Page 19 of Buck Wild Orc Cowboy (Brides of the Lonesome Creek Orcs #3)

Holly

“ W e’re going shopping,” Sel announced the next morning at breakfast. “I planned to go the other day but didn’t have the chance. We will now.”

“We?” I didn’t need to go shopping. While I had some money, that was for emergencies.

Sel had a washer. As long as Max and I did laundry every other day, we could get by with what we had.

Except… “Is there a thrift store somewhere near where you need to go?” I assumed he had to go to the hardware store or something like that.

Pick up things he couldn’t at the general store in Lonesome Creek.

He frowned. “Thrift…” Rising, he took our plates to the sink, where he rinsed them and put them in the dishwasher.

It was here when we moved in, though he’d confessed he’d never used it.

He enjoyed washing dishes. Yet once I’d shown him how to set it up to run, he’d grinned and used it since.

Conveniences could make all the difference.

I hadn’t had one in my apartment, though my foster mom had.

“A thrift store is a place where you can buy used things,” I said. “Things in good shape. I thought I could get Max and me a few more outfits.”

Turning, he leaned against the counter. “We could ask at the department store if you don’t find what you need there.”

Or I could look on the clearance racks in the department store. It wasn’t too hard to lift a smile. “That might work as well.”

“We could leave now and be back before we have to open the bakery.”

I nodded to Max. “Get your sneakers on, kiddo. We’re going shopping.”

Max scooted down the hall and soon reappeared, ready to go. By then, I’d put my sneakers on as well, Sel his boots and cowboy hat. Outside, Sel strode over to a shed attached to the barn and slid the double doors open, revealing an older blue pick-up truck parked inside.

“There are three seatbelts,” he said, opening the passenger door and waving for us to get inside.

“You can drive?”

He frowned. “Why wouldn’t I be able to drive?”

“You, um, have your license and all that?”

“I got it not long after we came to the surface. I was the first one.” Pride filled his face. “My brothers were too nervous to take the driver education class at first, but I felt I should. We’ve always ridden sorhoxes. There are no vehicles like this in the orc kingdom.”

“How many of your brothers have ridden with you since you got your license?” I asked, climbing inside to take the middle area of the bench seat.

“None.” He shut the door after Max joined me. While we buckled, he strode around to the driver’s side and climbed inside.

“Are they still nervous about riding in vehicles?” I asked.

He shot me a sly smile. “They don’t like how I drive.”

My breath caught. “Please tell me you don’t go fast enough to get speeding tickets.”

“What are those?” When I blinked at him, his smile widened. He buckled up. “Sorry. I’m teasing. I know what they are. They talked about them in my class. I haven’t gotten any so far.”

I jerked out a nod as he started the vehicle and eased it out of the shed, soon pulling it onto the main road.

The bit of tension that had started climbing my spine eased when I saw why he hadn’t gotten a speeding ticket.

I wasn’t sure what the limit was in this area, but going twenty-five wasn’t going to draw the attention of any cops.

After stopping into the bakery to leave a note saying we’d be opening a bit later on the door, Sel climbed back inside the truck and guided it onto the road leading to the nearest town with bigger stores.

I stared out the front window, admiring the wavering grasses, the forest beyond the plain, and the tall mountains ringing the valley. There was something magical about Lonesome Creek, and I already knew it would hurt if I had to leave it.

As we left the valley he and his brothers had purchased, civilization picked up outside.

Sel started whistling through his tusks and tapping his fingers on the wheel in a matching rhythm that soon had Max doing the same.

Then, while Max continued the percussive beat and whistling, Sel started singing in a low baritone that was surprisingly pleasant even if I didn’t understand any of the orcish words.

It wasn’t long before I was singing along, mumbling through the refrain in harmony. We were something else.

We rolled down the windows and with the breeze scooting through the cab and our voices forming something magical, I was having fun.

I couldn’t remember the last time I truly had.

Eventually, we made it to a big department store, and Sel parked all the way in the back.

“I don’t want anyone to upset my truck,” he said, patting the dashboard as Max opened our door, and we both slid out.

I also took good care of my things. When something had to last longer than it was supposed to, you took care with how you used it.

We walked into the store, and Sel got a cart. A few people cocked their eyes in his direction, but most ignored us. Orcs were more mainstream now than they used to be, but it made sense that some may still not have met one.

Sel guided the cart to the women’s department, stopping it beside a wall with stacks of folded jeans. “Let’s get you some things.”

