Chapter Twelve

“I can’t let you pay for our groceries.” Sela shook her head when Ceno pulled out his credit card.

“Why not?” Ceno insisted on paying for everything. After all, his family was about to descend upon them like a swarm of locusts if he knew his brothers.

He also had the feeling that Sela and Clyde lived rather close to the edge and he’d already accepted a night’s board and two meals from them. That had to be worth something.

“It’s too much.” She crossed her arms with a scowl. “Heck, I gathered enough to fill my freezer and my cupboards, which were almost totally bare.”

“Old Mother Hubbard, huh?” He smiled, remembering bits of the tale he’d heard about the old woman from someone in Magic.

“Yeah, only I don’t live in a shoe.” She tapped her foot as the cashier had him insert his card into the reader and then gave him the receipt.

“Let him pay.” Her grandfather said as he pulled back on the handle of the electric cart. “Watch it, boy! You almost got your foot caught under the wheels.” He grinned and kept driving the cart through the lane, almost upsetting a display of canned goods. “Whooeee! This thingamajig moves fast when it’s empty.”

“Can we get help with this?” Ceno nodded toward the carts.

“Sure thing, sugar.” The cashier smiled and cracked her gum. “I’ll help you myself.” The girl stepped away from her register amidst a series of complaints from the people in line behind them. “Oh, I was just kidding. I’m gonna find them a cart guy. Keep your pants on. I’ll be right back.” She rolled her eyes and headed for the door.

“Ready, Sela?” Ceno glanced at her and frowned. “Is something wrong?”

“No. Nothing’s wrong.” She glared at him as the cashier closed her line down to help push a cart out to her truck when she couldn’t find anyone else to help them. “I’ll take that.” She pulled the cart away from the girl and bared her teeth with a smile. “You should probably go back and help those people who were behind us.”

“Maybe I was wrong about this one,” Gramps said as she stopped the cart next to the bed of the truck and opened the storage compartments.

“What do you mean,” she asked absently as she started handing things up to Ceno who had hopped into the back.

“I never saw you get jealous over girls flirting with Jerk—I mean Jack. And this one has his own money. Do you have a job, Ceno?”

“As a matter of fact, I’m part owner of a full-service gas station and garage in Magic, New Mexico. Why?”

Clyde grinned up at him. “I think I’m starting to like you.”

“Grandpa, really!” Sela had never been more mortified in her life. “Stop embarrassing me.”

“I’m glad to hear that, Sir.” Ceno grinned at him as he stashed the groceries in the lock boxes. Spinning around, he glanced at one of the boys on the other side of the truck. They’d hurried to help when they’d seen them exit the store with four carts and an old man in a store-provided scooter. “Did you get the refrigerated items into the coolers in the back seat?”

“Sure did, mister. Only there’s a lot that won’t fit.”

“Hand it up here, along with those thermal bags. There’s still some room in these boxes.”

“How could there be more room,” Sela asked with a frown. “There was enough stuff in those carts to fill those boxes twice.”

“I pack things well.” Ceno shoved the cold things into the thermal bags and lowered them into the big silver box that should have been full to overflowing. He zapped them with the minimizer he’d brought with him and made room for more.

If he wasn’t mistaken, Sela had purposely bought so much stuff so they couldn’t possibly secure it all. That way they would have to grab something cheap for dinner, like fast food. She’d made it clear that she didn’t want Ceno spending any more money on them.

“Damn,” she said under her breath.

She no doubt thought he couldn’t hear her. However, his hearing, as well as his sense of smell, kept getting better and better. The more time he spent with her, the more his other half developed. It was only a matter of time before it would insist he claim her or leave her. His kind couldn’t stay around a prospective mate for long without a claiming.

“Are you two ready to get something to eat?” Ceno locked the box and jumped over the side of the truck. He slipped the boys a couple of bills. “Thank you. I hope you’ll be here to help the next time we come to stock up.”

“You won’t be here when it’s time to stock up again. I’ve got enough stuff here to last us a couple of months.”

“You forgot I told you my family was coming to help, didn’t you?”

“Oh, God. Didn’t I tell you to call them and cancel that?” The color drained from her face. How could she possibly ask him to leave now?

“If it’s that much trouble, I can call them and tell them to turn around. Though...” he checked his watch. “I’d wager they’re over halfway here by now. I’d bet they’ll be here first thing in the morning if not sooner. I told them about Johnson and how I’d most likely pissed him off. I just thought it prudent to have backup, just in case.”

“Well I...” She bit her lip and glanced at her grandfather. “What do you think, Gramps? After all, it’s your house, too.”

“I think you should let them come. Cause if Cal Johnson gets a bug up his ass to come after you or Ceno, there’s safety in numbers. I know old Betsy would love some exercise, but she’s just an old gal and might not be up to the challenge.”

Ceno didn’t want the old man shooting anyone for him. He didn’t know if he could live with himself if something happened to the old man because he’d wanted to impress Sela.

“Then it’s okay if they come?”

“I guess,” Sela said as she climbed into the driver’s seat. “Time to go. We have to get all of this food home and packed away in the freezer.”

“I thought we were having supper in town.” Clyde climbed into the back.

“No whining, Gramps. You got out of the house, had your ride in the electric cart, and managed to talk me into buying you a triple scoop of ice cream from the deli counter. It’s time to go home.”

“Sela.” Ceno rested his hand over hers on the gearshift. “He’s an old man. Let him have his fun.”

He watched the emotions play across her face. She didn’t want to spend more time with him than she had to. That much was evident. Did she regret what happened between them in the bunkhouse? Goddess, he hoped not. Their encounter had been the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Still, it didn’t take much to realize she would do things for her grandfather that she would never do for herself, like let him take them out to a sit-down restaurant. Something told him they hadn’t had the money for that kind of thing in a long, long time.

“Okay. But we have to hurry. I don’t want the cold stuff to go bad. Do you hear that, Gramps?” She called over her shoulder. “We can eat here, but we can’t stay long. We have to get this stuff home before it spoils.”

“It’s going to spoil anyway,” he groused. “Who needs twelve gallons of milk?”

“We’re going to freeze it, Gramps. Not only will it be there when we need it and we won’t have to drive all the way back here to get more in a week, but it'll also keep the deep freeze cold if the power goes out.”

“The generator does that, you silly nit.”

“Not when it’s broken down or has no fuel. You know what happened the last time.”

“Yeah, that son of a bitch Johnson stole all our gas for the generator.”

“Gramps!”

“I won’t apologize for calling an ass an ass.” The old man crossed his arms, pursed his lips and stared out through the window.

Sela took a deep breath and put the truck in gear. “Everyone belted in?”

“Yes,” Ceno said as he smiled and pointed. “But you aren’t.”

“Yeah, right.” Her cheeks darkened as she glanced toward the back seat. “What about you, Gramps.”

“I have the damned fool thing on.” He pulled on the shoulder strap. “See?”

“Then we’re ready to go,” she said after buckling herself in.

“Damned straight we’re ready to go, and I better get my steak dinner, or there’s going to be hell to pay,” Clyde mumbled as she stepped on the gas.

Ceno smiled. He loved his new family already. He only hoped they could love him at least half as much in return.