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“I can come with you.”

“Nah, I’ve got it. Besides, it’s probably better if just one of us goes.” He jumped from the truck before I could complain. Maybe he was just as rattled as I was after visiting the supermarket.

I watched as Aiden walked inside. He was the only one in the shop aside from the pharmacist, and as he started talking, the older man immediately began to smile. I let out a sigh as Aiden worked his magic. He knew how to talk to just about anyone and always seemed to put people at ease. He’d been so sweet with the cashier earlier. I’d always thought he only said nice things to flirt, but I was starting to realize he really seemed to care.

By the time Aiden left the store, the pharmacist was laughing, and I couldn’t stop a smile from forming on my face. The old man was so cute as he chuckled away, and I wondered what Aiden had said to him.

“What are you smiling about?” Aiden asked as he returned to the truck.

“Nothing.” I answered far too quickly, and he lifted an eyebrow as though he were suspicious of my answer.

“Doesn’t seem like nothing…”

“Well, it was.” I sounded far from convincing, but Aiden shrugged it off. He must have been used to me acting weird around him by now and thankfully didn’t press the issue.

When we got home, we didn’t take the groceries inside straight away. Instead, I followed Aiden across the street to his neighbors’ place. I stayed by the gate while he dashed across the lawn to leave the medications on the front doorstep. He took his phone out of his pocket and was typing on the screen as he walked back.

The front door opened as Aiden reached me, and I recognized Herb standing just inside the entrance. He was dressed in a knitted vest, woolen trousers, and slippers, and his eyes were kind as he looked across the yard.

“That you, Aiden?” he called out.

Aiden lifted a hand in greeting. “Hey, Herb,” he replied. “I just dropped the medication on your doorstep.”

“Thanks, son,” Herb replied.

“Stop your jabbering and give the boy the money and a tip,” a woman called from inside. I remembered Rosalind’s sharp tone from the last time we’d seen the elderly couple. She appeared in the doorway moments later. Her long white hair was pulled back, and she was glaring at Herb with her chocolate-brown eyes.

“I was getting to it,” Herb growled.

“No tip necessary,” Aiden called out. “We just wanted to help.”

Rosalind’s eyes narrowed on me. “You must be Clary,” she said. “The girl whose parents are stuck overseas.”

“That’s me,” I replied with a nervous smile. Aiden hadn’t been kidding when he’d said Rosalind knew everything. I noticed him smirking out of the corner of my eye. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you too,” she said, her hard gaze easing. She looked remarkably different when she wasn’t analyzing me, and I was surprised to find she looked kind of sweet.

“I’ll put the money for the medicine in your mailbox,” she said to Aiden. “You kids run along now and have a nice day.”

“Thanks,” Aiden replied. As soon as we turned away, we almost immediately heard Rosalind scolding her husband.

“You’re useless, you know that, right?” she said to him. “You had one job this morning. All I told you to do was to leave the money for the boy on the front porch.”

“And I told you I’d get to it in my own time,” he replied.

“Are they ever not fighting?” I asked, as soon as we were out of earshot.

Aiden smiled. “Sure. But if they’re not fighting, it’s usually because they’re not saying anything at all.”

I glanced over my shoulder as the old couple disappeared back inside their house. “How do they stand it? They can’t seriously enjoy being married.”

Aiden chuckled as he gathered the groceries from his truck. “They’ve been married for fifty years.”

“But they seem to hate each other.”

Aiden shook his head, a smile still on his lips. “Love isn’t always what you expect it to be. Trust me, those two love each other more than anything…” He was looking at me intensely, as though he had more to say, but he stayed silent.

I frowned as I looked back at Rosalind and Herb’s house. “I don’t see it.”