“I’ll take a look on the clearance rack,” I said, easing around the cart to the rack with the big yellow sign.

I pawed through the items, not finding much in my size, and held up a pair of leopard-print, bell-bottom pants.

“Think this would look good in the bakery?” It was marked down to a dollar, and I knew why.

“Mom,” Max sighed. He waved to the stack of non-clearance jeans. “These will look better. Actually, anything will look better.”

“If you like them, we’ll get them,” Sel said.

“I don’t like them, but they’re cheap. Clothing’s clothing.”

“She wears this size.” Max pointed to one of the shelves. “And she wears this size shirt.” He gestured to another shelf holding t-shirts.

How had he known that? Most of the time, my son was lost in a fantasy world. Look at him now, telling Sel that I wore a medium top and the right size jeans.

Sel grabbed what had to be eight pairs of pants and placed them in the cart, following it up with an equal number of t-shirts. “What else?” He peered around, then nudged the cart over to a rack of sweaters. “These are nice.” He held a light blue one up.

“Mom would look good in that,” Max, who was not being any help, said. My son had never possessed that kind of easy belief that you could have something because you liked it. I’d trained him out of it without meaning to. Watching it come back now made it hard to hold onto my smile.

“I can’t get all this. I don’t need all this,” I said, my voice lifting. At full price, the items would make a serious dent in my emergency funds. Grabbing the clothing, I started putting it back.

“ I want to get these for you,” Sel said quietly, looking around to ensure we were alone as if he didn’t want to embarrass me.

It wasn't the helping that got me, it was being seen as a person who needed it. All my life, I'd learned to avoid scrutiny. A tiny part of me wanted to hiss at him that we were fine, even if one of Max’s sneakers had duct tape across the toes.

“I can’t let you do that,” I said weakly, clutching the side of the cart.

Max’s lips trembled. “I hate that we have nothing.”

My heart tightened. I hated that I couldn’t get him anything. I worked incredibly hard, but there never seemed to be enough. But that was the way of the world, right? Pull yourself up by your bootstraps. If only the bootstraps weren’t suspended out of my reach.

I didn’t look at him, didn’t trust myself not to break out an apology, or worse, excuses. We didn’t use words like nothing. We said “we have enough for now,” “we’re okay,” “just waiting until the next payday”. But Max was right. We had nothing .

“I want to do this for you,” Sel said. “If it helps, you could work in my garden. It needs weeding and…other things.”

Frowning, I tilted my head, trying to remember if I’d seen a garden at his place. I hadn’t. “You don’t have a garden.”

“See, that’s the problem.” Sel scratched the back of his neck. “I want to start one, but I’ve never grown vegetables before. I need lots of help.”

“I lived in a city. The only plants I’ve had were houseplants and they died. It’s hard to kill spider plants, but I found a way.”

“I can help, Mom,” Max chimed in, sending the clothing in the cart such an honest look of hope that I couldn’t say no.

Just once, it would be nice to get new things, to buy more than what I absolutely needed.

And I could try with a garden. Maybe it was easier to grow things outside than inside.

Sunshine and regular rain could make a difference. I sure hoped so.

“Alright. This once,” I said. “But I don’t need all that.”

I couldn’t look Sel in the eye when I said it, just stared at the jeans stacked in the cart like they were going to cost me more than I'd ever be able to emotionally afford.

“Let me indulge you this once, and then we won’t need to come back to town for a while,” Sel said, adding the pale blue sweater, plus some yoga pants and a few pretty tops, holding them up for me to inspect first. He had good taste.

If I had money, I would’ve picked these items out myself.

Then he guided the cart to the men’s section where he picked out an equal amount of things for Max. Even new sneakers.

Inside I cringed. He was spending too much money. It made me feel uncomfortable.

On the outside, I pushed for a smile because I could see how excited and happy Max was. When had we ever had a chance to go to a store and buy so many things unless they were necessities?

Never, that was when.

And that made me cringe too.

Sel noticed. At least, I think he did. He kept watching me carefully as he added one item after another to the cart, even toiletries and some snacks that he insisted he was going to eat himself, though he watched to see where Max looked or touched before reluctantly pulling his hand away.

My hands itched to put most of it back, to prove I wasn’t leaning too hard. The trick of being independent was pretending you always meant to do it alone.

And groceries. He trucked the cart up and down the aisles, adding all kinds of food. Meat and soups and pasta and even some fresh fruit. So many things; more than I’d be able to afford to buy for us in a year or more.

Sel wanted to please us, and that basically crushed me.