Page 26 of Cookie

“I will,” I said and lowered him to the floor near the boot display. Ryan looked around before picking up a pair of boots more suited to hiking.

“How about these?” he asked.

“Too short, you’ll want them to come up a little higher or your pants will get wet every time. It sucks. Try these,” I said and handed him some that were similar to what I had on. They were what most of the locals wore because we all knew they couldhandle the weather, and we didn’t need to buy a new pair every year.

He sat in one of the two chairs that were here just to try on shoes and slipped off his tennis shoes. I watched as he pulled them on and tightened the laces. “These are nice, and they fit perfectly,” he said.

He started to take them off, but I stopped him. “Just put your shoes in the box. Ruth won’t mind if you wear them now.”

“Oh good, I was worried I’d never make it back to the truck without you carrying me again.”

“I wouldn’t mind,” I said, and led him to a rack of coats. “They don’t have a big variety, but all of them are good. See any you like?” He stepped up to the rack of coats and riffled through them before pulling out a blue and white one.

“How about this one?” he asked.

“Well, try it on.” This was all still so new to me. Every little experience I shared with Ryan was something I’d never shared with someone who wasn’t just a good friend or a relative. Sharing those little moments with my boyfriend made me love him even more and helped me feel closer to him.

“How does it look?” Ryan asked, but I was so lost in thought I barely heard him. “Charlie?”

“I love you, Ryan,” I blurted.

He stepped closer to me and clutched the front of my jacket in his hand. “I love you too,” he whispered. “Do you think this fits okay?” He walked over to a mirror and flipped up the hood to see how it looked. He said it like it was no big deal and I should already know this. Which I did but hearing him tell me so easily made my heart swell.

“I think it’s perfect,” I finally said.

“Good, because it’s really warm and I’m not taking it off. What else do I need?” he asked and started looking at hats and gloves.

“A hat, gloves, and maybe some hand warmers,” I finally said.

“Perfect,” he said and kissed me as he walked by. My eyes met Ruth’s, who was watching from the front. She winked and grinned before focusing back on the paper.

Twenty-Four

Ryan

Ifelt better once I had the new boots and jacket on, and as we climbed back into Charlie’s truck, I relaxed. “Every day is an adventure here,” I said.

He turned to me with a grin. “I guess it has been. Don’t worry, by next year this will all be old news.”

As we got closer to town, it became more and more clear this was not going to be a normal day. Even with the snow, I hoped I’d be able to open and put away the order that had arrived yesterday. The road ahead was covered in a thick layer of undisturbed snow, which seemed strange since all the way here we’d seen other vehicles that had made a path ahead of us. “Why are there no tracks?” I asked.

“I’m not sure.” He glanced at the time before focusing back on the road. We made the last turn to the street we both worked on, and there in the middle of the road was a snowplow and about ten people crowded around it, blocking the traffic that was on the other side of it. “Wait here,” Charlie said before jumping out of the truck and walking over to where everyone was.

“I have boots,” I said and hurried to catch up to him. “What happened?”

“The snowplow died. I’m not sure what’s wrong, but it broke down in the worst place it could happen,” a man said that I’d never met before, but based on the way he was dressed, I guessed he was the driver. “What do you think, Charlie? Can you get it going? I drive it, but I don’t work on it.”

“I’m not sure. You know this isn’t really my specialty,” Charlie said as he opened a panel that revealed the engine. “Try to start it.” He stood there poking and prodding while the other guy got into the cab and did something, but all that happened was a faint clicking sound.

“Sounds like the starter might be out or it might be your battery,” Charlie said and jiggled some wires before giving the guy in the cab the signal to stop trying.

“Shit, I doubt I can get another starter today,” the man said. I still had no clue who he was, but obviously everyone else did.

“Let me see what I can do,” Charlie said and wiped his hands off on a cloth the man handed him.

“Appreciate it,” he said as he took back the cloth from Charlie and shoved it in his pocket. “Once I saw how much it snowed, I was in a hurry to get the streets plowed, so I didn’t let it warm up enough. I pulled to a stop at the four-way because I didn’t want to go through the first car on the other side.” He glanced at a man who must have been in the first car.

“Thanks for that,” the man said, making a few of them laugh.

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