“And I’ve got this.” Andi slides off her stool and goes behind the counter to begin picking up the broken glass.
Ruth pulls her hand away from mine. “Oh my gosh, I’ll do that, Andi.”
“No, honey, that’s okay. You help welcome Alex.”
Ruth’s gaze bounces back up to me, then to Nora. “Oh! I can do that.” She looks around, seems to realize we have an audience, then looks toward the counter. Her eyes widen. “Grandpa! You have to put the jars away!”
“Why?” Bruce asks.
“Because that’s—” Ruth looks at me again, her cheeks red now. “Mean.”
I frown and look toward the counter, too. What’s she talking about?
Nora steps in front of me. “You know what? I just realized that I should show you aroundtown. Give you a little tour. Get you something to eat.” Nora grabs my arm and turns me toward the door.
“Don’t they have food here?” I ask. Obviously, they do. People are eating all around us.
“Before he sees the apartment?” Ruth asks.
“Other food,” Nora says to me. “Yes,” she answers Ruth. “Right now.”
“But I can…” Then I see the jars.
There are two mason jars sitting next to the register. The front of one jar has a pink sticky note that reads "Alex Olsen." The green sticky note on the other says, “Brussels Sprouts”.
What?
I can’t quite read the sign behind them, because Nora is in the way. I lean to the side, but she moves to block my view. I shake my head, put my hands on her waist, and lift her, depositing her to the side.
The sign says,Which is Worse?
My eyebrows climb.
The Alex Olsen jar is nearly overflowing with dollar bills, while the Brussels sprouts jar has maybe four bucks in it.
“What is?—”
Nora grabs my arm again and tugs harder this time, leading me to the door.
I’m mildly amused by this, so I let her.
“Ruth, can you take Alex’s bag up to the apartment?” Nora asks over her shoulder. “He’ll be back after practice.”
“Sure!” Ruth says happily.
“See everyone later!” Nora calls cheerily to, I assume, the entire shop.
“Bye, honey!”
“Bye, Nora!”
The door closes behind us, but Nora doesn’t slow down until we’re beside her truck. She opens the passenger door and only then releases her hold on my arm.
“Nora.”
She takes a deep breath and looks up at me. “Yeah?”
“What the hell is going on?”
