Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
Ryan walked slowly down the aisles of Harvest Market, looking over the shelves carefully. He hadn’t written down a list before arriving at the supermarket, and he was regretting not coming in with a better game plan.
Since he was seldom home in Rosewood Beach, he didn’t own his own place there. He was staying in the guest bedroom at his father’s house, which was big and modern and entirely devoid of groceries. Because Judd spent all his time at the brewery, either eating the bar food there or ordering takeout, he never bothered to stock the refrigerator, even with essentials like bread and eggs.
Snacks, Ryan thought, turning his cart around a corner and noticing a display of hummus containers. Healthy snacks. Something to munch on.
He glanced down at what he had in his cart so far. He’d already gotten a couple of boxes of crackers, along with bread, peanut butter, jelly, frozen pizzas, a bag of baby carrots, and coffee creamer.
He wondered if he should also buy some higher-end coffee while he was there. The stuff that Judd kept in the house was basic and bland, with a slightly burnt aftertaste. He decided that was a good idea and took out his phone to start making himself an official list. He felt that would make the rest of his trip feel less overwhelming.
He wrote down “coffee, bananas, milk, eggs, cheese, and apples” and then realized he should have written apples next to bananas. It would be very annoying if he got bananas, left the produce section, and then had to come back to it to get the apples.
He fixed his list, grabbed a couple of containers of hummus, and then set off in search of coffee. He was looking down at his list, wanting to make sure he didn’t miss something else he needed on his way to the coffee, when he almost collided with someone carrying a huge potted orchid.
“Oh gosh, I’m sorry!” the orchid squeaked.
“No, I’m sorry, I should have done a better job of watching where I was going,” he said, craning his neck to see who was behind the large plant. In the next moment, he grinned. Lo and behold, it was Faith Talbot.
“Hey!” she said, recognizing him as well. She looked surprised but not at all displeased to see him. She smiled at him through her flustered state.
“Nice to see you again,” he told her, meaning it sincerely. He noticed that she had a basket slung over her arm, which looked heavy. He guessed that the weight of it must feel pretty uncomfortable on her arm. “Do you need any help?”
“I guess I did get a little carried away.” She laughed, adjusting the way she was holding the orchid. “This thing is much heavier than I expected. I probably should have gotten a cart instead of a basket.”
“Well, if you want, I can lend you some space in my cart.” He smiled at her. “I’ve got plenty of room in here. Why don’t you put the orchid and your basket on the end there?”
“Are you sure?” She glanced at his cart as if it was an oasis.
He chuckled. “Of course. Here.” He took the orchid from her and placed it in the cart.
With a sigh of relief, she set the basket down in the cart beside the orchid. “Ow, my arm,” she said, rubbing it. “I don’t usually go grocery shopping. How come the basket handles are just thin metal like that? They’re so uncomfortable.”
“So they collapse better, see?” he said, realizing the answer even though he’d never really thought about it before. Whenever he’d gone grocery shopping growing up, they’d always used a cart. Three growing McCormick boys could eat a lot of food.
“Ah, of course. I should have thought of that.”
“You were just a second behind me, I’m sure.” He shrugged, his lips tilting into a grin. “I just happened to look at it sooner. I mean, you can see right there how the handles fold flat against the top of it.”
“Exhibit A,” she said cheerfully.
As he was looking down at her basket, he noticed the assortment of items inside it. There were fancy tea cookies, high-end sparkling fruity drinks, a bottle of Chardonnay, and expensive beef jerky.
“Huh,” he said. “Are you hosting a hoity-toity girly get-together? The kind where you all paint each other’s toenails and complain about men while drinking mimosas?”
She frowned in confusion. “What? Oh!” Her face lit up with laughter a moment later. “Oh, no, not at all. Although that does sound like a lot of fun.” She grinned mischievously. “No, I’m new here, remember? I don’t have any friends that I could invite to a party like that.” She said the words lightly, but he caught a look of melancholy behind her eyes.
He found himself wondering again what her past had been like. She seemed bone-tired and almost frail. What had she endured before coming to Rosewood Beach?
“Just for you, then?” he asked. “No shame in treating yourself.”
She shook her head, smiling. “Wrong again, I’m afraid. I’m working on creating a gift basket for some family I have here in town. Cousins. Kind of long-lost family, actually. I haven’t seen them since I was a little kid.”
