He handed Tilly a bag. “You’ll see. Help me take one inside?”
Tilly nodded and took off, carrying a bag that was as big as her torso in both arms.
Nora composed herself and came close, looking in at the bag to see it contained dried meat and other goods. “Where were you? Where did you get this from?” She winced.I shouldn’t press him that hard.
“Let’s go inside and I’ll show you.” Simon started walking back to the house. Nora fell into step next to him. His actions were brisk, but his tone was measured. “I went into town while you slept. I was hoping to be back before you woke up; my apologies. I thought you would have slept later but all the rest yesterday must have made you wake up early today.”
“Oh. The town?”
Simon nodded. “You need to eat, Nora. Real food. You are not healthy. Especially after being sick.”
Nora shifted her feet and mumbled, “Could have left a note or something.”
Simon paused on the path. “You worried. I’m sorry.” He turned and looked at her in the eyes, the focus making her take a step back. “I will leave a note next time. I have never had someone waiting for my presence before and miscalculated. I will always come back.”
Nora swallowed, suddenly emotional. “Okay.”
He will always come back.Nora flushed from his words and the intensity in his gaze. Simon resumed walking and Nora followed. He pushed open the door for her while holding the bags and waited until she went inside before entering himself. Nora just watched as he unloaded his parcels, her eyes snagging on the food now filling the chipped counters.That’s a lot.
Tilly was head deep in the brown sack she brought in, lifting every item out one by one and lining them up on the counter like she did with the doorknobs a few weeks ago for Max.
Nora wrung her hands, overwhelmed by both the food and with the relief of Simon being back. “Did Max or anyone . . .”
“No, Nora. I didn’t visit Max. And I wasn’t followed either.”
Her voice was strained. “How did you get the money? We could have . . .”
He finished putting down his bags and started to open them while talking, lining up the contents next to Tilly’s. “I used some coins I found in a jar from the garage.”
Those coins?Nora’s voice rang through the kitchen, high and panicked. “Simon! That was all my emergency money! Wish you talked with me about it!”
Simon’s hands stilled, hovering over the bag he was unpacking. Then he came over, close to Nora, looking deep in her eyes. “I did not know, Nora. The coins were pushed aside, as if forgotten, with how deep in the debris in the garage they were buried. I thought they were unaccounted for. You usually keep all the money in the little drawer by your bed. If I knew they meant something I would have asked.” He hesitated and then said again, “Even so. It was a calculated move. All the extra scrap we have gotten will replace what I spent quickly given the rate Max gave you last time.”
Nora rubbed her face. “You do realize Max is giving us a raw deal now?”
“Even with that, we can scavenge more. Logically, things for us have changed a bit.”
Nora huffed, irritated.Look at all that stuff he bought. Kept that money in the garage in case I needed to get out fast, not to just spend it.Although a part of her was also touched that this is where he went with his freedom, to go find food for them. Not to run away.
Her stomach rumbled despite her frustration, betraying her hunger as Simon and Tilly kept unpacking. Simon then began to cook, and she noticed that he was much more practiced than she ever would be as he worked her worn skillet over the burner, making pancakes. She had made them before herself when she worked in the town, but with nothing like the practiced movements Simon used now. She was even more conflicted when she saw how much batter he had made; more than she had seen in years. Crossing her arms, she tried to keep her ire up, but failed.
Real food. It didn’t feel right.None of this feels right.Nora shifted on her metal chair, her stomach rumbling. She didn’t know how to accept this much help. “Can I do the dishes at least?”
“No. You need to sit and eat,” Simon said simply as he placed the first pancake in front of Tilly.
Tilly’s eyes grew wide at all the food as she sat at the table next to Nora, her metal plate soon piled high with pancakes. Her blond curls were still slightly damp from the bath she took earlier, hanging wet on her back like a curtain.
Nora put her hand on Tilly’s shoulder as Simon continually filled her plate. “Slow down, Tilly. Your stomach needs to catch up.”It is really too much.
Nora sat, uncomfortable, as Simon didn’t stop cooking. She picked at the food before her hunger asserted itself and she ate more than she had in a long time.
He talked as he flipped the pancakes. “I couldn’t find the components of the BRAT diet, but everything here should be fine as a substitute. You usually eat these with syrup or butter but plain for now is better.”
“BRAT?” Nora's eyes narrowed.
“Banana, rice, applesauce, toast.”
“I don’t know what half of those are. Simon . . .” Nora stood as he put another pancake on her plate. “No more food please. Let me help with something at least.”
