Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
“ I think that went well. Don’t you?” Jody asked as they got back in the truck after spending most of the morning helping Sophie out at the diner.
“Umm … I guess.”
Jody turned to look at Ginny once he was driving on the road back to their homes. “What does that mean?”
“It means, your goose may be cooked. She doesn’t believe in soul mates, which Gavin didn’t either when I told him, so I’m sure you’ll be able to convince her. On the other hand. you might not want to.”
“How in the hell did you get on the subject of soul mates?”
“I really don’t remember. She noticed the way Mina acted around you, and she thought you two were dating.”
His hands tightened on the steering wheel. More than one of his chickens had come home to roost.
“Go on,” he said through tight lips.
“I told her how none of you have ever been on a date because you’re waiting for your soul mates.”
“I don’t want her thinking I’m a nerd.”
“Oh … umm … I don’t think she thinks you’re a nerd from the way Mina came on to you.”
“Does she believe in soul mates?”
“Not exactly.”
“What in the hell does that mean?”
“It means she thinks that if men believe in soul mates, it only gives them an excuse to break off relationships when they don’t work out. She said that, so how do you think she’s going to react when she finds out you knew who your soul mate is and had sex with half the female population in town?”
“I haven’t had sex with half of the women in town.”
“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “With all the women in your age range,” she clarified.
“Dammit,” he growled.
“You brought this on yourself. The good news is I think she’ll be staying, and I may have convinced her about soul mates.”
“At least that’s good.”
“The bad news is she’s kind of interested in Issac.”
His jaw tautened. “She’s not Issac’s soul mate. She’s mine.”
“I’m not the one you have to convince.”
“I will,” he said determinedly.
“You’re going to have an uphill battle,” she warned.
“Then I guess it’ll have to be.”
“I think I know exactly where you should make your first move.”
Jody pushed the cart around the grocery store, looking for Sophie. Placing a box of Captain Crunch in the cart, he went down another aisle. Where was she? He had seen her car outside.
When he turned down another aisle, he spotted her at a frozen food freezer.
Casually opening a freezer door, he took out a bag of chicken nuggets before wheeling his cart toward Sophie.
“Hey, there,” he greeted her when she turned her head at hearing the clanking cart.
“Hello,” she said, then turned back to the freezer.
“Having trouble finding something?”
“No, just deciding which hashbrowns to get.”
“Shredded,” he advised. “That way, you can add onions and peppers.”
She didn’t look at him. “They make them with peppers and onions already added.”
“Are they for you personally or the restaurant?”
“The restaurant.”
“Then go for the ones without them. Fresh is always better.”
“The hashbrowns aren’t fresh.”
“Yeah, but the onions and peppers will make people think they are if you cook them on the grill.”
Sophie opened the door of the freezer and took out several bags, then started rolling her cart away.
Jody rolled his behind her.
“How were things after Ginny and I left? Did business pick up?”
“No.” Rolling her cart to the meat department, she stared around before turning toward him. “Do you know where fatback is? I don’t know what it looks like, so I wouldn’t recognize it if I saw it.”
“I’ll show you.” He pointed to the meat cooler with bacon. “Fatback is over there.”
Heading over, he picked up several blocks to show her. “This is it.”
Sophie stared at them before taking them from him. “Thank you. I would have never found them.”
“You’re welcome.”
She wheeled her cart away, but he followed her.
“Ginny said she had a good time working at the restaurant. I think she gets bored staying at home all the time.”
“I like Ginny. She’s really nice.”
Jody had to hold back his laughter. “You’ve never seen her mad. When she is, you have to watch yourself. She believes in superstitions, and her paybacks are very creative.”
“That’s understandable. With as many brothers as she has, she needs to keep the element of surprise.”
“Once—”
“I’m sorry,” she cut him off, “but I need to finish shopping so I can get home. It’s been a long day.”
“Oh … okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Bye.”
Jody wheeled his cart down an aisle as she went toward the dairy section. He was becoming disheartened. His soul mate couldn’t stand him, and he didn’t know how to regroup. She would come around, right? They were soul mates. She had to at least be attracted to him. He knew he was by his body’s reaction to her. His star was aligned with hers in the sky; he had seen it for himself.
Jealousy still burned that Sophie had asked Ginny if Issac was dating anyone. He wasn’t used to being jealous of his brothers.
He made a sound under his breath. If she had a bad opinion of him, Issac was way worse.
He went up the cookie aisle so he could keep his eyes on the checkout aisle. He had picked out a couple boxes when he saw Sophie getting in line. Pulling his cart behind her, he waited to check out.
She hadn’t gotten as much as he’d thought she would. He remembered Ginny telling him she refused to let him shop for her because she didn’t want to borrow the money, so it was everything he could do not to tell her to turn her cart around and get what she needed.
He memorized the items she had bought as the checker bagged the groceries for her and wanted to disappear when the cashier turned a bright red and dropped the loaf of bread she had been about to bag.
“Sorry,” Betsy apologized to Sophie before turning a flirtatious glance on him. “Hi, Jody. I didn’t see you come in the store. What’s up?”
“Nothing much, just doing a little shopping,” he answered, wanting to back his cart out of the checkout lane.
Betsy picked up one of the bags of hashbrowns, holding it mid-air instead of bagging it as she continued talking with him. “I haven’t seen you since I dropped off those muffins I made for you.”
“Been busy,” he muttered, pointedly eyeing the hashbrowns.
“Oh …” Betsy turned redder. “Sorry.”
Plopping the hashbrowns in the bag, she quickly bagged the rest of Sophie’s groceries. He didn’t miss the disdainful way Sophie looked at him as she headed toward the door
He put up his groceries on the counter.
“I can make you some more if you want?” Betsy offered.
“No, thanks. I’m on a diet.”
She eyed him as she ran a pack of Oreos over the scanner.
“Those are for Jacob.” He hastily told her, taking out his wallet. He wanted to tell her to hurry as Betsy took her time and started bagging his groceries himself.
“I’ll do that.”
“I’m in a hurry. Jacob is waiting for me to get home.”
Giving him a disappointed glance, she took the cash he handed her. “Call me …”
Jody picked up his groceries before she could continue.
Outside, he saw Sophie’s taillights as she pulled out of the parking lot.
“Damn it to hell,” he lamented about his luck as he put the groceries in his truck.
The last thing he wanted to do was go back inside the store, but he also wanted Sophie to have what she needed. So, he went back through the store and picked up what was on the list that she hadn’t purchased.
Without a doubt, she was going to be angry that he had bought the items, but he had already thought of a way to circumvent her. She might refuse them from him, but Ginny had a way of talking anyone into doing what she wanted. She had nabbed Reaper, and that son of bitch hadn’t known what had hit him.
Had she used some superstitious crap to make Reaper fall for her? He wouldn’t put anything past her.
When he got home, he was going to call Ginny. He wasn’t above playing unfair to get his soul mate, especially when she already had her eye on Isaac. His dad had always told him everything was fair in love and war.