Page 77 of Clara Knows Best

“Not gross, I take it?”

Feeling somewhat speechless still, she found his hand and gave it a firm shake. Then she stepped around him, being careful not to whack him with her umbrella, and heard him laughing behind her as she made her way to her mother’s car.

He followed at a leisurely pace, didn’t bother to put his hood up over his head, and slid wearily into the passenger seat. “Girls.”

“Boys,” she countered. “How long do you think that kiss went on for?”

“I don’t know. Eight, ten seconds.”

“You kiss like a surgeon. Precise. Methodical.” Life-changing.

He sighed. “And how many surgeons have you kissed?”

“None of your business. How much pain are you in?”

“Not a lot. Mostly just tired.”

“Hard to believe you don’t have a concussion. Your head hit the ground so hard I thought it was gonna bust open.”

“I thought so, too.”

27

“I only need a few things. You can wait in the car.”

“Yeah, I’ll just send you across a dark parking lot twice and let you load all the groceries.”

“There’s no need to be sarcastic. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself in a parking lot.”

“What would you do if some guy grabbed you and tried to shove you in a windowless van?” he asked.

“Ask him politely to leave me alone,” she answered flippantly.

Knowing the Colonel, Clara probably had a Saturday night special in her purse. “I don’t want to know,” he said, unbuckling and opening his door.

“Don’t want to know what?”

“Anything.”

She opened her stupid umbrella and got out of the car. It was barely sprinkling now, but perhaps she was made of cotton candy.

He was momentarily sidetracked by the thought.

“I’m going to load the groceries myself either way,” she said, taking his good arm and leading him towards the entrance.

There was something surreal about walking arm-in-arm with her in the dark, drizzly night, sharing an umbrella. Her fancy shoes made slight scraping sounds on the asphalt and her skirt swished against his pant leg. “No, you’re going to get in the car and turn my seat warmer on.”

“If you can’t even drive, how can you return a shopping cart?”

“I’ll figure something out.”

She gave him a quizzical look as she pulled a shopping cart free from the others in the carousel.

“Well, we made it,” she remarked as they entered the brightly lit little store. The part left unsaid being,And as I predicted, no one got shoved into a windowless van.

He didn’t totally buy her careless act; her father had always impressed on all of them that certain safety protocols must be observed in what was basically a border town. Jesse just hoped that Clara wouldn’t be cocky enough to let her guard down at the wrong moment.

It felt oddly cozy to peruse the produce section together. She considered the display of cut flowers with a thoughtful frown, giving him ample opportunity to ponder whether he liked her flowery, ankle-length skirt.

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