“I guarantee Sam will agree to it and I’d be honored to be your date.”
“Excellent. Now let’s get this shopping done before the place fills up and the selection dwindles.” He pulled another angel card out of his coat pocket. “Dustin’s a kid after my own heart. He wants Lincoln Logs. Do they still exist?”
“Over here.” She moved to the opposite aisle, encouraged by the uptick in his mood. “Pricey, though.”
“I don’t care. I—” The sound system blared, cutting him off with It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.
The volume was immediately turned down, but it was still loud and echoed in the empty store. It creeped her out and she wasn’t the one with the problem.
The haunted look was back in Cole’s eyes. A muscle twitched in his jaw as he put the Lincoln Logs in the cart and took out another angel card.
Clearly he’d been triggered by that song. She liked to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. Usually. But she had zero tolerance for adults who were mean to children.
If this relationship blossomed into something permanent, she might end up having to meet his parents. Could she even be civil? Doubtful.
Because this shopping trip was important to him and to the kids, she threw herself into the process, pumping it with all the enthusiasm she could muster. They managed to find everything. Thank goodness they’d only had eleven angel cards to deal with.
She made conversation with Polly as they checked out. Cole murmured his thanks and tipped his hat again before picking up both bags and carrying them out to the truck. The parking spots on the square were mostly taken by now, so if he wanted to stay for any reason, she might as well keep this space.
After they’d put the bags in the back seat, she turned to him. “Anything else you’d like to do while we’re in town?”
He sighed in obvious relief. “Not me. I’m ready to—” Then he caught himself. “How about I treat you to lunch again?”
“How about we go home and have peanut butter and jelly?”
He nudged back his hat and gazed at her. Like the sun coming out from behind a cloud, his harried expression was replaced by a soft smile. “You’re incredible.”
“I’m glad you think so.”
“You know I want to head home.”
“And that’s fine with me.”
“I can tell, which is very sweet of you. And we definitely would end up eating peanut butter and jelly for lunch.”
“Why not? It’s everybody’s favorite!”
“But then we’d be out of bread, which means we can’t even make toasted cheese sandwiches for dinner.”
“Doesn’t matter. I can grab some food from my house.”
“That’s a generous offer, but instead we’re going grocery shopping.”
“They’ll be playing Christmas music in there, too.”
“I’m used to it. If I hadn’t learned to tune it out while I bought groceries every December, I would have starved to death long ago.” He held out his hand. “Let’s go get us some grub.”
“Grub.” She took his hand and they walked across the square to the town’s cozy food market. “My dad used to call it that.”
“I heard it in a song by Ray Scott and liked the sound of it. Makes me feel like an old-timey cowboy.”
“You are an old-timey cowboy.”
“Am I?”
“Sure. I think of them as respectful, kind, modest, protective of those smaller or weaker. You fit the profile.”
“That’s a huge compliment. But as my behavior in the General Store shows, I’m also a work in progress.”
