Page 47 of You Shouldn't Have Come Here

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 first 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.

There 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 ahalf-drunkGatorade and a bottle of ibuprofen sat beside her register. I felt fine 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.

“Thanks. 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 flowers. Her eyes scanned Calvin and the groceries, and then they finally 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 flirty.

“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 coupletwenty-fourpacks 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. “That’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 find Betty, the woman I met at the clothing store earlier this week. She was dressed in a floral 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.