Chapter Sixteen #4
extended her hand toward Sela. The moonlight lit the store interior enough that Sela was able to make out what Olivia was
holding: two Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, her favorite candy. She offered one to Sela.
“I hid these,” Olivia explained. “For an emergency.”
“A candy emergency.”
“I think this qualifies.”
Sela laughed and took the offered candy, unwrapped it, and drew the familiar patty closer to her nose to savor the aroma for
a couple of seconds before she took a small bite.
“Better than tuna, wouldn’t you say?” Olivia asked, a smile in her voice.
They both took their time, nibbling at the candy, savoring every bite. “I wish I could have made some hot chocolate,” Olivia
said wistfully. “But Nancy would have heard. I brought water, though.”
“So did I.”
It could be worse, Sela thought. At least Olivia knew how to handle the rifle, though she wasn’t any more expert than Sela
was. Carol had taught her the basics, because if there was going to be a firearm in the house then she wanted her granddaughter
to know how to safely handle it.
They sipped some water, sat in more silence. So far, all was quiet. If they were lucky it would be this way all night. Maybe
having Olivia here was a good thing; after the long day she’d had, she’d have a hard time staying awake. Chatting with Olivia
would help with that. Carol would be furious when she found out, but probably secretly proud of the girl, too.
After a while Sela asked, “Do you have any more candy hidden away?”
Olivia sighed. “No, that was it. There might be a bag of barbecue chips squirreled away in the garage, though.”
Sela laughed, and it felt good after the stressful day to realize that laughter was still possible. Olivia reminded her of
the reasons why she was willing to step up and do what needed to be done, of why she’d put herself front and center, why she’d
sit in her store all night to make sure no one stole the gasoline her family and friends and neighbors needed to get by. “Thanks
for sharing with me.”
“You’re welcome. You’ve definitely earned a peanut butter cup after all you’ve been through. I wish I had more.”
“Me too.”
For a while they talked, about Carol and her fall, about Barb and the way she’d stepped up since. If Olivia was older, Sela
would be tempted to tell her all about Ben, and the shower, and the tantalizing When we have sex comment, but rifle aside, Olivia was still a kid. And Sela had never been keen on sharing details of her sex life—or lack
thereof—even with her close friends. She was a private person. Shy, yes, but also private. She held some things, some thoughts,
very close. They were for her and for her alone.
Sela almost dozed off. Her eyes drifted closed; her head nodded. Olivia did doze, though she woke at regular intervals because
sleeping soundly upright in a chair wasn’t something that was going to happen. Now and then they tried to keep one another
alert with conversation about the weather and the future and their neighbors, but there were long periods of silence where
neither of them had anything to say.
Her hands and feet got cold. She got out the hand warmer packs and squeezed to activate them, put one in each pocket and gave
the others to Olivia who silently did the same. She took off her gloves so she could better feel the heat from the packs.
As small as the heat source was, having warm hands was blissful and made her feel warmer all over. She began getting sleepy.
In an effort to wake herself up, she drank more water, got up and walked around. Olivia scooted her chair closer to the counter,
crossed her arms on it, and rested her head on her arms. While she slept, Sela stood at the windows with her hands in her
coat pockets and watched the cold, still night.
It was the reflection of moonlight on glass, a quick, subtle flash, that first caught her attention. She cocked her head,
staring down the road. Then she heard the sound of engines, once commonplace but now so rare that adrenaline sent an electric
charge through her body.
“Olivia!” she said urgently, because someone driving down the highway with their lights off couldn’t be good news.
“Hmm?” Olivia mumbled.
“Someone’s coming.”
Hurriedly she went to the counter and picked up the rifle, went back to stand beside the door and look out the windows. Olivia
came to stand beside her, holding Carol’s .22 with the barrel pointing down and away from Sela. “I don’t see anything,” she
whispered.
“Listen.”
The sound of engines was louder—not just one engine, but several. Again, not good.
“Oh no.” Olivia sounded dismayed. Sela felt as dismayed as Olivia sounded. She had come here because she knew there was a
possibility someone would try to steal the gasoline, but faced with the reality of multiple people driving toward her with
their headlights out—sneaking—her stomach tied itself in knots. First and foremost was a sharp terror that something would
happen to Olivia.
“Get behind the counter,” she ordered.
“No.” Olivia’s tone wavered, but she stood her ground. “I’m with you.”
Sela pushed the door open, secured it so it stayed open. Maybe that was the wrong move but she didn’t know defensive strategies
and she did know she didn’t want to shoot through glass. Her SUV was here; that and the open door might convince whoever was
coming to keep on going.
“It could be people coming to get in line,” Olivia offered, hope in her voice.
“With their headlights off?”
“I guess not.”
Five vehicles, three pickups and two older-model cars, came into view, moving slow. They drew even with the store and stopped.