Page 6 of Christmas with Hope

“Well, aren’t you theperfect gentleman,” I smiled and then walked through the open door.

The store was quaint. It reminded me of the store off of theAndy GriffithShow. There were only two aisles of food and a cooler of cold drinks and foods against the back wall. The store smelled like dirt, pipe, and apple pie. The smells were a nauseating combination.

“They need a new air freshener,” Colton whispered into my ear, making me giggle.

“Definitely.”

“Hello. You two new to town?” an old man sitting behind the counter asked. He had a thick gray beard, wrinkles around his eyes, and anElmer Fuddhat. I didn’t recognize his accent.

“We are just in town for the holidays,” Colton replied, smiling at the man.

“Well, welcome to our humble town. It’s not much, but it is home,” the man chuckled.

“Thank you for the warm welcome. Your town is lovely,” I smiled.

“Is this your wife?” the man asked Colton.

Colton and I both stiffened at the question. We looked at each other with wide eyes then turned to the man.

“Unfortunately, no. But she is beautiful, right?” Colton glanced down at me and smiled.

“Absolutely,” the man nodded. “Can I help you folks find anything?”

“We need the bare necessities. Maybe some candy if you have any?” Colton smiled, making the man laugh.

“Well, if you can’t find it here then you don’t need it.” the man laughed wholeheartedly then held up a grocery basket.

“Thank you kindly, sir.”

Colton and I walked up the two aisles side by side. He’d hold up an item and if I nodded, he’d put it into the basket. Once we finished the two aisles, we headed to the cooler. It contained eggs, milk, bacon, ham, bologna, cheese, hotdogs, ground beef, andziplockbags markedDear Meet.They did live in the middle of nowhere so I couldn’t fault them for their misspellings. I could only giggle.

“Do you eat… um…,” Colton held up aziplockbag. “Do you eatBambi?”

“Oh, geez,” I busted out laughing. “No. I don’t eatBambi. Do you?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever tried it.” He placed it into the basket, carefully on top of the eggs. “I like trying new things.”

I’m new,I thought to myself, smiling up at him.

“You must be thinking something naughty,” Colton whispered in my ear. His warm breath sent a shiver down my spine. My body ached for his touch. Not just his warm breath.

“What ma…” I cleared my throat. “What makes you think that?”

“Lucky guess,” Colton smirked and then led me to the counter. He grabbed a handful ofSnickersand placed them on the counter.

“Hungry much?” I giggled. The man behind the counter laughed and Colton smiled down at me.

The man rang us up and against my protest, Colton paid. He also insisted on carrying the three bags of groceries and holding both the store door and truck door for me.

“Why are you so nice?” I asked, looking across the middle seat at Colton. He glanced at me then back at the road.

“Do you not want me to be nice?” he laughed.

“It’s not that,” I shook my head and smiled. “I’m just not used to a man being nice to me without wanting something.”

“Do you want me to want something from you?” he asked huskily.

Hell, yes!

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