Page 17 of Their Greatest Strength

“I don’t know! I’m just guessing because that’s where everyone else has gone. Duh.”

“Fine! But if you’re wrong, I’m so going to cry.”

The girls hold hands while slipping around a tall man also in a green jersey and racing to the back of the store. I carry on toward the tills, realizing the crowd has slimmed over here.

Whoever everyone seems to be here to see isn’t on this side of the store. I release a thankful sigh and make my way to the first empty register.

“Hi!” The cashier’s smile is genuine as she waits for me to hand over the shoebox.

I smile back. “Hey.”

“You chose a busy day to come do some shopping.”

“Yeah, I noticed that. Is there some sort of signing or something going on?”

The woman behind the register looks young, maybe a year or two younger than me, and is wearing another one of those orange jerseys. The logo on the front is the BC Pythons, Nate’s favourite CFL team.

She takes the box from me and scans the barcode before moving it to the other side of the till. “It’s not really a signing. A player from the Pythons showed up about an hour ago to sign some of his shoes.” Eyes widening, she lifts the shoebox up between us and taps the name and number on the side of it. “Oh, wow. This is actually who I’m talking about. You should totally go get these shoes signed after you finish paying!”

I double blink. “You mean number seventy-seven is here? Right now?”

She nods furiously. “I think he’d prefer us to call him by his name, but seventy-seven works too.”

I’ve never been able to remember all the players’ names that Nate loves. It’s much easier to focus on the numbers instead of matching both. But Bateman would make sense. That’s the name on the back of all the jerseys I’ve seen while I’ve been here.

“I do think I’ll get these signed after. Thank you,” I say.

“No worries. I’d hate for you to miss out on such a great opportunity. I’m going to try and get him to sign my jersey!”

“Is he a nice guy?” I ask, pulling my bank card out from behind my phone case.

She finalizes inputting the shoes with a nod. “Not only nice, but he’ssogood-looking. I started sweating so bad when he got here that I had to sneak away and reapply my deodorant. There’s just something about a man in a backward hat, you know?”

Oh, I know.

A rush of shivers travels down my spine. It’s like I can almost feel Jamie’s eyes on me again. That lightning-blue gaze that attempted to peel me apart layer by layer.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’ve been gushing. You probably just want to pay and get out of here. The total for the shoes is one hundred and fifty-seven dollars and twelve cents. You’re paying with debit?”

My stomach shrivels. “How much did you say?”

“One hundred and fifty-seven dollars and twelve cents.”

“What about the sale? Is that with the discount?”

She purses her lips and looks at the screen beside her. Another customer joins us, pretending to be busy looking at the socks on the hooks beside the register as they wait behind me.

“I don’t see a sale here. As far as I know, that ended yesterday.”

“Yesterday?” I ask, my voice cracking. “No, I put the date in my calendar and everything. It ends tomorrow.”

“I’m sorry. It was yesterday.”

The sting behind my eyes is instant. My throat tightens, making it hard to speak. “Are you positive?”

“Do you want me to call my manager? I can have him check and confirm, just in case,” she offers softly.

I press my hand to my chest and stare at the box, something cracking behind my ribs. The eighty dollars I had saved was already a lot, but I was willing to sacrifice a few things to be able to afford it. This would be almost double that, and I don’t . . . I don’t know if I can make that work right now. Not with me being between jobs.

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