“Yes. Burritos. In L.A., there was a food truck in our neighborhood that had the best burritos, the size of your head.”
I scratched my head in thought. “I think there’s a good Mexican place downtown that is somewhat new. We could stop by there for dinner on the way back?”
Violet lit up like I’d hardly seen her do. “Oh, I’d be so freaking happy, Keane.”
“Then it’s done. I’ve got to run into the hardware store and since we’ll be right by it, the grocery store. Then burritos to-go.”
“Perfect.” The whole drive back into Amber Lake, Violet chatted my ear off about her life in L.A., leaving out all the parts that had to do with her ex-boyfriend. She told me about her doctor’s appointment, seeing the baby on the screen and how Navy had had to rush back to town to cover for Delilah at the store.
I gritted my teeth. I knew for a fact that Navy was overwhelmed with everything as it was but hearing that she was covering for someone who was perfectly capable of doing her own damn job rankled. As it was, Navy was working so much that we barely had time to talk. At least, that’s what I blamed our distance on. We’d texted here and there, but nothing substantial. I hated that she wasn’t coming to me with her stress, unloading it onto my shoulders the way she used to.
“Maybe we should have Navy come up for dinner tomorrow,” I suggested to Violet after we left the hardware store. “Cook for her, for a change.”
“Tomorrow’s Friday. I think she has a thing with Hollis tomorrow.”
“Oh, right,” I said like I had already known about it. “Maybe Saturday, then.”
“I don’t think she’s planning on coming back up until Sunday, for the movies. She has to work all day Saturday and Sunday morning because Delilah can’t.”
I clenched and unclenched my jaw as I pulled into the grocery store that was around the corner from the hardware store. “Oh, okay. Well, I guess we’ll see her Sunday then.” What the fuck was wrong with me? I didn’t indulge in tiny disappointments like not seeing Navy. Maybe it was because I hadn’t seen her for a week, when we normally saw each other all the time. I missed her, I realized. The distance growing between us needed to stop. We’d need to have the talk about that night nearly two weeks ago, and what that meant.
I only hoped that talking that over with her would give me the clarity I seemed to be lacking.
Violet followed me through the grocery store as I grabbed a few essentials. “New stove comes in on Monday,” I said, by way of explaining all the real food I was buying—not just microwavable bullshit this time. “Maybe we can be fancy and cook our food on a baking sheet instead of a plate.”
“I’m not sure I’m ready to grow up so much, so quickly.” Violet laughed and put an arm protectively over her stomach. There wasn’t a real bump to speak of yet, but still, she seemed to do that motion a lot.
“What kinds of juice do you like?”
Violet’s face took on a shade of purple I’d never seen. “No orange juice,” she said. “My vomit in the mornings looks just like orange juice.”
“Gross,” I said, steering the cart further down the refrigerators. “How about cranberry? Isn’t that supposed to be good for your body or something?”
Violet shrugged. “Probably. Can we get some sparking water to mix it with?”
“Definitely.” We moved to the soft drinks aisle, which was much more crowded than any of the other aisles we’d gone down. I had trouble maneuvering the cart past the people but managed to land us right in front of the wall of bubbly beverages. “Pick your poison.”
Violet considered for a moment and as she put her hand onto a cardboard container, a few snickers drew both of our attentions sideways. A handful of teenage-looking girls were at the other end of the aisle, glancing sideways at us and specifically at Violet. I looked at Violet, wondering if something was amiss. Self-consciously, Violet put a hand over her shock-blonde hair. “I recognize them,” she whispered, not turning to look at me. “They’re probably making fun of my hair.”
“Yeah? Well, fuck ‘em.” I moved the cart further down the aisle until I was stopped near them. They didn’t even have the sense to quiet their chuckles. “Oh,” I said loudly, pulling their attention from Violet to me. “Are you making fun of my headband?” Truth be told, I’d forgotten I was wearing it.
One of the girls turned to look at me, giving me a look like I was the scum under her boot. She opened her mouth, and I turned my body so that I blocked Violet entirely.
“I’ll have you know, Sharon, this is the new style,” I said before she could speak.
“Sharon?” She made a face like she’d just eaten shit. “My name is—”
“I don’t care,” I interrupted, my voice lacking amusement. “Stop acting like an asshole.” After a shocked silence, she and her friends turned and made their way further down the aisle. “Bye, Sharon!”
“What did you say to them?” Violet asked when she joined me.
“I told them to stop being assholes.” I shrugged and continued. “Anything else you want?”
I turned around to give her a smile, but she was still playing with her blonde hair, looking at it like she regretted it. “I don’t want to take advantage of you.”
“You couldn’t if you tried,” I insisted. “What do you need?”
“Could we buy a box of hair dye?”
“Of course.” I steered the cart down toward the toiletries and let her take her time choosing a box of brown that most closely matched her hair before. “Ready?” I asked after she put it in the cart.
“Yes.” She gave me a smile. “Let me take the cart,” she insisted.
“I’ll meet you at the check-out,” I told her. “Want to grab some beer for this weekend.” I nodded my head toward the beer fridge to the left of the cash registers. “I’ll be quick.”
With a box of light beer under each arm, I loaded up the belt at the register Violet had chosen. And because I was fucking stupid, it wasn’t until our items were halfway through scanning that I registered who was scanning them.
Fuck me. Megan.
I knew she worked here. I mean, I’d dated her for six months. But I hadn’t really thought about it when we’d come to the grocery store. This had been my grocery store as long as I could remember, and I wouldn’t avoid it just because an ex I still worked here. Though I’d never shopped here with someone else. Knowing Megan and her tendencies to be irrationally jealous, she’d look far too deep into me being here with someone else.
But Megan hadn’t seen me yet. I could give my cart to Violet and meet her at the car. But that would be a dick thing to do, I realized immediately after thinking it. And besides, Megan would surely see my name on her screen when Violet scanned the rewards card.
Fuck, fuck, fuckkkk.
I played it as cool as possible, thoroughly checking out all the candy bars that nine-year-old me had ever wanted. “You want any of these?” I asked Violet, making sure to stand so that she blocked me from Megan’s menacing eyes.
“All of them sound good. Are we doing s’mores this weekend?”