9. Eliminate That Possibility
ELIMINATE THAT POSSIBILITY
“ W e meet again.”
Abe watched as Daphne swiveled her head in the grocery store, her cart hitting the rack and boxes of cereal falling off of the shelf.
“Crap,” she said, bending down to pick them up.
“Sorry,” he said. “Let me help.”
There were people everywhere and he was wondering what possessed him to come on July Fourth to get some food.
Maybe because he had the day off and he thought everyone else would be at some party and not looking to fill up their pantry.
“I feel like such a klutz and now I’m blocking people,” she said, picking up the boxes and trying to put them back the way they were.
“My fault,” he said. “I shouldn’t have startled you like that.”
They stood up at the same time and shifted out of the way for people to get by.
“No,” she said. “You shouldn’t have.”
She was smiling though so he was happy to see a glimmer of the woman who was flirting with him in the casino.
“Not working today?” he asked.
“No,” she said. “I’m going to assume the same as you? I’m sure you’ve been invited to parties today.”
“Actually, no,” he said. “My cousin, his girlfriend lives next door to me, and the two of them went back to Stamford where his condo is to get together with his best friend. Otherwise, I might have had a cookout with him.”
“Laurel and Easton, right?”
He frowned and shifted again. They were blocking people and this was stupid, but he wasn’t going to give up an opportunity to talk with her.
“How do you know them?”
“Let’s say it’s a small world.”
“You know I’m going to want you to expand on that.”
She seemed to hesitate. “It doesn’t seem to be the place to do it.”
She moved her cart out of the aisle and down another. It was stalker-like to keep following her, but he was shopping too and adding things to his cart the same as her.
“Can you give me a place to do it?” he asked. “Hey, Jim.”
He lifted his hand and waved to someone who said his name.
“Definitely not here if you’ve got this many people saying hi to you. I did notice a few others nodding at you.”
“It’s a small area,” he said. “As I’m learning again that you know my cousin somehow.”
“You’re going to keep talking to me in here about it, aren’t you?”
She was squinting her eyes as she turned to ask him that. Her hair was still up in a ponytail. He realized now he hadn’t seen it down since the night in the casino.
She was wearing jean shorts again, a red T-shirt, and black Nike flip-flops on her feet.
“Right now I’m trying to get my food shopping out of the way more than anything,” he said. “But I would like to know. I could stop to see you tomorrow while we are on site.”
“I’d rather not,” she said.
He wouldn’t be offended by that. She was at least grinning.
“Got it,” he said.
They walked through the aisle without talking for about five minutes.
She turned around to see if he was still there and he winked and gave her a little wave.
She laughed. “Maybe in the parking lot.”
“Got to go there myself anyway,” he said.
Just to be obtuse, when they were done shopping, he snuck in line ahead of her so she’d have to either be behind him in that line or go to another and they’d get out the same time or he’d wait for her.
She moved from behind her cart and came closer to him. “I’m not going to run away on you again,” she whispered.
“I want to eliminate that possibility,” he said, trying hard not to inhale the sweet citrus scent of her so close to him.
It brought back all the memories of that night they had together.
Now he realized what he was smelling on her was Blossoms' products.
He moved up and put his items on the belt and knew it represented a single dude to the letter.
Sandwich meat, bread, beer, sports drinks, water, cheese, chips, frozen snacks and meals. He even had a box of cereal he always ate as a kid with some milk.
When he was done he felt her eyes on him and turned. “You shop like my brother did when he was home on leave.”
“Your brother is in the service?” he asked.
“Was,” she said.
The clerk rang his food up and he put the stick on the belt for Daphne to unload her stuff next.
Since he was already being nosy he watched her much healthier cart full of food be unloaded.
Fruits, vegetables, and a few packages of meat. More than he’d think one person would need, but maybe she cooked in bulk.
Who was he to know?
But he wanted to.
He paid for his and then walked out slower than a ninety-year-old with cracking knees.
Was he looking back for her a few times?
Yep, he was and wasn’t embarrassed to admit that either.
Rather than walk to his truck, he waited for her to come out.
“I didn’t know where you were parked,” he said cheerfully.
“To the right,” she said.
“Me too,” he said.
They walked together and she was only a row over and three down from him.
Since his truck was first, he unloaded everything, which was about four bags, then walked down to help her.
That was his intent at least, but she was done before he got there.
“So,” he said. “We can have a conversation in the parking lot on this hot day skirting traffic and having eyes on us. Or you can come to my house and I’ll grill us some burgers and we can have a nice casual conversation with no one around to know.
I have a feeling you don’t want your employers to know I’m there. ”
“I don’t,” she said. “Even though Poppy was talking so highly of you that I’m surprised there isn’t a crown glowing on top of your head just now.”
He laughed. “Poppy can be pretty persuasive,” he said. “I’ll take any help I can get. I have the feeling I’ll need it with you.”
“I don’t play games,” she said seriously. “Just...I’m embarrassed. I can’t explain it any other way.”
He reached his hand for hers, grabbed it quickly, gave it a squeeze, then let it go. “Did you stop to think maybe I am too?”
She looked stunned. “What do you have to be embarrassed about?”
“I don’t make it a habit of doing what we did. Matter of fact, you were a first. Whether you want to believe that or not, it’s the truth.”
It’s not like he was going to say he’d had his ex on his mind and was feeling down and out.
That he wanted to just feel like someone who could move on.
That’d come off completely wrong and be hurtful.
It was the last thing he wanted to do.
“Thank you for that,” she said. “I’m not sure it helps, but it kind of does.”
“Let me give you my number and address,” he said. “You’re going to come over, right?”
“I keep my word,” she said. “Though unless you’ve got ground beef at your house, you were missing it from your cart.”
“Which I’m going to run back in and get the minute we are done,” he said, laughing.
“Good thing,” she said. “I’ll bring a pasta salad if you’re okay with that?”
“I’m thrilled with it,” he said. “Your number?”
She read it off to him, he put it in his phone and then texted her his address.
“What time do you want me to come over?” she asked.
It was one now. “How about three? Gives me time to buy what I need and then go home and clean better. Not that I’m a slob, but there might be clutter in places or a dust bunny or ten in a corner.”
She smiled. “Trust me, the way I grew up, it’d take a lot to bother me.”
He didn’t know what she meant by that but was happy to know he’d find out.
Daphne got in her car and drove away and he ran back into the store quickly, picked up ground beef, rolls, some of the lime seltzer that he noticed she had in her cart and when he was walking by the bakery saw a package of cupcakes with red, white, and blue on them and figured what the heck.
Shit, he was going to have a date and he wasn’t sure the last time he was this excited over it.