Patriot (Hades Abyss MC 6) - Harley Wylde Page 0,30
we better go shopping, Little Bit. We’ll get the stuff you wanted to make your desserts and grab some items for these families too. If it’s all right with the reverend, we’ll bring the food by here, and then we’ll go hunt down some trees and ornaments.”
“I’ll be waiting,” Reverend Burson said.
Patriot and I went back out to the Bronco and drove straight to the grocery. We each grabbed a cart since we now planned to buy more than double the food. I got the baking supplies I needed, then focused on what to feed three families with children, stuff that wouldn’t necessarily spoil easily. We grabbed several packages of fresh pork chops. I noticed the pork tenderloins didn’t expire for nearly a month so I grabbed one of each flavor for all three families.
“What else you want to get them, Little Bit?” he asked.
“I don’t want to spend all your money.”
He tipped his head and studied me a minute, then pulled out his phone. He tapped the screen a few times, then put the phone on speaker with the volume turned down so the entire store wouldn’t hear.
“I’m tired. My kid keeps puking on me. What the hell do you want?” Titan asked by way of greeting.
“Little Bit wants to adopt a few families for Christmas. They’ve fallen on hard times and need food and toys for the kids. Club interested in chipping in? She’s worried she’ll deplete my account if we tackle it by ourselves,” Patriot said.
“I think it’s safe to say the club would agree to help with such a worthy cause,” Titan said. “I’ll have Wizard shift some money into your account. You need more, let me know.”
He apparently hung up since the phone went silent. Patriot held onto his phone and motioned for me to keep going.
I grabbed bags of frozen chicken breasts, knowing while they may not be the most nutritious thing in the world, it was better than letting those kids starve. And what kid didn’t like chicken nuggets? I added two bags each for all three families. We circled around to another section and I loaded the carts up with bacon, sandwich meat, and even found some pre-sliced, pre-cooked hams that wouldn’t expire for a long while. I added six to the cart.
And then it hit me. All this food might last them a week. Possibly they could stretch it two weeks. And then what? My shoulders sagged and my eyes pricked with tears as I thought about those poor children. Hungry. Probably scared. And their parents? I couldn’t imagine the fear of wondering how to feed their kids, or keep a roof over their heads. I’d felt good about this, but it wasn’t nearly enough. It might give them a slight helping hand, but… they needed more than this.
“What’s wrong, Little Bit?” Patriot asked, his voice soft and low.
“What happens when they eat all this food? What about next week? Or the one after? This isn’t a good enough solution, Ro -- Patriot. Yeah, it feels good to help them, but are we helping enough?”
“One day at a time, MaryAnne. We’ll deliver the food, pick out trees and ornaments, and then we’ll sit down and figure out the next step.” He reached out to cup my cheek. “We’ll help however we can. If it means that much to you, I’ll find a way. Nice save, by the way.”
“Thank you.”
He pressed a quick kiss to my lips, then walked off with one of the carts. I caught up to him just as he grabbed several packages of cookies. While he stuffed his cart with those, I selected some crackers, then rushed over to the dairy section. I added milk for each family, two large blocks of cheese each, and even included packages of yogurt. If the kids didn’t like it, maybe the parents would. Eggs, bread, and a bunch of canned vegetables and macaroni finished off our shopping carts.
We checked out and made sure everything got divided in a way that would make it simple for each family to collect their groceries, and I made sure my baking stuff didn’t get mixed in. After Patriot paid and we’d loaded the Bronco, we drove back to the church with our haul. The reverend smiled so wide I thought his face might crack. We sorted the sacks into three groups and as we turned to leave, a man in worn jeans and a thin sweater stepped into the church.
“Is this them?” the man asked