on my bed so they’ll know where I am. I heard you drive up and listened to what you said. I went back to bed, but then got worried about you being here by yourself, so I got up, got dressed, and here I am.”
“You need to go back home.”
“I will when you will.” Stubbornness laced Olivia’s tone. She went to the back of the store to grab her own chair, which she placed beside Sela’s. She put the rifle on the counter and the bags on the floor at her side. She turned off her flashlight, saving the already-weakened batteries.
Sela battled with herself. How did she scold Olivia—who was young but had grown up a lot over the past couple of months—for doing exactly what she herself was doing? Finally she said, “I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“I don’t want anything to happen to you,” Olivia returned, to which there was no argument.
They sat in silence for a while. Then Olivia reached into her left coat pocket and pulled out something that rustled as she extended her hand toward Sela. The moonlight lit the store interior enough that Sela was able to make out what Olivia was holding: two Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, her favorite candy. She offered one to Sela.
“I hid these,” Olivia explained. “For an emergency.”
“A candy emergency.”
“I think this qualifies.”
Sela laughed and took the offered candy, unwrapped it, and drew the familiar patty closer to her nose to savor the aroma for a couple of seconds before she took a small bite.
“Better than tuna, wouldn’t you say?” Olivia asked, a smile in her voice.
They both took their time, nibbling at the candy, savoring every bite. “I wish I could have made some hot chocolate,” Olivia said wistfully. “But Nancy would have heard. I brought water, though.”
“So did I.”
It could be worse, Sela thought. At least Olivia knew how to handle the rifle, though she wasn’t any more expert than Sela was. Carol had taught her the basics, because if there was going to be a firearm in the house then she wanted her granddaughter to know how to safely handle it.
They sipped some water, sat in more silence. So far, all was quiet. If they were lucky it would be this way all night. Maybe having Olivia here was a good thing; after the long day she’d had, she’d have a hard time staying awake. Chatting with Olivia would help with that. Carol would be furious when she found out, but probably secretly proud of the girl, too.
After a while Sela asked, “Do you have any more candy hidden away?”
Olivia sighed. “No, that was it. There might be a bag of barbecue chips squirreled away in the garage, though.”
Sela laughed, and it felt good after the stressful day to realize that laughter was still possible. Olivia reminded her of the reasons why she was willing to step up and do what needed to be done, of why she’d put herself front and center, why she’d sit in her store all night to make sure no one stole the gasoline her family and friends and neighbors needed to get by. “Thanks for sharing with me.”
“You’re welcome. You’ve definitely earned a peanut butter cup after all you’ve been through. I wish I had more.”
“Me too.”
For a while they talked, about Carol and her fall, about Barb and the way she’d stepped up since. If Olivia was older, Sela would be tempted to tell her all about Ben, and the shower, and the tantalizing When we have sex comment, but rifle aside, Olivia was still a kid. And Sela had never been keen on sharing details of her sex life—or lack thereof—even with her close friends. She was a private person. Shy, yes, but also private. She held some things, some thoughts, very close. They were for her and for her alone.
Sela almost dozed off. Her eyes drifted closed; her head nodded. Olivia did doze, though she woke at regular intervals because sleeping soundly upright in a chair wasn’t something that was going to happen. Now and then they tried to keep one another alert with conversation about the weather and the future and their neighbors, but there were long periods of silence where neither of them had anything to say.
Her hands and feet got cold. She got out the hand warmer packs and squeezed to activate them, put one in each pocket and gave the others to Olivia who silently did the same. She took off