Until the World Stops - L.A. Witt Page 0,25

in metal or glass.

Yeah, another trip would tap out most of our financial resources until I got paid again, but if we waited until payday, would there be anything left in the stores? Damn. The panic buyers weren’t leaving the rest of us a lot of choice, were they?

And whether we decided to stock up or not, I needed to apologize to Tristan. I’d let him have it, but now it was painfully obvious that he’d been right and I’d been an unreasonable asshole.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before I headed upstairs. Outside his bedroom door, I paused to steel myself. Then I knocked quietly.

“It’s open.” His tone was flat, but not angry.

I pushed open the door. He was sitting against the headboard with his laptop balanced on one knee and Tilly occupying the rest of his lap.

“Hey.” I crossed my arms loosely and leaned against the door frame. “Listen, um…” I swallowed. “I, uh, overreacted. I’m sorry.”

“Oh.” He seemed dubious.

Shifting my weight, I went on, “Look, I freaked out because money’s going to be tight for a while. But when I was putting stuff away… I mean, maybe you’re right.” I hesitated, then sheepishly added, “In fact, I think you are right, and maybe we should make a run to Costco.”

“We… Really?”

I nodded, struggling to hold his gaze. “We’ve got some room in the fridge and a lot the basement, so we might as well stock up on a few things. Not getting ready for Armageddon or anything, but…”

He swallowed. “What about mice? In the basement?”

“Plastic crates? Keep cans and bottles downstairs?” I shrugged. “I don’t know. But I think it would be a good idea. I’ve heard they’re going to start shutting things down. They say the grocery stores and whatnot are going to stay open, but…” I gestured out front toward the parking lot. “To be on the safe side, maybe we should make a run to Costco now and just make sure we’re covered. Before the panic-buying really hits.” I laughed dryly and shook my head. “I feel like we’re panic-buying to beat the panic buyers, but…”

“Yeah, it kind of feels like that.” He absently petted Tilly. “Do you think it’s a good idea? Even with money being as tight as it is?”

“Couldn’t hurt.” I shrugged. “If travel restrictions get any tighter, it could be tough for truckers to get in and restock, plus some of the places where food is packed and distributed could wind up closed or something.” I paused. “There’s really no telling how things are going to play out, and I think you were smart to err on the side of caution.”

“Oh. Um. Okay.” He hesitated. “But how do we do this, though? Dealing with money, I mean? Because I have no idea when I’m going to be able to work again, and especially after today, my savings is…” He grimaced. “I don’t know when or how I’m going to be bringing in any more money.”

I thought about it, then sighed. “I mean, there’s no way either of us could have seen this coming when we made our agreement. We’ll just have to take it as it comes, you know? Get through it.”

“Yeah, but that means I’m going to be depending on you.” He swallowed hard. “Almost completely.”

“I know. But I’m not keeping score or expecting us to settle up once you have a paycheck again. We’ve got the tax refund coming, so that can be a buffer. I say we just get through it as best we can, make sure we have what we need, and not worry about whose money is whose.”

“Really?”

“Do we have a choice?”

Tristan didn’t speak.

“As long as neither of us is spending money on stupid shit, and we stick to a budget, we’ll be good.”

He seemed to think about that for a moment, then nodded. “All right. Sure. I can work with that.”

“Okay. And I mean it—I’m sorry. I was a dick about all of it.”

His expression softened to a gentle smile. “Don’t worry about it. So, um… When do you want to go?”

“I’m off today.” I shifted nervously. “Want to go now?”

“Oh. Uh. Sure. Good idea.” He closed his laptop and put it aside on the bed. “Let’s roll.”

Chapter 8

Tristan

Ten minutes after Casey came into my bedroom to apologize, we left the duplex. A quick Google search revealed that the state of Maine didn’t have Costco, but it had one of the other warehouse stores, so Casey entered the address into the