She smacked him lightly on the arm.“I wasn’t.”
“That’s two elbow shots and one smack.I’m going to have bruises by the time this debacle is over.”
“Oh, poo.You will not.I hardly touched you, you big baby.”She swatted him again to make her point.
He raised an eyebrow and stared down at her.“You do realize that, technically, I am your boss.I could fire you for that.”
She scrunched up her nose.“Ya, but you won’t.You wouldn’t be CEO if you were the petty, vindictive type.”
The bus hit a pothole, rolled a few feet, and came to a jerky, abrupt halt.Their cohorts groaned in unison.
The speaker cracked, and Brent said, “Fifteen-minute stop.If you aren’t back on the bus, you have to find your own way to the lake.”His gaze swept up and down the rows of seats.“For those of you who are here reluctantly, don’t get any ideas about missing the bus.If you don’t complete the exercise, you’ll be sent on another, less pleasant group event.”
“Darn it,” Eric muttered.“I thought this was my chance to skip out.”
“Don’t even think about it,” she warned, her voice deadly serious.“If I lose my partner, AKA you, I’ll have to do this again.No, thank you.Once is going to be enough.I can’t afford to be away from my business that long.”
Slowly but steadily, everyone piled off the bus.
“Geez, can’t they go any faster?We’ve only got fifteen minutes.That’s barely enough time to use the washroom and get food.”
“How about we coordinate our efforts?I’ll get food, you use the facilities.”
“Great!I’ll have two sausage and egg English muffins, an order of hashbrowns, and a bottle of water.”She rummaged in her waist pack as they walked toward the fast-food restaurant, which was attached to a convenience store.“Here, you won the bet, I’ll pay.”She held out two twenties.
“I’ve got it.Catch me later.”
She frowned, but put the money away and stuffed her wallet into her cross-body bag.“Want any snacks?”
“Nope.I’m good.I’ll just grab a coffee.”
She shook her head.“It’s past breakfast time.”
He shrugged at her disbelief as they split apart.She went right towards the washrooms that divided the two-part establishment in half.He went left toward the fast-food lineups.
Ten minutes later, food bag in hand, he went looking for her.She had a basket in her hand and was strolling down the chocolate bar aisle.
“Come on,” he urged, “we’re going to miss the bus.”
“I’m almost done.”
“Almost?”He stared down into her basket.“Chips, chocolate, licorice, Pop-Tarts®, soda, beef jerky?How much food do you need?”And what else was there that he couldn’t see under the other stuff?
“I’m starving.”She stared up at him, one hand on her hip, the other clutching her basket of snacks.“Besides, everyone knows that all road trip shopping should look like a ten-year-old was given a hundred dollars for snacks.”She waggled the basket at him.“Find me a Bueno©bar.They’re my favorite.”
“Hurry up,” he urged again.“We’ll miss the bus.”He scanned the row of treats.“Here!”He snatched up the bar and tossed it into her basket, added a Coffee Crisp®bar, and said, “I love that these are only available in Canada.Now, come on.Let’s pay for this and get to the bus.”
They raced toward the checkout, where an older lady was paying for her milk.“I’ll have four separate Lotto Max tickets for the next draw.”
Eric groaned.Lottery ticket buyers were the worst when you were in a hurry.He looked around for another staff member.Nobody.Dang it.Where was everyone?
“Is that everything?”the pimply teenage boy behind the register asked with a look of absolute boredom etched on his face.
“And two of those summer scratch tickets, please.Oh, I have a winning ticket in my purse.”She dropped her enormous black and gold satchel onto the counter and started digging.“Oh my,” she turned to smile apologetically at Eric and Wanda.“I’m so sorry.I’ll only be a minute longer.”
“No problem, ma’am,” Eric said with a pleasantness he was far from feeling.
She looked up at them.She didn’t even reach five feet tall.“Oh my, aren’t you an adorable couple?You’ll have the most glorious babies.Just like my granddaughter, Jessica.She has three lovely young’uns.Missy, Jimmy, and Conrad.”
