“Sure. I’ll be Igor Stansfield.”
She flashed him a look.
“What. Too much?”
She rolled her eyes.
“Sven Johannsen.” He put his hands on his hips. “I’m feeling very Sven-like with my new hair.”
“I was thinking John or Kent.”
“Mike it is. Mike Baker.”
She allowed herself a smile. “Nice to meet you, Mike Baker. I’m Kayla Serrano.”
“Because you’re hot like a pepper?”
She groaned in mock agony. “No, she was one of my teammates in high school.” Back when life had been simple.
“Sounds like a cartoon character. Or a stripper.”
“Don’t be so judgmental.” She resisted the urge to give him a playful push. The less she touched him the better.
“Fine, Kayla it is,” he said oddly, as if tasting the name and finding it lacking.
She followed him up rough-hewn steps and onto the wooden porch of Pinetop Sundries and Supplies. The store’s name seemed redundant, but what did she know? Two older men wearing cowboy hats and worn leather boots sat on a bench, tracking their progress.
She gave them what she hoped was a friendly smile and followed Todd through the door.Nothing to see here.
A bell dinged as they crossed the threshold and the teenaged girl behind the register flipped her long blond hair over her shoulder and smiled at Todd. “Hi, there. Help you find anything?”
The girl appeared a little dazed when he returned the smile and said, “Hi. We’re good for now, but I’ll let you know.”
Lindsey could relate. She felt a little dazzled every time he looked at her too.
They grabbed sandwiches from the deli, sodas from the cold case, and enough packaged food for the next couple of days. Lindsey also found a cheap pair of sunglasses, some warmer clothes, and a small daypack to hold them.
She grabbed a new baseball cap for Todd with a bear embroidered on the front to replace the gray one he’d lost the day before.
When they’d collected everything, he leaned against the counter, gave the girl full eye contact and smiled. “My phone isn’t getting good service around here,” he said. “Do you know if any of the pay-as-you-go phones work better?”
“Sure,” she said, all perky and ever-so-helpful, her face flushed pink as she ran through the options with her commentary on which phones had the best range. “You heading to Yellowstone?” she asked while ringing up their purchases.
“Working our way down there. We’re staying in Mullanburg tonight and meeting up with friends in Gardiner tomorrow.” The words flowed out of him without a hitch.
Lindsey almost believed him and sheknewtheir plan.
“Well, watch out for snow,” the girl said.
“Isn’t it a bit early for that this far south?” he asked.
She nodded and stuffed their items into shopping bags. “Yeah. Weatherman said we might get a freak storm though.”
Shit.
“Thanks for the warning.” He gave Lindsey a troubled glance.
Ten minutes later, they were eating sandwiches at a picnic table overlooking the parking lot while Todd set up his phone.
