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She doesn’t say a word after we’re done and loading the shopping into the car. Between the boot and the back seat, we manage to get everything in, and I dump the trolley in the bay next to us.
“What about your pound?” she asks before getting into the car.
It’s not like I’m going to miss it, but I haul the trolley back to the bay and retrieve my coin.
What a fucking experience.
During the drive back to her place, she doesn’t speak, only occasionally looking over her shoulder at the shopping bags on the back seat. She’ll shake her head and sigh wistfully, but says nothing.
Parking up out front of her house, the silence continues until I instruct, “Go unlock the door. I’ll bring in the bags.”
“You really don’t need to do this.”
“Oh yeah? You think I’m going to watch you carry them all in?” I snort.
“No. I mean, this is too much. You just spent over two hundred pounds for someone you don’t even know.”
I find myself amused by how she can’t see me coming. This morning’s shopping trip is only the beginning.
“Go unlock the door, Evie.”
I end up carrying the haul into her kitchen, filling it, as well as the floor, with bags.
“If I can find which bag the coffee is in, I can offer you a drink now,” she says, knowing she’s lost the fight.
This is happening. And while I pack her groceries away, she digs out the jar of coffee and fills the kettle.
I can’t stand instant coffee, but I accept when she asks if I take sugar and milk. I shake my head on both counts and take a seat at her small table.
“If it makes you feel better, my sister paid for this,” I lie, sweeping my hand over the haul.
“It doesn’t, but I’m quickly learning Lexi is a force to be reckoned with.”
I smirk. “That, she is.”
Digging out the business card from inside my pocket, I slide it onto the table, wondering how she’s going to take the next piece of the puzzle.
“What’s that?” she enquires, not missing a trick.
“Lexi has a friend who owns a hair salon, and she has an open chair. She reached out and has arranged for you to go check it out and talk with the owner. Her name is Carla Jenkins.”
The expression on her beautiful face drops, and she stops unpacking. “A job? For me?”
I nod.
“Why? Please tell me why she’s helping me so much? I don’t understand why she’s being so generous. What will she want in return?”
I like that she’s not stupid, but in this case, her paranoia is unwarranted.
“My sister doesn’t work like that, contrary to popular belief. Trust she’s doing this for you because she wants to.”
I watch her carefully, and I can’t read a thing on her face. It makes me wonder who and what installed this level of doubt into her?
“Look, Lexi’s never been one to make friends, but when she does, she’s a pretty good friend to have.”
Relaxing, she continues to unpack the shopping while I excuse myself to use the bathroom.
Opening the cabinet, I poke around and find nothing out of the ordinary. There isn’t any medication prescribed or from the black market. There’s a tub of face cream, a new tube of toothpaste, and a bottle of perfume.
