Leaving Normal, Stef Holm [ebook reader screen .TXT] 📗

Tony pushed a grocery cart through Albertson's and headed into the produce section. Because he was with the fire department, he'd gotten into the bad habit of shopping daily or every other day, rather than once a week to stock up. The firemen always pooled their money to buy what they needed for dinner that night, then they'd drive the truck to the store in the late afternoon, pick up steaks or ground beef, sometimes chicken in the summer for a barbecue. The station usually had condiments, but that didn't mean they were edible. The refrigerator wasn't cleaned out all that frequently, and sometimes it was better to buy a new jar of mayo than trust the one that had been in there with the lid not screwed on tight.

Selecting some navel oranges, he dropped the plastic bag into his cart. Tony was pushing forward when a familiar voice greeted him.

"Well, hi there! I thought that was you." Alisa, the floor nurse from Swallow Hill, came up to him.

"Hey, Alisa."

"I haven't seen you in a few. C Shift has been getting the majority of calls." She laughed. "Sometimes I wish that one of the patients would get a case of something on your shift."

She stood closer; he could smell perfume on her. Store-bought. Not the same soft and floral scent that clung to Natalie.

Tony almost wished he could be attracted to Alisa.

"You never can predict what'll happen," Tony said, pushing forward to continue shopping. "Sometimes we're called out to the same place two or more times a night. Other times, we never get there all week."

"Oh, I know. I just like seeing you."

He was well aware of that. She couldn't be more obvious. He hated to come right out and tell her he wasn't interested; he did, after all, have to work with her to a degree and it was strained enough as it was with all this polite bull he tried to keep up. He kept hoping she'd get the hint.

Alisa followed him to the lettuce as he selected a head and tossed it in a bag. "What have you been up to?"

"Nothing much."

"Aren't you anxious for warmer weather?" She gave him no opportunity to reply, and answered the question herself. "I am. I'm looking forward to summer. Do you ever go up to the lake?"

"Sometimes."

"Me, too. I like to go to Lucky Peak. I go with my girlfriends or I go with my cousin. She was dating a guy who had a boat, but they broke up over Christmas so there goes that. I was teasing her about getting a new boyfriend who has a boat."

His mind half heard what Alisa was going on about as he glanced up and saw Natalie pushing a cart toward him.

Their eyes met at the same time, a warmth filling his heart, and he gave her a lift of his chin and a smile. It was automatic; he was really glad to see her.

"Tony," Alisa was saying and he grew aware of her hand on his while it rested on the grocery handle. He gazed at her, then slid his hand away. The gesture had taken him off guard for a second. "I'd like to ask you out. I know you're not married anymore. I asked. I really want the chance to get to know you."

Just as Alisa said the latter, Natalie came within earshot. She paused, uncertain, then changed direction, obviously thinking he was interested in Alisa. How the hell she got that impression, he had no clue.

Natalie bypassed the produce, rounded the corner and headed down the coffee aisle.

Gritting his teeth, Tony turned to Alisa. "You're a nice girl, don't get me wrong, but I'm not looking for anyone right now."

"But…"

"Alisa, let it go. We have to work around each other, it would just be too uncomfortable."

"But…"

"I gotta go."

Tony left the produce even though he wasn't done shopping there. He searched the coffee aisle, didn't see

Natalie, carried on and found her at the baking mixes studying a box of brownies. He had to smile.

"Life's treating you that bad?"

She met his gaze. "This is for emergencies."

Everything inside Tony suddenly felt right, put back together. He hadn't realized just how much he'd missed hearing her voice, seeing the color in her eyes and a blush from the cool air dust her cheeks.

"How have things been going?" he asked.

"The plumbing is messed up at my shop again. I got a violation code on my sign and I might have to take it down for a smaller one, and one of my regular customer's checks bounced. Other than that—fine." She put the box back on the shelf, selected another with double-chocolate chunks. She tossed it into her cart.

"How are you doing?" She tried to look nonchalant, unaffected. He was glad when she showed vulnerability-

"I have my moments. Mostly at night. I'm not sleeping too well."

"Me neither.

She folded her arms over her chest, smiled a small smile, then remarked, "She was very interested in you."

For a moment, he didn't know what Natalie was talking about, then he remembered. He shook his head, as if shaking the nurse out of his mind. "She works at one of the assisted-care homes we get called out to. She's had a thing for me. I don't think about her like that."

"She looks persistent."

"She's wasting her time." Tony grew marginally perturbed, he didn't know exactly why. Maybe because Natalie was assuming he'd moved on so quickly— would want to move on to someone else. "Natalie, nothing has changed for me. I backed off because it's what you wanted. But now you're looking at me as if you regret it."

"I don't," she said quickly, almost too quickly.

"You've thought about me."

She grew quiet, then said, "Of course you cross my mind. It's hard not to when you live just across the street."

"You know you can come over anytime you want."

"I…no. I've been fine. I don't need to come over."

"You used to come over for no reason at all."

"But that was