“You did a great job,” she said. “Is your dad around?”
“Uh-huh. He’s right over there.” She pointed. “He’s coming.”
Alex watched as Katie turned toward him.
“Hey, Katie,” he said.
When he was close, she crossed her arms. “Can I talk to you outside for a minute?”
He could hear the coolness in her voice and knew she was doing her best not to show her anger in front of Kristen.
“Of course,” he said, reaching for the door. Pushing it open, he followed her outside and found himself admiring her figure as she headed toward the bicycle.
Stopping near the bike, she turned to face him. In the front basket was the umbrella she’d borrowed the day before. She patted the seat, her face serious. “Can I ask what this is about?”
“Do you like it?”
“Why did you buy it for me?”
“I didn’t buy it for you,” he said.
She blinked. “But your note…”
He shrugged. “It’s been in the shed collecting dust for the last couple of years. Believe me, the last thing I’d do is buy you a bicycle.”
Her eyes flashed. “That’s not the point! You keep giving me things and you’ve got to stop. I don’t want anything from you. I don’t need an umbrella or vegetables or wine. And I don’t need a bike!”
“Then give it away.” He shrugged. “Because I don’t want it, either.”
She fell silent and he watched as confusion gave way to frustration, then finally futility. In the end, she shook her head and turned to leave. Before she could take a step, he cleared his throat. “Before you go, though, would you at least do me the favor of listening to my explanation?”
She glared at him over her shoulder. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It might not matter to you, but it matters to me.”
Her eyes held his, wavering before they finally dropped. When she sighed, he motioned to the bench in front of the store. He’d originally placed it there, wedged between the ice maker and a rack of propane tanks, as a joke, knowing that it would sit unused. Who would want to stare at a parking lot and the road out front? To his surprise, on most days it was almost always occupied; the only reason it was empty now was because it was so early.
Katie hesitated before taking a seat, and Alex laced his fingers together in his lap.
“I wasn’t lying about the fact that the bike has been collecting dust for the last couple of years. It used to belong to my wife,” Alex said. “She loved that bike and she rode it all the time. Once, she even rode it all the way to Wilmington, but of course, by the time she got there, she was tired and I had to go pick her up, even though I didn’t have anyone to mind the store. I literally had to close the place up for a couple of hours.” He paused. “That was the last ride she took on it. That night, she had her first seizure and I had to rush her to the hospital. After that, she got progressively sicker, and she never rode again. I put the bike in the garage, but every time I see it, I can’t help but think back on that horrible night.” He straightened up. “I know I should have already gotten rid of it, but I just couldn’t give it to someone who’d ride it once or twice and then forget about it. I wanted it to go to someone who would appreciate it as much as she did. To someone who was going to use it. That’s what my wife would have wanted. If you’d known her, you’d understand. You’d be doing me a favor.”
When she spoke, her voice was subdued. “I can’t take your wife’s bike.”
“So you’re still giving it back?”
When she nodded, he leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees. “You and I are a lot more alike than you realize. In your shoes, I would have done exactly the same thing. You don’t want to feel like you owe anyone anything. You want to prove to yourself that you can make it on your own, right?”
She opened her mouth to answer but said nothing. In the silence, he went on.
“After my wife died, I was the same way. For a long time. People would drop