“Good.”
Like I said I would, I rushed through a shower, foregoing a good shave that I probably could have used, and I threw on a T-shirt, some cargo shorts, my old tennis shoes, and a ball cap. I grabbed my sunglasses and my wallet, wondering if I should throw some other things in a bag, on the off chance that I’d be staying, but then decided that was a little too presumptuous.
I walked into the small grocery store and headed straight for the aisle where I knew I’d find what I wanted.
I was a grown ass man.
I could buy condoms.
But son of a bitch, the whole town was there. The. Whole. Damn. Town. The parking lot was fuller than I’d ever noticed before. All twelve spots were used.
“Morning, Vaughn. You’re up and at it early,” said Dr. Carver as I walked in. He was checking out, which I was thankful for, but it didn’t make me feel any better.
“Good morning. Just picking up a few things. See you Monday,” I said quickly with a wave as I passed him and headed to the far end of the store to scope out the aisle three situation.
I passed a patient I’d seen the past week and gave her a friendly smile that she returned without any hesitation.
A few weeks ago, none of the faces registered, but now, as I was getting more familiar with the people of the small town, everyone seemed like someone I knew. Or someone I at least recognized from somewhere.
I rounded the back aisle and began walking toward the one I needed to hit up before I made my getaway.
Like my prayer had been answered, it was empty. I marched to the section where I’d seen the condoms before and decided I wasn’t going to hang out that long. I’d find the ones I wanted and be out of there in no time.
“Hey there, Astro. How’s the Caddy running for ya?” I heard the gruff voice from behind me.
Fuck. Hannah’s dad.
I spun around to face him, hoping to block the contents of the shelf I’d been hastily browsing.
“Hi, Mr. O’Fallon. It’s good. Thanks.”
“Whatcha lookin’ for?” he said, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
I coughed, being taken by surprise with his question and said the first thing that came to mind.
“Athlete’s foot cream.”
“Oh, ya got a little crook foot, huh?”
He walked around me and pulled off the box of lotion that was positioned right under the box of prophylactics I desperately wanted to buy. Even if I wasn’t going to use them that day, I didn’t want to be unprepared again.
“Here you go. I used a mess of this a while back and it cleared right up. You don’t want to mess with that stuff. Gets nasty. Smelly.”
“Right,” I agreed, taking the box from him.
“Busted knuckles? You one of those cage fighters? What’s your ring name? Captain Cavity?“ He gave a few pretend punches to the air.
“No, sir,” I answered, looking at the injury from the bar. I didn’t want him to get any ideas that I’d hurt his daughter, which was exactly where my mind would go if I were him, knowing I’d been out with her last night. “I kind of took a swing at a guy in the bar who was being rude to your daughter.”
That was the truth, I couldn’t hide from it, and he’d probably hear about it before the day was over anyway.
He smiled and rocked back on his heels, sticking his hand in the pockets of his bib overalls.
“I might like you after all.” Then he looked behind me again and cocked his head to the side. “Anything else I can help you find? You know I’ve been coming here since they opened. I know where everything is.” His tone was teasing, but still a tad warning.
“I don’t think so, just the cream.”
“Good. Good. Did you know they sell bullets here? Do you have a gun, Astro?”
He was my height, but he was bigger than me. I didn’t want to be on his bad side. I was picking up where the conversation was headed and thought it wise to steer it somewhere else.
“I don’t. I hope you’re feeling okay this morning. Hannah was worried about you last night.” I knew it wasn’t my business, but then again, maybe it kind of was.
He stepped back a little, losing the momentum he was trying to gain with the shit he was giving me.
“I’m feeling pretty good. Pretty good. That’s right, you were on your date.”
“Yes, sir.”
“She told me. Are you headed out to the cabin?”
“I am. She asked me to go fishing with her.”
That made him genuinely smile and I liked it, feeling more at ease.
She didn’t have a lot of family, pretty much just him, and Dean—if he counted. I wanted to get to know her more and that meant I’d probably be spending some time with Mr. O’Fallon in the future. It would be nice if he liked me.
Also, I didn’t have much family and I liked being around them. They always seemed to have a good time with each other.
“You know she doesn’t date a whole lot. Never has.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I nodded and looked at the box in my hand.