the floor as if there were recipes written down there. He shifted his weight to his other foot. They had to get out of the middle of the aisle. People were starting to stare.
“Do you like burgers?” he asked.
“Burgers?” She looked up, her wide eyes suggesting she’d never heard of such a thing.
“Burgers,” he said. “Nothing fancy. Meat and buns. Maybe some cheese. Maybe some fries to go with it?”
“Fries!” she cried as if she’d just thought of something. He waited for the big reveal.
“My mom used to make the kids fish sticks and fries. They love those!” Her face fell. “Of course, that’s not really something somebody cooks.”
He knew what she meant, but he said, “I don’t want to eat them frozen!” in an effort to make her laugh.
His effort failed.
She looked at him, her eyes so earnest that it hurt him. “Do grown men eat fish sticks?”
Not really, but he said, “Sure. Bull will love them. Let’s go.” He headed toward the frozen food aisle.
She easily picked out some fish sticks, but then she seemed rather smitten by the frozen meals in bags. She stood there staring at them for a painfully long time before looking at him and saying, “Do you like stir fry?”
“Sure.” At this point, he would eat raw Rocky Mountain oysters if it meant getting out of the grocery store.
“We could have stir fry and put your beef in it.”
“Sure,” he said again. He expected her to grab some bags of frozen stir fry, but she spun on her heel and made a beeline for the produce section. Good grief, this woman really loved her vegetables.
She threw cabbage, broccoli, and zucchini into his cart and then said, “Okay, so we have four suppers now, right?” Her eyes lifted to meet his. “Three more to go?”
“We don’t have to get a whole week’s worth of food—”
She read his impatience. “I’m sorry. I’m taking too long.”
“Not at all. I just don’t want Priscilla to show up with the kids and find only Bull at home.”
“Oh.” She stared at him.
“But you should know that I don’t have any seasonings at home other than salt and pepper.”
“Seasonings?”
Didn’t the woman use seasonings? “I didn’t know if you wanted any for the stir fry.” This reminded him of another problem. “I’m not sure how much oil I have either. And I think I only have vegetable oil.”
She looked confused.
“I didn’t know if you wanted to get something a little more exciting.”
“Exciting,” she repeated slowly.
