We rounded the corner of an aisle in Dubois Super Foods. e shopping cart was over lling with food and drinks for the barbecue, and Calvin was being extra attentive, almost too attentive. I knew he was worried that I’d leave early
—that Joe, the pit of carcasses, the slaughtered chickens, Gretchen bucking me o , the isolation of the ranch, and the sheri showing up asking about a missing woman would scare me o . Fortunately for him, I didn’t scare easily. I really didn’t want to leave, at least not yet. I wasn’t ready to go back to my life. Despite the issues here, there was a lot I was fond of in Dubois, including Calvin. I enjoyed the way he looked at me like I was the only person that existed in the world. It was also odd though because I had only been a part of his world for six days.
“You like Oreos?” Calvin asked, holding up a package of the double-stu ed
kind.
“Does a horse eat hay?”
“Perfect.” He smiled and tossed them in the cart. “Do you think Joe will show up today?”
Calvin shrugged. “Not sure. I haven’t heard from him, but I have his truck
—so he’ll turn up.”
He must have noticed the worried look on my face because he walked to me and pushed a piece of my hair behind my ear, gazing into my eyes.
“Don’t worry about Joe. He probably doesn’t even remember what he did
last night, which is no excuse for his behavior. But I’ll keep a close eye on him
if he does show up,” he said it all in one breath as if it wasn’t the rst time he had to say it.
“Okay,” I said.
Calvin nodded and glanced around the store, then back at the cart. “I think we got everything. Is there anything else you wanted?”
I shook my head and proceeded to push the cart toward the front. Calvin picked up a bouquet of roses and set them in the cart.
“Who are those for?”
“Oh, just some Airbnb guest of mine.”
“I should be the one buying you a present. It’s your birthday.” “You’re my present, Grace.” Calvin smiled wide.
I knew he intended it to be sweet, but I found it kind of sad. I smiled back anyway.
ere was only one checkout lane open, and Charlotte was working it. Her
hair was pulled back, her skin was dull, and her eyes were bloodshot. She was clearly nursing a hangover as a half-drunk Gatorade and a bottle of ibuprofen sat beside her register. I felt ne as I never really got hangovers. I was one of the lucky ones. Genetics, as they say. I placed items from the cart onto the belt while keeping an eye on Charlotte.
“Hey, Calv, happy birthday!” Char said. Her voice went up an octave. “ anks. How ya feeling today?”
“A little headachy but I’m looking forward to your party. I’m gonna need a little hair of the dog.” She laughed.
“I bet,” he said.
Charlotte slid the bouquet of roses across the price scanner and shoved them into a bag without any care for the delicate owers. Her eyes scanned Calvin and the groceries, and then they nally landed on me. She gave a small insincere smile.
“Didn’t see you there, Grace.” It wasn’t a greeting, just an acknowledgment that I was alive and present.
Charlotte reverted her attention to Calvin. “I didn’t embarrass myself last
night, did I?” Her voice was irty.
“No, not at all. I think everyone had a little too much to drink.” He pressed his lips together.
“Has Joe stopped by?” she asked.
Calvin shook his head. “Nope. Haven’t heard from him.”
“Oh, well he was in here earlier. Bought a couple twenty-four packs of beer for the barbecue.” She continued to scan and bag the groceries.
“He’s still coming?” he asked.
Charlotte nodded. “I’ll be honest, I don’t remember much of last night.” She rubbed her head, trying to conjure up the memory that was long gone. “What exactly happened?”
“It’s best we just put that behind us then.”
In the little bit of time I had been in Dubois, I noticed things frequently got swept under the rug. But the problem with sweeping things under a rug is eventually it all spills out. What else was hidden around here?
“Okay,” Charlotte said. She hit a few keys on the register. “ at’ll be one hundred ninety-six dollars and twenty cents.”
Calvin stuck his card into the machine without any hesitation. Someone with money problems would hesitate.
“I thought that was you, Grace,” a voice from behind called. I turned back to nd Betty, the woman I met at the clothing store earlier this week. She was dressed in a oral print dress with a high neckline and sleeves that went to her elbows.
“Oh, hi. How are you?” I wasn’t sure why she was being so friendly toward me. At her boutique she seemed suspicious of my very presence.
“Just ne. How are those clothes working out for ya, hon?”
“ ey’re holding up. Calvin’s got me riding horses and shing in them.”
Calvin slid his card back into his wallet and pocketed it. He gave Betty a hug and whispered, “Missed you.”
“Happy birthday, sugar. I know today’s a complicated one but you enjoy it
best you can,” she whispered back.
A complicated one? Why? Was it because of his parents?
“ anks, Betty. Grace here has been keeping me happy.” He smiled and took a step back to put his arm around me. “Not sure what I’d do without her.”
Betty collected some items from her basket and placed them on the belt. “Look at you two getting along so well. You’re not going to want to leave, Grace.” She looked at me with a tight smile.
Charlotte let out a cough. “But you are leaving . . . right? In four days?” I ignored her.
“Anyway,” Betty said, steering the conversation. “I was just here to pick up a few items for my famous honey cake, but I don’t wanna tie you two up. I’ll see ya later this afternoon.”
“I can’t wait. Your honey cake is heaven,” Calvin gushed.
“Oh, Calv. You sure know how to make an old lonely woman feel good about herself.” Betty blushed.
“You’re not old and you’ve got me,” he said, giving her a half hug. “I’ll see ya later.”
“Not if I see you rst,” she said back with a wave and a small laugh.
e dynamic between Betty and Calvin was like mother and son, but Betty wasn’t his mother. His parents were dead. But Calvin never told me how they died. What happened to them, and were they the reason Calvin’s birthday was, as Betty put it, complicated?
