I cleared my throat and tried not tolet the always bubbling tears surface. “Four. He’s almost done with his firstround of treatment.”
Jo’s hand slid to cradle her jaw.“Did they give him much hope?”
“I’m not sure,” I answered honestly.“They didn’t at first. His doctor and oncologist made it seem like he might aswell plan his funeral. But since he started treatment, they’ve stopped treatinghim like a walking corpse. We’re just kind of waiting to see. I don’t know what’sgoing to happen.”
“My husband, Mac, died of coloncancer.”
“Oh, no. I’m so sorry.”
She waved me off. “That was years ago.Before Killian ever came to live with me. I’m just saying, cancer is avindictive bitch. I hate that you have to watch someone you love go throughit.”
I was humbled by her succinct butauthentic consolation. I found that most people didn’t know what to say or howto reply when we dropped the C-bomb. Jo just got straight to it. Cancer sucked.There wasn’t really any other way to respond besides acknowledging that.
“Thanks,” I told her. “I hate ittoo.”
She offered me a tight smile, thenpointed at the strawberries. “Now let’s get to it. I’m sure you’re here to ripme off. I hate delaying the pleasure for you.”
I laughed, thinking she was joking,but she remained stone-faced, so I didn’t know what to think. She moved behindthe counter and started to dig around for something. I looked at Killian forhelp and found his gaze already on me.
He was statue still, rigid andtight, coiled like a snake about to strike. I took a step back, not knowingwhat his problem was. Or why he was looking at me like that, like he couldn’tdecide what to do with me.
“You should have told me.” His voicewas nothing but steel and gravel, restrained aggression and cool control.
My voice, on the other hand, was acroaky whisper, two parts confused and one part embarrassingly flattered.“About my dad?” He nodded. “It’s never come up. I don’t know when I would havetold you.”
“I wouldn’t have—”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, you wouldhave. Don’t even pretend like you would have treated me any differently.”
His lips quirked, ticking his beardon one side. “Maybe. But I might have been kinder about how I went about it.”
“Well, now you know. I’ll expectflowers and chocolate now instead of nasty notes scratched on the back of ordertickets.”
His smirk stretched into afull-blown smile. “I doubt the critiques will stop. But we can work in somechocolate. That sounds fair.”
Before I could think of a cleverreply, Jo interrupted with a calculator in her hand. “Were you wantingstrawberries? Or was it something else that caught your eye?”
My gaze swept over her produce onceagain. “I get why you didn’t want to buy from the other guy,” I told Killianfirst. “I see the difference.”
Killian tapped the wooden table withhis pointer finger. “Jo knows her shit. She’ll set you up with whatever youneed.”
I entered into conversation with Jo,haggling just like she’d accused. I realized that Killian hadn’t stopped mefrom buying peppers because Jo didn’t keep a stock that extensive. Although herlettuce was better than what I’d already bought. I ended up picking everythingelse I needed for the weekend from her except for protein and cheese.
By the time Killian said goodbye toJo and helped carry all my packages to my car, I had dropped a significantamount of money. And I was okay with that. I felt better about spending it todaythan I had in a long time.
It wasn’t as though I was completelydestitute anymore. Foodie had been making enough money for me to continuallyput the profit back into the food and utilities and social media advertising.
If I had been living on my own andhad those expenses to pay or had to rent a spot for my truck, I might have beenin some unsustainable territory. With my family’s help, I could invest a littlemore each weekend. It was a good feeling.
I hadn’t crashed and burned.
Not yet.
“Do you want some help with yourpurchases?” I asked Killian when he’d put the last bag of organic goodies in mytrunk and slammed it shut.
“Jo delivers straight toLilou,” he explained. “I have a standing order with her.She knows what I like.”
I propped my hip against thepassenger side door. “Must be nice to be the great Killian Quinn.”
