Chapter 230 Chapter 230
Leah sat forward in the seat as he pulled in, she’d never been in a store. The few times she’d been able to go with her grandfather, she hadn’t been able to bring herself to go in with him. Jesse said it was up to her, but thought she should so she could select some snacks of her own. He’d gone in alone the last time for snacks, so she thought maybe she should help. She had no idea what she would like. She could see rows of items on a shelf. Leaning closer to the windshield, she read all the colored signs on the window, not understanding what any of them were for.
“Ready?” He turned off the van.
Blowing out a breath, she undid her seat belt. “I think so.” She looked over at him, trying not to panic. “Is it—can I hold your hand?” She felt silly saying it. “It helps me stay here.”
Jesse smiled, “absolutely.” He got out and quickly went around the front and opened the door. He held out his hand.
She was now more excited to hold his hand than she was to see what all those shelves were full of. Placing her hand in his, she got out. “We have to get more jerky for Evanna, and Thera.” She leaned her head back in the door. “Stay, Thera, we’ll be right back.”
Closing the door, she watched to see Thera’s head appear between the seats.
“As long as she stays down, no one will see her.” Jesse looked around, “we’re the only people here right now.”
“Thank you for waiting until it was dark to do this.” She glanced up to see her was watching her and listening, “I feel better if there is no one looking at me.” It was hard not to squeeze his hand too hard as they walked toward the door. “What if I don’t know what I’ll like?”
“We’re in no hurry, take your time.” He opened the door and then motioned for her to lead.
Trying to remember how to breathe, she stepped inside. The first thing she noticed was it was warm, then she picked up all the scents in the store. So many. Too many to know what any of them were.
A young man came out of a door carrying a box. He smiled and then set the box down. She paused to watch him open it and then turn to start putting things on a shelf.
“Drinks first?” Jesse leaned down and spoke softly to her.
She nodded and let him lead her down the aisle. There were so many things on the shelf. Bright colored packages of—she wasn’t sure of what. When he stopped, she looked to see colorful bottles behind a window.
“Juice, milk,” he motioned to the windows, “pop, water,” he pointed to the end one, “and other stuff.” Giving her hand a squeeze, he smiled down at her, “I’m just going to grab a basket, I’ll be right back.” He released her hand slowly.
Leah watched him go back over by the door and then turn to come back to her. Turning, she looked at the bottles. Stepping closer, she read the names on them. How was she ever going to decide?
Jesse went past her to end glass doors and opened one. He reached in a picked up two cans, then two more, putting them in the basket.
Inhaling slowly, she pulled on the door and opened it. “Apple,” she said quietly. Picking one up, she noticed how cold it was.
Jesse was beside her. “That one?” He held his hand out and waited until she set the drink in his hand. “What about orange? Or you could try a few others.” He reached in and picked up one, “you can try a few.”
Leah nodded and reached in for another one. She wasn’t sure what the flavor was, she had to consider what Evanna might want to.
“Okay, I’ll get a case of water when we’re ready to pay.” Jesse wrapped his hand around hers and lead her toward another row of items.
She was so appreciative that he was taking his time and letting her look at things, it was a complete overload, the number of things in this store. More than half of the things she looked at; she had no idea what they were. Evanna was going to be happy, there had been several kinds of jerky, so Leah had grabbed a few of each.
The row with chocolate and sweets seemed to be never-ending. She paused and leaned down to read the packages near the bottom.
Jesse bent down, “sugar is great, but too much will make it harder with Minn.” He said softly.
Straightening, she looked up to see his pale eyes studying her. “Are cookies okay?” She bit her lip.
“Cookies are always okay.” He grinned and lifted her hand and kissed it. “What kind do you think? Chocolate chip? Oatmeal or…”
“Oatmeal?” She hadn’t had oatmeal for months. “I like oatmeal.”
“Oatmeal it is then.” Tugging her hand gently, he walked to the end and went around to the other row. He picked up two packages and put them in the basket.
Leah looked at the basket and was surprised to see it was almost overflowing. “I didn’t bring any money in,” she said softly.
“Don’t worry about it. We’re stopping for clothes tomorrow.” He led her up the aisle toward the young man standing behind a counter.
“I’ll pay for the clothes.” Leah raised her eyebrows at him, “I don’t know…”
He winked at her. “We’ll figure it out then.” He turned to the man taking things out of the basket. “Add two cases of water and some washer fluid, please.”
The man nodded and continued to make the machine in front of him beep. Leah was fascinated by what he was doing. But the most interesting thing was Jesse paid him with a piece of plastic. She had no idea what it was and couldn’t wait until they were outside so she could ask.
She carried one of the bags out to the van and then it hit her, she’d gone inside and helped pick things and hadn’t had to fight to stay here. Turning, she watched Jesse come back out with two cases of bottled water. It had to be him, the reason she’d been able to do it. Setting the bag in the van, she rubbed her hand over Thera’s head as she checked to see how close Evanna was. She was there, but it took a lot of focus to sense her, so it hadn’t been her.
“Are you okay?”
She was startled to find Jesse beside her. “I’m fine. It just hit me that I went inside and I’m still here.”
Jesse reached over and brushed the hair back from her face, “I knew you could do it.”
“I think you’re why I could do it.”
He pulled out a package of the jerky and opened it, offering Thera a piece. “Me?” He grinned as Thera took it and moved away from the open door.
Leah nodded, “I’m calmer when I’m near you.” She smiled up at him, “you’re some kind of magic.”
Jesse chuckled, “I don’t know about that, but I understand why you’re calmer.”
She watched him pull the cooler over and start putting the drinks in. “You do?”
He paused and glanced at her for a second, “yeah, it’s a normal thing with our kind.” Closing the cooler, he reached and set the bag of the other items between the seats. Sitting down, he looked at her again.
She liked that they were closer to the same height, it made it easier to look into those eyes. “We’re calmer around our own kind?” Taking her hand in his warm one, he stroked his thumb over it. The movement made her feel excited, but at peace at the same time.
“I don’t know how much your grandparents and Aunt Tillie explained to you—but it’s because we’re mates, Leah.”
She knew about mates, obviously, that was something she heard talk of from her grandparents. She’d read about it in some of the journals too. “We are?” Her nerves weren’t as steady now, “what does that mean for,” she licked her now dry lips, “us?”
“Us? Evanna and Minn too.” He squeezed her hand.
“You know that?” She looked down at their hands. It would explain why Evanna was doing things that she’d never done before, like sharing feelings. Minn did seem to be a little better, well, for Minn, it was better.
“I know that.” He said softly. Picking up her other hand, he held the two of them. “It doesn’t mean anything right now, no pressure.” His eyes searched her face, “I’m not going anywhere, so we have lots of time.”
She nodded, unable to say anything.
“We’ll get back and get you some help with Minn, the headaches, how tired you are then we’ll take it from there.”
Her heart felt strange in her chest. “I’m…” She blew out a breath, “I don’t know if I can talk about this right now.”
“Hey,” he released one hand and put his hand against her cheek, “we don’t have to, I just wanted you to know.”
“Okay.” She felt shaky.
“You can ask questions or talk about it whenever you’re ready, okay?” He stood up, still holding her hand, “we should get going. I want to put another hour in before I rest.” Leaning down, he kissed her cheek. “And you, have snacks to try.” He smiled down at her as he closed the door with his other hand.
Leah got in when he opened her door.
“Leah, are you okay?”
“Yes,” she smiled, “just sorting through that.”
He nodded his head slowly. “Okay.”
She watched him walk around the front of the van. She had a mate. A kind-hearted, good-looking, mate—and she had no idea what she was expected to do in this situation.