Crouching Vampire Hidden Fang - By Katie MacAlister Page 0,2
to maneuver my own out the door of the grocery store.
My victim reclaimed the package of toilet paper that bounced out of her cart at the impact, and waved away my apology with a gentle, "That happens. Light be with you."
"You called me up to tell me you have a wonky shopping cart?" An amused voice laughed softly in my ear as I swore under my breath, struggling one-handed to make my cart behave.
"No, I called you up because you left a message telling me to call you. Dammit! I'm so sorry, sir. It has a mind of its own. Are you hurt? Oh, good. I'll back up so you can get your shoe from the maw of the beastly thing."
A pleasant-faced young man gave me a somewhat weak smile as he knelt down to wrestle his shoe from under the wheel of the cart, his voice somewhat muffled by his position and the noise of the busy parking lot. "It's no problem. Light bless you."
"Oh, Pia." Magda laughed even more vigorously, her voice spilling out of the cell phone I clamped between my cheek and shoulder as I fought to shove the cart the few remaining feet to my car. "Only you could find such comical happenings at a grocery store."
"Well, it's partially your fault," I grumbled, giving in as the cart made a sudden swerve and seemed hell-bent on slamming into a sleek crimson Porsche sitting next to my somewhat battle-scarred Hyundai. I hauled the cart backward to my car. "The second you called the cart went wild on me, and it's impossible to control such a thing with one hand. But it is nice to hear from you."
"Likewise. And for the record, I was responding to your message when I called you. Are you stocking up on my behalf?"
"Yup. Per your request, I have purchased suitable amounts of animal flesh and seafood for my new grill. I promise you're going to go wild over my ginger-garlic scallops."
"Oh, Pia, about that..."
"Ma'am?" I turned at the tug on my arm. The man whose shoe my cart had tried to consume held out a bright blue package. "I think these fell out of your cart. I don't use this brand."
"My original plan was to stay with you for a week, and see my sister in Vancouver for a week, but..."
I made a face as I took the industrial-sized package of sanitary pads he shoved toward me. "Life seems to be bent on discomposing me today. Thank you."
He laughed. "Don't let it bother you. I have a wife, so I'm hip to all sorts of feminine products. Although I don't believe I've ever seen this particular product before. Does 'effusive flow' mean what I think it does?"
". . . and Ray managed to get away, so I thought I'd just switch to two weeks, if you don't mind..."
I shoved the pads into the car and tried to will away the blush that was sweeping upward. "Thank you. I think I'll just die of embarrassment now."
He laughed again and sauntered away, waving a friendly hand. "I wouldn't want to diminish any light in the world, least of all yours, so I'll be on my way."
"Pia? Pia? Are you listening to me?"
"Sorry. I was wanting a hole to open up and swallow me...." I paused, looking back at the man as he hopped into a blue minivan. "Did he say what I think he said?"
"I don't know; I couldn't hear him-I was too busy telling you about the change in plans. Boy, you really are having a day, aren't you?" Magda's voice was choked with laughter.
"You have no idea...." I thought for a moment, then shook my head. "I must have misheard. My day, as you said, has been interesting." I flung the rest of the groceries into the car, manhandled the cart over to a designated holding area, and returned to my car, cranking the air-conditioning on high as I slumped against the hot seat. "Hang on a sec while I plug in the headset... much better. Now, where were we? Oh! You said something about a change in plans? Don't tell me you're not coming to visit after all?"
"Would I do that to my favorite Zorya?"
I grimaced at the word. "You know full well I'm an ex-Zorya. The nearest Brotherhood group is in southern California, and I'm not about to offer my services to them."
"We can talk about your future when we get up there."