Chapter Fifteen
Daniel
Alexa was waiting for me, looking pissed when I left the restaurant. I approached her with caution and weary of what she was feeling. I pushed a button on the keychain and unlocked the truck to let her in. She climbed in as I watched her. I was about to start walking when Alicia ran out of the restaurant, pushing a piece of paper into my hand. Alexa just glared at us, and I walked to the truck and got in, not even bothering to look at the napkin.
“Already pursuing your next conquest for after you are done with me?” The scathing tone of her voice made me flinch. I looked at her, startled at her change in attitude.
“What are you talking about? The waitress? She’s not even my type. I told you. I want you, Alexa. Fuck. I know it’s hard, but try to trust me. Like I have to with you.” I started the car and waited for her to tell me how to get to the store. When we pulled into the parking lot it was already closed.
I groaned in frustration. We needed some groceries and the store was closed.
“Anywhere else?” I hoped she would be able to shop somewhere else.
“Carrs. We can always go to Carrs. It’s just Safeway.” She pointed out the way to the store and we drove up the road until we pulled in. Twenty-four hours. Thank god.
I parked the SUV and Alexa was out before I had even turned the ignition off. I shook my head and hurried to catch up with her. She was tapping her foot, waiting for me at the door as I slipped across the ice.
“Okay, I will do the shopping, and you can keep me company. Is there anything you are allergic to or just plain won’t eat?” She got a cart and started walking through the store, with me trailing behind her.
I watched as she filled the cart with fresh produce, the ingredients for bread and noodles, fresh meat, before going to the dairy section and getting milk, creamer, eggs and cheese. I had never gone through a grocery store so fast with someone and was glad that she knew what she was doing.
“Now that we have food, we need to get something to cook and eat with. I was thinking about just getting some disposable silverware and plates, but I refuse to cook in foil. I need at least a couple of decent frying pans. After I get those I will be done and we can check out.” Alexa brought me down one last aisle before we headed to the checkout line.
One long line to another.
“Well, that was eventful.” Alexa was giggling as we walked the cart across the parking lot to the rig. Pots, pans, dishes and enough food to last at least a week. I had said to get that much just in case. What the hell was I thinking? Oh yeah. Snow. The white shit that was threatening to fall from the sky.
“This looks like it’s going to be an interesting drive back.” Alexa pointed upward. “Have you ever driven in snow?”
“Not since I was a teen,” I admitted, handing Alexa the keys. I didn’t want to relearn on the highway in the middle of nowhere. “You should drive. You know how to drive in this weather, and if it gets nasty you would be better at figuring shit out than me. I just want to get back to the house in one piece.” I smiled at her.
“Oh, well, thanks. I think. Load all this crap up so that we can try and beat this back to the house. I don’t want to be stuck driving in a whiteout.” She took the keys from me and got in the truck as I loaded.
I’d just finished loading the groceries and gotten in the Chevy when the first snowflakes began to fall.
“Well, good thing I let you drive. It’s already starting to snow. No outrunning this.” I looked at Alexa, as she shrugged.
She drove through town as the snow got heavier. The closer we got to the edge of town the thicker the snow got. By the time we got to the highway again it was almost a white out. I had never seen snow fall so fast and so thick. It was crazy, and Alexa was driving in it like a seasoned pro. I knew I would have been pulled over on the side of the road, crying like a little girl by now, if I had been driving.
She watched the road diligently as we drove through the park, waiting for an animal to run out on the road. We passed through the park without incident, and both began to watch for the turnoff. We almost missed it, the snow was so thick, and the several inches of snow didn’t help matters. The only thing that saved us was the tired tracks running down the road.
Alexa turned and drove down the road, almost plowing into the back of the truck that was parked in the driveway. She backed out and parked on the road so that they could get out and we could get back in.
We walked into the drive, holding our groceries, and the guys hopped out of the truck, coming over to help us. I handed over the bags in my hands, freeing them to take the bags from Alexa.
Big and tall number one spoke as we walked toward the house, to unload everything. Big man number two, went to the back of the truck and opened it, revealing everything I had ordered.
“Hey, sorry it took us so long to get here. We got stuck in Anchorage waiting on a truck to come in. We got here as soon as we could. We can unload everything once we bring this stuff in and put it where you want us to. Oh, by the way, I’m Sonny and that’s Charles.” He jabbed a finger at big and tall number two.
“Sure.” I walked up to the door and let them in, but Alexa had already beat me and was standing there with the door open. Oh well, it never hurt to have extras, and they could use the fresh stuff first. Life had taught me that. From cars to friends. I had grown up with little more than my mother’s love. At least until she had met the man I now called dad. Dad had helped me become the man who I was now.
He had helped me to become successful, to have the life and money I have now, but I would never forget what it was like to be poor. Though Mom would never let me miss a meal, I still knew what it was like to go to bed hungry. There were nights where I knew my mom didn’t know where our next meal was coming from, but somehow, we always had food.
“Hey Mr. Black, where do you want us to put all these groceries? I know the paperwork says to put them away, but you are here so I thought I would see if there was anywhere specific you wanted them instead.” Charlie pulled a box of cans out of the truck.
“Uh... yeah. Just stick them all in the kitchen. We’ll put them away while we put away everything else we just bought up in Fairbanks. We weren’t sure you guys were going to make it tonight, so we got some extra supplies to last in case.” I looked through the open door into the kitchen, sure that there was enough room between there and the dining room for all the boxes to be unloaded. I was glad I had thought about having an extra freezer installed for all of the food I had ordered for the house. This would be interesting if I hadn’t.
“Okay, that’s the last of the boxes. Sign here, Mr. Black.” Charlie handed me a clipboard with the delivery order on it. Signing quickly, I handed it back to him before the snow could ruin it, with a tip for each of them, sending them on their way. “Be safe guys! The roads are shit.” I waved as they pulled away. I turned back the house, hurrying inside to the warmth, out of the thickly falling snow. Alexa was already in the kitchen organizing things and had a pile for me to take down to the basement, and the storage setup for food. I wouldn’t call it a pantry. It was more like a storeroom.
I stepped into the kitchen and grabbed a box full of food and brought it over to Alexa to quickly sort through so I could bring it downstairs. It was frozen goods, and I didn’t want them to start melting or thawing. She dug through the box and came up with a satisfied smile on her face.
“Hey! I was wondering where this box ran off to. I wanted some of the stuff left upstairs for tomorrow.”
“Oh. Well, I didn’t think you would need any of this with everything we just bought. glad I decided to have you double check the boxes before I brought them down to the freezer.”
She dug through the boxes, pulling out some of the chicken, bacon, and steaks to leave upstairs in the kitchen before she let me take the box downstairs.
I was thankful I was finally alone with my thoughts. Having been stuck in a car with her all day, then even longer because of the lateness of the truck arriving, had been hell. I needed to calm down and putting everything into the storage freezer would be perfect for just that. I opened the freezer, it’s empty shell staring back at me as I began to unload the frozen foods.
Frozen meats, vegetables, noodles, broths, even a few pizzas slowly filled the freezer as I methodically placed the items in their spots. I hadn’t even noticed Alexa come down behind me until the box was beside me. She smiled at me and walked back upstairs, swinging her hips from side to side, wearing just a long t-shirt.
This woman was going to be the death of me.