Saving Rain(86)

She held my gaze with an iron grip, her mouth twitching with irritability and whatever snappy comeback she had waiting. But then she surprised me by thrusting the container toward my face—as close as she could get with her short arms and four-foot-nine stature—and said, “These. Do you have them in chocolate?”

I slowly took the container from her while cocking a brow and narrowing one eye, wondering what the hell had kept her from firing back at me. “Um, give me a sec while I check the stockroom.”

“Fine. I’ll wait here.”

I hurried for the door at the back of the store, where I searched the rows of boxes, bags, and towers of cans until I found what she was looking for. I grabbed a box of twelve containers of chocolate dietary fiber chews to restock the shelf and hurried back to where Mrs. Montgomery was still waiting.

“Here you go,” I said, pulling out my box cutter and slicing through the tape. I pulled out a container and handed it over. “Chocolate.”

“Hmph.”

She dropped it into her cart and turned to walk away, but then she stopped. She glanced over her shoulder and looked up at me.

“Whatever’s on your mind, it won’t last forever. And before you know it, it’ll be just another memory.”

My lips rolled between my teeth as I let what she had said sink in, and then I nodded. “I know. But that doesn’t help what’s going on in the present though.”

“No. But you might want to think before you let it affect your life. Ask yourself … does this matter? Does this serve me to care? And if the answer is no”—she reached out and tapped my aproned chest with a knobby finger—“then you might want to reconsider the next time you ignore your friends for something that doesn’t belong in your head in the first place.”

I sniffed and felt the corner of my mouth lift in a reluctant smile. “Mrs. Montgomery … are you saying you’re my friend?”

She clicked her tongue and began to push the cart away. “Don’t go making assumptions, Mr. Mason. They’ll only make an ass out of you.”

Howard appeared by my side as she disappeared down the next aisle, and I said, “That old bat just called me her friend.”

“Well, yeah,” he replied as he wiped his hands against his apron, “she speaks very highly of you.”

I guffawed at that. “Get out of here, man. That woman hates me.”

He shook his head. “Actually, she was the one who suggested I make you assistant manager in the first place.”

I stared at the man like he’d sprouted a second head. “No, she didn’t.”

He nodded. “Yep. She knew I needed more help around here, and she mentioned what a trustworthy, hard worker you are.”

“Wow.” I glanced toward the direction the old woman had walked away in. “Who knew?”

I grabbed the broom and resumed my therapeutic sweeping of the floor. Heeding Mrs. Montgomery's warning and forcing my mind to think of anything but my mother. Ray. Noah. Eleven. The upcoming weekend and our plans to buy a TV. Howard lingered, watching the bristles scrape against the bleached wood floorboards with crossed arms and a gentle bob of his head. As if I needed his approval. As if I needed to know if I was doing a good job or not.

Then, he said, “So … listen, Soldier …”

With those words spoken, the broom froze, and my arms stilled. Nobody said those words without dropping a bomb immediately after.

“What's up?” I asked, all of a sudden terrified I might lose my job without any reason to be terrified at all.

“Connie and I were talking the other day. She needs some help with the Fourth of July festival. The ladies who work with her, Christy and Rosie—you've met them, right?”

I nodded. There weren't many people I hadn't met at this point. Especially working in such a central hub like the local grocery store.

“Well, they have most of it covered, but there's some stuff—hanging the banners, stringing some of the lights, things like that—that they need a little more help with, and since you have the height, I thought you might be willing to lend a hand.”

God, this guy needed to work on his conversation starters.

My nerves settled as I nodded. “Yeah, absolutely. You didn't even need to ask, man. You know I'm always down to help.”

“Well, I just didn't know if you had things going on with that girlfriend of yours.”

“It's all good, man. You just let me know whenever you need me, and I’ll be there.”

***

“So, you're not just making friends, but you're also becoming a fixture in town,” Ray said on the way to Harold's, the local department store.

I chuckled from the passenger seat of her old car. “I guess so.”

She reached over and laced her fingers with mine. “I'm glad they're finally seeing what I see,” she replied softly.

“And what exactly is it that you see?” My mouth curled into a teasing smile as I gripped her hand tightly, never ceasing to be amazed at how right it felt in mine.

Her cheeks were florid in the morning sunshine streaming through the open window. “My sweet, gentle giant.” Her voice was quiet against the warm air rushing into the car, but Noah heard her from the backseat, and he groaned in agony.