Page 35 of Enraged

Laughing, she let go of the handle. “Maybe the storm skipped us,” she remarked. “There’s nobody here.”

“I was thinkin’ that on the way here when I saw how normal the roads seem.”

We climbed out in unison and headed for the door. I opened it and held it, gesturing for her to go on inside. “Demons, first.”

Another hearty laugh.

Why is that sound like a fuckin’ drug for me today?

“Lena! Dakota!” a familiar voice called out.

Mrs. Rosie, the owner’s wife, barreled at us from behind the wooden counter. She embraced Lena first, hugging her neck tightly before releasing her to do the same to me.

“It’s been a minute!” She looked behind us. “Where’s Jace and Cassie?”

Lena and I exchanged glances.

“That’s a good question,” Lena responded.

Mrs. Rosie shot me a worried glance. She and Mr. Paul have known me since I was a little boy. They bought the general store when I was about two years old, renovating and reopening it for all the locals. Since it’s the only store in town, I’d been in here a few thousand times over the last thirty years.

“Oh, dear. I hope everything is alright!” Her voice was full of concern.

“It is!” Lena responded a little too cheerfully.

We came to get some groceries for the house because of the winter storm warning but it seems like it may have passed right by us,” I explained, glancing out the front door.

Mrs. Rosie looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “Dollbaby, those new, fancy phones y’all kids tote around don’t tell you ‘bout the weather? It hasn’t even hit us yet!”

“My phone is dead, and I forgot my charger,” I fibbed.

She nodded. “I gotcha. Well, we have some chargers back there and we are pretty well stocked – food wise – but we are clean out of flashlights and candles. Apparently, the wind knocked down a tree on the north side of the mountain last night and caused some power outages.”

“Belleview was one of them,” Lena explained. “I can do the dark, but I don’t do hungry!”

Mrs. Rosie gave us a warm chuckle. “You kids grab a buggy and go find what you need. If you need me, I’ll be watching my programs.”

“Yes, ma’am, thank you!”

I love that woman.

Lena and I walked towards the other side of the building.

“Her programs,” she mused. “You think she’s a Young and the Restless girlie or an All My Children fanatic?”

“Definitely, Young and the Restless.” I thought back to my childhood, remembering the unmistakable sound of the Y&R theme song playing when Dad would bring me in for a bag of candy.

“Can’t blame her. Victor Newman could scramble my eggs.”

The laugh that got out of me was so deep that it felt like it came from my ankles.

“You’re insane,” I told her. “Seriously. A fuckin’ loon.”

She grinned at me as she tossed a package of cookies into the buggy.

This shopping trip is going to be like someone turned a bunch of twelve-year-olds loose and told them to pick their favorite things.

An hour later, we were standing at the counter, a couple weeks’ worth of food gliding up the conveyor belt.

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