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“I… ah.” Glancing at the few groceries I had set into the kid’s seat of the cart, I reorganized them into an order which ended up squishing a fresh tomato.
He pulled back and twisted his head, eyes narrowing just a hint. “Wait a sec, you didn’t think?”
“Good grief, no. I was just taken aback that you’d offer such a thing.” I stumbled over my words as I waved my hand frantically through the air. “I mean, we’re still not… And… well, we haven’t really…”
The light chuckle rolling out of him did nothing to settle my electrified nerves. “You’re cute when your face fills with blood.”
I fanned my sweater, feeling hotter than when I’d bask in the sunshine on the shorelines of Sylvan Lake. “Yeah, well…”
I pushed my cart over to the raspberries and flipped over a few packages. For the cost, one would think they’d be better looking and not sporting tiny tips of mold. The adrenaline spike was fading, leaving my hands all shaky, and I set the package down and wrapped my hands around the handle of the cart.
“So, I’m deeply curious.” He cleared his throat, grabbing my attention. “How long have you been in town?”
We walked side-by-side as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“I moved here two days ago, and last night was my first work night at Daisy & Dahlia’s.”
“Wow, fresh move, and for some reason, I figured you’ve been here longer.” He grabbed a bag of oranges, sight unseen, and dropped them into his basket.
We sauntered out of the produce area, and over to the bakery where they had to have been pumping the scent of fresh bread into the air. It was like a drug following my nose over.
“No, just been a frequent visitor.” Quite frequent. “But time for a change. Things weren’t working out in Red Deer, and so far, this has been interesting.”
“No regrets?” He grabbed a bag of cinnamon raisin bagels and tossed them into my cart. “I know you like them.”
I stared at the six-pack of bagels, shocked he remembered. I’d mentioned it maybe once in college. “It’s been two days, there hasn’t been time for regrets.”
He smirked, the right side of his face pushing against his cheek. “Just checking. You tend to be impulsive.”
“But I’ve never regretted anything.” Which was true. I was. It was how I ran my life, and so far, it was good, but was it ideal?
I stopped pushing my cart as the weight of it all dug into my shoulders causing me to rest my forearms on the handle and take a deep breath.
“You okay?”
A languishing sigh escaped as I roamed my eyes over his unzipped jacket, over the glitter of his gold necklace, and up to meet his gaze. “Am I too young to have a mid-life crisis?”
Head tipped back, he started laughing but stopped suddenly and closed the gap between us. “You’re serious?”
“Yeah.”
A few people stared at us, and I pulled further into my knee-length coat.
“Is that what you’re thinking? That you’re having a mid-life crisis? You’re barely thirty. C’mon.”
I shrugged and stared at the random groceries and at the weird bottle of dish-washing liquid. “Look at my life. Nothing over the last month has been stable, and here I am, moved to a new place, living in a motel, and working for a florist. So not what I set out to do with my life.”
“Life is funny, isn’t it?”
“Only funny in the ironic ha-ha way, but there’s nothing funny about job instability and relocation.”
Carter put his hand on my shoulder. “Look at it like this, you’re young enough to reset your life. Do what you dare to dream. Rewrite your destiny.”
I cocked an eyebrow and planted a hand firmly on my hip. “Is that what you’re doing?”
He shook his head, the blond strands flailing out to the sides. “Sometimes practicality calls for settlement. I’m doing what I need to for right now.” There was a sharp inhale. “And to answer your question before you ask, yes, I’m mostly happy.”
“Mostly?”
