He sighed. “No, it wasn’t, and I should have leveled with you. I’m sorry.”
“Listen, no worries. I’ll pick up those things.”
Did he want to go? No. Was he going anyway? Damn right he was. “It’s a good cause, one I believe in. I’ll enjoy picking out gifts for those kids.” He really wanted to believe that.
Her response was a smile with enough wattage to power a guy through a dozen Christmas shopping trips. “Okay, then, mi amor. Vamanos!”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Not many vehicles on the Square yet.”
“Give it another hour and it’ll be packed.” Mila parked in front of the General Store. More informed than she’d been during yesterday’s shopping gig, she picked up on the stiffness in Cole’s posture. But in her estimation, he’d made the right choice.
“Probably be really crowded next year if Adam’s beloved road is finished.” He made no move to unlatch his seatbelt.
She took her cue from him and stayed put.
“Yeah, I was sad for him that they didn’t get ’er done by fall.”
“But the Rowdy Ranch crew came to the wedding anyway.”
“They did. I know the road will be good for the town’s economy. But selfishly I want it done so the McLintocks have a shortcut and we’ll see them more often.”
“I predict it’ll be done by sometime in June.”
“I hope so. They’ll want to come see that baby, for sure.”
“They will.”Taking a breath, he reached for his seatbelt. “Let’s go see what we can find.” Although he flashed her a smile, the haunted look in his eyes told a different story.
Mentally crossing her fingers, she climbed out and crossed the sidewalk with him to the store’s entrance just as Polly, one of the clerks, unlocked the door.
“Come in, come in! Goodness you’re the early birds, aren’tcha? Hi, Mila. It’s Cole, right?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He tipped his hat.
“Well, the store’s all yours, at least for now. What’s on the shelves is what we’ve got. Nothing left in the back.”
“Good to know,” Mila said. “Thanks, Polly.”
“Need any help finding anything?”
Mila glanced at Cole. “Do we?”
“I think we’ve got it, but we’ll holler if we need you, Polly.”
“You do that. I’m by myself for now, so I have a few little chores to handle, if you’ll excuse me. Have fun.” She hurried toward the back of the store.
Cole pulled a shopping cart from the ones horizontally stacked by the entrance and then discarded it because it had a wonky wheel. The next one passed inspection. “Lead the way. Let’s start with the dump truck.”
“Good call.” She headed for the toy section. Polly hadn’t turned on the sound system yet and the silence felt weird, but if Cole was freaked out maybe it was just as well. “The shelves are definitely bare compared to yesterday.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” He followed behind her.
He hadn’t been paying attention at all? That surprised her. What she’d pegged as a disinterest in the holiday scene looked more and more like a phobia. What the hell had happened to him?
Luis had mentioned that Jordan didn’t exactly love Christmas but she was being a good sport about it. At last night’s party, Cole had seemed to enjoy himself, so she’d assumed he was being a good sport, too.
But he’d flinched when she’d mentioned the Christmas Eve dinner. She’d decided against calling attention to that. “Yay! There’s the truck!”
