Page 21 of Outlaw Heartstrings
Jagger’s eyes light up. “Cookies? Yay!”
Yeah, cookies. Because even though life can be a bitter pill to swallow, Jagger’s smile is always something sweet to look forward to.
10
EASTON
“How about a bunch of these?” Mom asks, holding up a few family-sized packets of seasoned veggies in my face. “You’ll be able to toss them into the air fryer for a quick, healthy meal.”
“Sounds good. Load me up. Now that I’m back doing some physical training, I need to watch my diet.”
Yesterday’s doctor’s appointment went well. It feels good to finally be off those damn crutches. That means I’m making progress. Now it’s time for therealhealing work to begin.
I wander the aisles of the grocery store with my mom pushing the cart. After the pandemonium at the coffee shop yesterday, I keep my baseball cap pulled low now to avoid attracting too much attention.
While Mom’s stocking the cart full of vegetables and protein, I drift down the nearby candy section, in search of something sweet. A conversation at the end of the aisle catches my attention.
They’re too far down for me to see them well, but itsounds like a grandmother talking to a young child. A child who really seems to want a candy bar.
The older woman sighs heavily. “I’m sorry, Bud. We can’t get it this time. See? It’s not on sale.”
The kid’s shoulders fall.
“How about we leave it right here until next week? Then we can check it again. Maybe it will be on sale then,” the grandmother suggests.
“Okay, Grandma.”
I watch as the boy reaches for his grandmother’s hand and they start to walk away. The whole scene takes me back about twenty years. I remember having similar conversations with my own mom as a child. Money was too tight to ever buy candy. And candy bars rarely ever made it into the food boxes they’d hand out at the church. I wasn’t much older than that kid when I finally gave up asking for frivolous things.
My chest aches at the memory. It aches for this kid I don’t even know.
Without a second thought, I’m hobbling down the aisle and discreetly picking up the discarded candy bar, placing it in their basket. “I’ll pay for your groceries, ma’am. If you don’t mind, of course.”
The older woman turns to look at me, and I recognize her instantly. But before I can even say hello to Alba’s mom, the little boy beside her peers up at me and gasps.
“It's Easton Raines!” he squeals. “See, Grandma? I told you I met Easton Raines!”
It’s the little boy I met at the library.Alba’s son.
I nod at the kid, a smile spreading across my face. “Jagger! Twice in one week? Good to see you again, little man.”
Mrs. Anderson blinks in surprise. “Oh my goodness. Easton! What a treat it is to see you!”
“Good to see you, too, ma’am.” It really is. Alba’s mom, Patty, always seemed to go out of her way to help my family back when we lived in town. Sometimes, she would even throw a few extra cans of soup into our weekly food box.
I lean in for a polite hug and I’m surprised at how frail she feels. And is it just me, or are her pants inside out?
“Alba mentioned running into you. Welcome back to town,” she says to me.
“I just got in yesterday,” I tell her. “The plan is to spend the summer here.”
She offers a little nod. “Well, that’s lovely. How have you been enjoying being back home so far?”
I blow out a breath. “Let’s just say that a lot has changed around here since I’ve been gone.”
Her eyes dim a little. Shit. I wasn’t implying anything about her husband, but I wonder if that’s where her mind went. I can imagine it’s a sore subject for her, whatever it is that happened with all that.
“Did you see that the old diner changed hands again?” she says with a chuckle.