“Really? That’s great that they’re here so you can reconnect.”
She nodded. “It is. I’m just kind of feeling at a loss about what to buy them. I don’t know hardly anything about them, so I don’t know what kind of things they enjoy.”
“Hmm, looks like you’re doing a great job so far. I mean, everyone enjoys an oversized orchid, right?”
“Stop,” she said, laughing. “I think it’s pretty.”
“Oh, I meant it sincerely. Although—do you know if your long-lost family is finicky or not? Are you trying to challenge them right off the bat with a test to see whether or not they can keep it alive?”
She groaned, shaking her head. “That’s actually a good point. I knew this wasn’t a good idea. If they’re busy people or they don’t typically take care of plants, this poor little thing isn’t going to stay alive for very long at all.”
“I wouldn’t call it a little thing. It’s pretty big.”
They both laughed, and she pretended to pat the orchid on the head.
“How about a bouquet of flowers?” he suggested. “It would be smaller, and it doesn’t involve so much commitment. Maybe you can save the commitment challenge for when you’ve gotten to know them better.”
“Maybe.” She bit her lip. “Actually, I’m not sure they’ll even accept me at all,” she confessed in a moment of vulnerability. “I hope so. I really hope so. But the truth is that I have no idea what the future holds.”
“What made you decide to come to Rosewood Beach?” he asked her softly, feeling honored that she was confiding in him. “I mean, if you’re so unsure about how it’s going to turn out here?”
“I was so overstressed,” she admitted. “I’d taken my work addiction and turned it into a constant thing in my life. I was always working—and the truth is that I’m not cut out for the high-stakes stressful cases that I was working on in the city. I care a lot about people in an empathetic way, which can make being a lawyer exhausting both mentally and emotionally.”
He nodded. “I’m glad you’re taking care of yourself now. I bet you’ll have a great future here, even if your family ends up being stupid enough to not want to connect with you.” For a moment, they shared a smile, and then he continued. “I understand needing to take a step back from the busyness of life. I should be doing more of that myself. I’m not as run down as you said you’ve been, but I’m starting to feel the strain of working so much for sure. In all honesty, I’m kind of dreading leaving Rosewood Beach.”
“You’re leaving soon?” she asked, and he noticed a flicker of disappointment pass across her face.
He nodded. “Unfortunately, yes. I’ve got this job back out in Colorado I’ve got to go back to.”
“Well, Colorado sounds nice at least.” She smiled, but the smile looked a little forced. “I hope we’ll run into each other again before you go. Maybe again when you get back—but I’m not sure I’ll still be here by then. I may decide to move somewhere else.”
“Ah, yes. I understand.” All of a sudden, he felt tongue-tied. He was saddened by the thought of never seeing her again.
But what can we do? he thought. That’s life, I guess. Everything else has to revolve around work.
“How much more do you think you need for your gift basket?” he asked her after a moment.
“I think I should be good once I swap out this orchid for something less intimidating.” She cocked her head. “Maybe some daisies?”
“Daisies are definitely not intimidating. Let me walk you over there.”
“Are you done with your shopping?” she asked him, glancing down into the cart. He suddenly found himself slightly embarrassed by the abundance of frozen pizzas.
“Almost,” he said. “I still have to get… um…” He pulled out his phone and checked the list he’d written down. He was thankful he had written it down, otherwise he felt sure that every item on it would have been gone from his brain in that moment. “Coffee, bananas, milk, eggs, cheese, and apples.”
“Okay, so milk—eggs—cheese—coffee—bananas and apples,” she said, turning in a semi-circle and pointing in the directions they needed to go to get every item.
“That was amazing,” he said, floored by how quickly she’d pinpointed where everything in the store was. “I thought you said you just moved here.”
She shrugged, blushing a little. “I never used to go grocery shopping. I find it really exciting to be in here, and I really paid attention to where everything was, I guess. I’m also just used to being observant and memorizing things. You have to be good at that, as a lawyer.”
“I guess so. Well, I’m officially impressed. Move on, fearless leader. You’re in charge of this expedition now, I’m just the driver.” He gestured to the cart as if it were some kind of vehicle.
She laughed. “Okay. We’ll stop and grab the flowers after getting the coffee, since they’re right by the beverage aisle.”
Still shaking his head in amazement, he began to follow her through the store. He thought to himself that she really was an amazing person, and he wished he had more opportunities to get to know her better.