Town

On the ride into town to visit the grocery store, Max wasn’t his usual quiet self. It was kind of odd. Most of the time, when we were traveling in the car together, I was shocked if he said more than two words, but on that day, he was quite chatty--which was kind of cool, but also just one more thing that was suddenly different in my life. 

“How are you liking living at Grandma’s?” Max asked me, one hand on the steering wheel while the other was propped on the window.

“It’s okay,” I said with a shrug, not wanting to tell him the truth--that I desperately wanted to go back to California. I figured he already knew that anyway. 

“It seems like you really like the woods.” He turned to look at me for a split second and gave me a small smile.

“Yeah.” I wasn’t about to elaborate unprovoked, not after what had happened the day before. 

“Have you seen any animals out there?” We came to a stop sign, the first sign of life I’d seen since we left Grandma’s. Not another car, a house, nothing. I hoped that meant we were close to town. Since I’d be going to school here in a few months, it would be nice to know about how far away it was. I had been to Whispering Hollow before, but I hadn’t paid much attention because I never would’ve dreamt I’d be living there.

“I’ve seen a few animals,” I said to him as he went through the stop sign. I still didn’t see any houses, but the trees were beginning to thin out, and I could see a truck down the road a ways. 

“Squirrels? Rabbits?”

“Some. Lots of birds.” I began to wonder if he wanted to know specifically about wolves. Well, if he wanted to know, he’d have to ask. I wasn't about to volunteer that information. 

He laughed at my comment about the birds and turned his blinker on to turn left at the next corner. Up head, I saw a few houses. Maybe we were getting back to reality. There were less trees now, more open fields. I sort of recalled this being the way to the little village that wasn’t much more than the school, the small grocery store, a gas station, pharmacy, and I thought maybe a restaurant, but I wasn’t sure. If there were any other buildings, they were either added since the last time I was here or not in the town proper.

“I always liked going out in the woods,” Max said. “Now that I’m working again, I don’t have as much time.”

“Right.” I was glad he was able to work remotely, even with the terrible signal Grandma had most of the time. Mom was still looking for something she could do nearby but hadn’t had any luck. 

“Did you hear those wolves howling last night?” Max asked as the town took shape in front of us.

So he did want to know if I’d seen any wolves. “Uh… I’m not sure. I fell asleep pretty quickly.” I’m not one for lying to my parents, but I also didn’t want to tell him the truth. I have no idea why, but I didn’t feel like he needed to have that information.

“Boy, were they loud.” He chuckled again. “They must’ve been having some sort of a wolf party.”

I giggled, not because I thought that was funny but because I wanted to be polite. The wolves I had seen the day before didn’t seem like they were having a party at all.

We passed a few cars driving out of town and Max headed for the grocery store, pulling into one of the spots out front. There were only about four, and it was on the main drag, like just about everything else.  Clusters of houses  branched out on side streets, and I was pretty sure the school buildings were over a block or two on the right. If my memory served me, there were three buildings, all of them old, and none of them full. Elementary, junior high, and high school students all had their own buildings but they were within walking distance. I was pretty sure Whispering Hollow wasn’t big enough to have a football team or any kind of sports. I hadn’t remembered seeing any kind of athletic complex.

“Ready?” Max asked. I nodded and opened my door, looking at  the front of the grocery store. It looked like it was built in the 1800s and was so small, I couldn’t imagine it could have nearly all of the products we were used to choosing from back home. I’d just be happy if I could get my favorite soda and some chocolate. I did hope they had my sister’s cereal, though. She was going nuts as it was, but with that, maybe she’d calm down.

We walked inside and the scent overwhelmed me. I didn’t quite know how to explain it. The store smelled sort of like you would expect an old television show from the 1950s to smell if you could walk into it. The smell wasn’t unpleasant, just distinct. And overwhelming.

“What’s the matter?” Max asked, raising his eyebrows at me.

“Nothing. Just… the smell,” I replied quietly so the friendly looking older woman behind the counter across from us didn’t become offended.

“What smell?”

I raised an eyebrow at him. I don’t know how he hadn’t noticed. I shrugged, and Max got one of the small carts in the collection bin by the door. A few other people were milling about, but the store was only three rows wide, with coolers around the perimeter in the back and the side by the check out and a produce section near the back toward my right. That was it. Not only did it smell like I imagined it did seventy years ago, I felt like I’d walked back in time to a simpler place. This was nothing like the bustling supermarkets I was used to in California.

“What do you need?” Max asked me. 

“I’m not sure.” I glanced around and headed off to the beverage section while he started down the first aisle.

I saw my favorite soda and grabbed a twelve pack of cans. On my way back to Max and the cart, I stopped at the cereal section. They did have a couple of boxes of Grayson’s favorite kind, so I grabbed them both and headed back to Max.

The cart looked like a nine-year-old had been shopping, there was so much junk food in it. I laughed and deposited mine while he headed for the alcohol section. Grandma didn’t imbibe and didn’t approve of anyone else doing so either, so I figured he’d be hiding his beer in the garage or something, but I’m not one to judge. I headed off to the candy aisle where I found my favorite candy bars and Graysons and grabbed a few of them.

Satisfied that I had everything I needed, I dropped those in the cart and let Max finish up, thinking I’d go hangout by the magazine rack. I didn’t usually read those, but there wasn’t much else to do. An elderly woman was checking out, and the lady behind the counter, who looked like they might be the same age, was chatting with her like they were old friends. I thought we might be there a while.

I grabbed a magazine that looked like it might be entertaining for a few minutes and paused in front of the rack, thinking the other older people who were shopping probably wouldn’t need this month’s Cosmo. I started reading an article about how to tell if a guy likes you, thinking that was pretty humorous considering I might not ever see another guy again, assuming I didn’t go for another walk anytime soon. Eventually, the old woman gathered her bags and headed for the door, and the cashier greeted Max commenting about all of the sugary items he’d chosen saying, “You must have a lot of children.”

“Just a couple,” he said with a laugh. They began to chat about how he had to be new in town, and I learned that a guy might like you if he nudges you with his shoulder when he’s talking to you. The chime of the door told me that the older woman had left, but I didn’t look up to see if anyone else had come in and didn’t realize anyone had.

Until I heard a masculine voice say, “Excuse me.”

I looked up from my magazine to see him standing there--him! The guy with the blue eyes. He was here--in the grocery store, standing right next to me, looking at me. Looking--annoyed. My mouth fell open and I stared at him, having absolutely no idea what to say or do. I should’ve read the article about how to formulate articulate sentences when talking to hot guys….