Page 22 of Roads Behind Us
Bob took the paper and smoothed it out over the counter. He read it and said, “Some of this stuff won’t be here till tomorrow. We’ll get it all ready for you when it comes in, and Linda can deliver it.”
“Thanks,” Bax said. “Sounds good. You should have a card on file for us.”
Linda focused her eyes on Bax’s cast. “You poor thing. I’ve been meanin’ to get out to your place to bring y’all some food.”
“Thank you, Linda. That’s very kind of you, but I promise, we’re okay.”
“Nonsense,” Linda went on. “Big man like you, raisin’ a daughter on his own no less? I’ll make up some casseroles and bring ’em out tomorrow when I deliver your order. You can freeze them…”
She droned on and on, and the more she babied him, the tighter Bax’s hands gripped his crutches’ handles, so I hurried to the aisle Bob had said I’d find the reflectors in, grabbed every last one they had, and rushed them up to the counter.
“Girl, you sure you need all these?” Bob asked when I plopped the open box and the second unopened box in front of him.
“Yes, sir,” I said. “Ring ’em up.”
It seemed glaringly obvious to me that Bob’s and Linda’s concern made Bax uncomfortable, but they hadn’t caught on. He was polite and kind to them, and he answered their questions the best he could, but he kept tossing glances my way, hoping I could help him somehow get out of the awkward conversation.
I pointed behind Bob to a poster hung on the wall of a landscaped backyard that had been lit up with solar pathway lights. “You got those?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said “Just came in.”
“They come eight in a box?”
“Yup, as is standard.”
“I’ll take six boxes, please.”
“Six?”
“Yes, sir,” I told Bob. To Bax, I said, “Sweetie, why don’t you go ahead and wait in the truck while I check out.” I tried really hard not to laugh because the look of surprise on Bax’s face was priceless, and I had a feeling he was having a hard time not laughing, too, when I called him Sweetie. “I’ll only be a minute, babe, and then we can swing by the grocery on our way home and pick somethin’ up for dinner.”
But it shut Bob and Linda up.
Like a good boy, Bax crutched himself out to my truck after he thanked them, told them how nice it was to see them again, and promised to say hi to his mama for them. I watched him go, fixing my eyes on his ass in an appreciative manner and then turned back to Bob, who was now blushing, and miss Linda seemed to have lost her voice.
I used my company card and bought the lot and then skedaddled right on out of Bob’s Feed and Tack. I dumped my bags in my truck bed, and then Bob and Linda crowded together in the doorway to watch us go as I reversed out of their parking lot. Bax waved and smiled at them through his open window, but as soon as we hit the highway, he let out a wild, “Yeehaw!” and slapped his good thigh with the flat of his hand.
He whooped it up for a minute, laughing and stomping his foot on my floorboard.
“Watch it! Your big boot’s gonna poke a hole in my truck.”
“That was so much fun!” He chuckled and relaxed back in his seat, tossing out directions as I drove.
When I parked and shut off my truck in front of the Food Mart in town, I asked, “Is it like that all the time?”
He sighed. “Pretty much.”
“That sucks.”
“Yeah, I mean, it’s nice people care, but it’s been three years since my wife died. And what the hell did Linda mean? ‘Big man like you all alone?’”
“I know, right? Men can’t boil a pot of water for macaroni?”
“Hey now, I make a mean steak, and I can cook you up the best spaghetti and meatballs you ever ate. The secret is pork ribs. You gotta let them flavor the sauce while it cooks down, and I serve it with a boiled egg. Well, I could make it for you if I could stand on my own two feet.” He eyed me cautiously. “You know the whole town’s gonna think we’re together now.”
“Yeah, I’m from a small town too. I know how it works, but gossip’s better than people feelin’ sorry for you.”
“You ain’t lyin’. C’mon, let’s get the shoppin’ done. The grocery store is worse. I guarantee you we’ll see at least five people I know in there. Best just to get it out of the way.”
