no idea what to feed one. What if she was a vegetarian or something? Maybe I should have just gone to Moonshine and ordered one of everything to go.
Moving through the store, I dodged the other customers and grabbed a random assortment of stuff. Packaged pastries, a pint of strawberries, some cheese, a few cans of soup, crackers, orange juice.
I paused in front of the shampoo and body wash. Maybe she’d want a shower. What did girls use? Even in this little store, there were basically ten thousand different options. I grabbed a bottle with flowers on it and flipped open the lid. Did they go by smell? This one wasn’t bad.
“Whatcha doin’ there, Gibs?”
I froze, like I’d just been caught stealing. Cassidy stood next to me, tilting her head, a little smile on her face.
“Nothing,” I said, putting the bottle back on the shelf.
“Looking for something to make your hair softer?” She took a different bottle and held it out to me. “Might I recommend this?”
I glared at her, but took the bottle out of her hand. “Shouldn’t you be on a honeymoon or something?”
“We were saving it for later anyway, but we’re certainly not going anywhere now. Not with everything that’s going on. Do you need conditioner?” She handed me another bottle.
Great. She’d obviously talked to Scarlett. And me buying girl shit was making it look like I was hiding a secret girlfriend at my place.
But she was being kinda helpful…
I tossed the conditioner in with the rest of the stuff and hesitated, not quite meeting Cassidy’s gaze. With her mouth still turned up in a grin, she shook her head and rolled her eyes. She glanced up and down the aisle, then grabbed body wash, a package of pink razors, a toothbrush, deodorant, and a hairbrush.
“Thanks,” I muttered, then took my stuff to the front. I didn’t want to give her a chance to ask any questions.
Opal Bodine—no relation—was behind the front counter. She sat on a stool, her nose in a book. I waited for a few seconds, but she didn’t look up.
I cleared my throat and she just about jumped off her stool.
“Sorry.” She put a bookmark in the book and set it down. Was she blushing? That was weird. “Didn’t see you there, Gibs.”
I grunted something non-committal, then glanced around while I set my stuff out for her to scan. A couple of summertimers got in line behind me and I noticed Buck wandering around with a package of donuts. No worries about gossip there. But then Zadie Rummerfield walked in, stopped, and looked right at me. Her eyes tracked my purchases, and she lifted an eyebrow.
Well, shit.
As quickly as I could, I paid and grabbed my bags—why the hell did I have so much stuff?—and got out of there. But I could practically feel the rumor mill sparking to life. It was like a fuse on a big stick of dynamite—one that was going to light up the whole town.
9
MAYA
Coffee was perking me up. I sat nestled in the corner of Gibson’s couch, cradling the mug in my hands, my legs tucked up beneath me. I hadn’t been able to resist slipping on one of his shirts before I came out of his room this morning. The dark blue plaid was soft against my skin. And I really had left my bag in the car last night. It wasn’t like I’d come here planning to stay over.
Plus, his shirt smelled good. Really good. I lifted the collar to my nose and inhaled. It smelled like fresh laundry, but even clean, right out of his closet, there was a hint of Gibson on it.
It was the silliest thing, but I wondered if he’d let me keep it.
Waking up here, in Gibson Bodine’s house—in his bed, no less—felt like something out of a dream. And amazingly enough, not a nightmare, considering I was on the outskirts of the town I thought I’d never be able to see again.
However, I still felt unbalanced. I’d kept all things Callie locked away for so long, I didn’t know what to do with her now. Last night I’d bounced back and forth between feeling uncertain and afraid—like I was Callie all over again—to calm and composed. I’d hoped I could sleep it off and face today feeling whole. Feeling like Maya.
But it was as if I’d cracked. I was two different people inhabiting the same body. Really, I always had been. I’d just put Callie away and never let