Page 28 of Salute, To Bravery
I turned into the parking lot and found a spot near the door. The giant cartoon-ish child on the front of the building was hard to miss as well as the sign that read “Candy Factory” in huge white letters. I shook my head in disbelief. “You said this was a gas station.”
He hopped out of the RV, a huge grin on his face. “There’re gas pumps out front, it counts. Now come on.” He nearly skipped to my side of the RV and took my hand, pulling me out of the large vehicle. I expected him to let go of my hand, but he held on. His hands were strong, and much bigger than mine, and I couldn’t help but feel safe as he pulled me into the store. I briefly wondered if I should pull my hand away, but if I was being honest with myself, I didn’t want to.
The distraction of his hand enclosing mine ended abruptly as he dropped my hand when the door closed behind them. I caught him looking at me, if only for a minute. He almost looked embarrassed. I wanted to comfort him in some way, even though I didn’t know why. I stopped myself from reaching for his hand again, and almost as if he sensed the situation, he folded his arms in front of his chest.
“So, what do you think?” His smile returned to his face as he looked between me and our surroundings.
I finally took a second to look around me, and it was not what I expected. Rows upon rows of candies. Buckets, or maybe closer to barrels of them, lined the floor on both sides of me. I could glimpse the gifts at the back of the store, but I didn’t get a chanceto look before Ian waved at me to follow him to the end of one of the rows of candy.
Ian handed me a paper baggy and gestured to the barrels. “Have at it.”
“Do what?” I was confused. Again.
He rolled his eyes. “You fill up the bag with the candy you want. You take it up to the cashier and pay by the weight of the bag.” He grinned.
“Are you serious?” I grinned. “You just scoop candy into your bag and go for it.”
Ian nodded excitedly and off he went. I tried my best to keep up with him, but honestly just wasn’t sure what to put in my bag. Ian helped by explaining things as we went or just throwing random things in my bag without asking.
“Are you getting me candy, or are you just getting more candy for you?” I laughed as he stuck more candy in my bag.
“I’m broadening your horizons.” He grinned again as we moved toward the register with our nearly bursting bags. “Oh, you need some of these.” He stuck some sticks in my bag that looked like they had crystals growing on them.
I pulled one out of the bag, a deep red one that was really pretty. “What’s this?”
He laughed. “It’s rock candy.” He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He sighed at my frown. “Just trust me.” He took the stick from me and shoved it back in the back and handed them both over to the cashier.
The cashier kept glancing between Ian and me. She rang them up and handed over the bags. “You and your wife have a good day.” She gave us both a warm smile.
“Oh, we’re not married,” I quickly chimed in.
Ian smile faltered only slightly, but it was enough to make me want to kick myself in the teeth. Why did I feel bad about saying what was true?
Ian paid, and we got back into the RV. This time Ian didn’t give me a choice as he took the driver’s seat. Our minor awkward moment forgotten.
I decided to just let him drive if it would make him feel better. Once we got back on the road, Ian pointed to my candy bag. “Okay, fish out one of those rock candies and try it.”
I dug through the bags until I found two of the same flavor and handed one to Ian. I unwrapped it and stared at it for a minute.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Won’t it cut my mouth? Is it even safe to eat?” I didn’t like the thought of putting minerals or dirt in my mouth.
“Oh my gawd,” he said with a thick accent. “You seriously lived under a rock, didn’t you? It’s literately sugar, water, and flavor. Just put it in your mouth.”
I gave him a look, noting the innuendo.
“Shut up and just do it.” He shook his head and chuckled.
I stuck the candy in my mouth. It was like a sucker but tasted so much better somehow. It was sweet, but didn’t have that gummy texture that suckers could get sometimes. The crystals did feel a little weird in my mouth, but there were no sharp edges like I thought there would be. I pulled it out of my mouth and grinned at Ian.
He smiled back. “See, you should trust me more.” He stuck his candy back in his mouth.
“How do they make these, do you know? Is it some kind of mold they pour into?” I stuck the candy back in my mouth.
Ian pulled his out of his mouth and waggled his eyebrows at me. “They use science.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “No seriously, how do they do it?”
