Page 42 of His Wilde Little
While I didn’t mind going shopping for things, I didn’t know where anything in this place was. That was quickly removed as an obstacle by how friendly everyone was towards me. Maybe it was the unfamiliar face, or the full get up I was in that had them glancing in my direction. I caught all those glances and used them to my advantage, making sure to get my questions in about the things I needed from the list.
There wasn’t a time limit on how long we were allowed to be in town, but I didn’t want to waste the entire day here just looking around. I liked to be methodical and know where I was going, point A to B without having to make detour back on myself because point C was between the two.
I ended up back at the hardware store where I found something I liked. It wasn’t for me, but something I liked for Jace.
“I made those myself,” the owner said, nodding at me. I spaced on his name, searching his shirt for it, but there was no name tag to be found. “They come unpainted, or I can have them painted and sent to you.”
The items in question were animal figurines made from wood. I stared at them and back to him. “They look great. You take commissions on different animals?”
“Absolutely. Name the animal, and I’ll name the price.”
“Alpacas,” I said.
He smacked his lips. “This is for Jace, right?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I wanted to get him something. He’d been a great help, and I wanted to show my appreciation.”
The man nodded and waved me forward, but before we could get any further, I paused to ask his name. He laughed. “It’s Mason,” he said. “And don’t worry, I forgot your name as well.”
“I’m Lorenzo, but most people call me Lolo,” I said. That was most people except for Jace. I don’t think he’d ever called me it. But that was fine, considering he was now calling me Daddy, and that felt much better all around.
“Great, well, Jace is always eyeing up this set when he comes in,” he said, leading me around the aisles of the hardware store. “It’s a set of animals on a farm. We’ve had it on our webstore for a while and nobody had bought it yet. I think it might be a little too pricy.”
On a shelf, a small farm scene played out with painted farm animals and a wooden barn where I assumed they would all fit as a means of cleaning them away. “How much?”
“One-fifty for the set,” he said. “It’s one of a kind, hand painted, hand carved, all the hands.” He laughed. “The only thing that isn’t in there are alpacas, but if you buy the set, I’ll get some made and send them over, free of charge.”
It was the best thing on there, and I did want to give him something for all the work he’d done, plus, if he was going to get on the back of a horse today, then he definitely deserved this reward. “I’ll take it,” I said. “I’m pretty sure I’ll be back for more though. And could I grab some of those horses as well, the unpainted ones. Four, if you have them.”
Mason smiled and nodded at me. “I believe I do,” he said. “And some paint to go with them? I also recommend these smaller brushes too for painting.” I nodded to all the things, I had plans, ideas, and I wanted to see them all come true. “I can ring it all up for you. Anything else you need?”
“Nope, I think that’s it,” I said, briefly glancing at the list. The list had included something for Jace on it, but I wasn’t going to have his mom buying him things I was going to get him anyway, and if she asked, I’d tell her the alpacas would be coming from here soon. “You don’t happen to wrap things, do you?”
He let out a little chuckle, it was a knowing chuckle. Knowing that Jace was little, knowing that I was taking care of him. It was unspoken, but we knew. “I can do just that for you,” he said. “If you want to come back in ten minutes, I’ll have it all sorted for you.”
“Great.”
The hardware store was the last stop. I’d been taking the little bits back to the van, like the pantry items, the fresh flowers, and a whole tub of sugar cubes I was assuming had been added there for the horses.
Jace hadn’t left the bakery. He was sitting at a table with a friend, devouring pies together. He caught me entering, signaled by the bell dinging. He glanced up, his lips covered in the gloss of ice cream. He waved me over. “I was going to save you some,” he said, attempting to lick the entirety of his mouth clean with his tongue, and failing.
“Hi,” his friend said sitting opposite him. “I should be going, but it’s nice to meet you. I’m Leo.”
“Nice to meet you too,” I said with a head nod before taking the seat he’d left. I sat in front of the near empty plate in the center of the table. “You’ve gotten it everywhere,” I whispered, taking the napkin tucked beneath the plate and gently blotted away at his mouth. “I take it you enjoyed the pie.”
He nodded, leaning in close. I thought he was going in for a kiss, leaning in with him. “I’m doing research,” he said.
“I thought I was—”
He planted his sticky lips on mine. I licked mine afterwards. “I’ve got some real competition now,” he whispered. “But only here, I know I’m going to get first place for my bake at the livestock show next year. I came so close this year.”
“Wait. Which pie was yours?” I asked.
“It was a strawberry one, I got third place, but apparently it was too sweet and some of the people who voted I think onlyvoted for the others because they went around the entire show begging for votes,” he said in a huff.
Maybe now wasn’t the best time to tell him that I’d tasted that strawberry pie and had been someone who said it was too sweet. Overly so that I thought it might’ve given me a cavity. But now, knowing who made it, I understood why it was overly sweet, because that’s just who he was.
“Did you find everything you were looking for?” he asked. “And can I see the list now?”
