The Truths We See

After breakfast, Jimmy walked me to work. At the door, he gave me a quick kiss and said he'd be around later to take me to lunch. That just left me alone to stew in my thoughts for the rest of the morning. Mr. Buckley let me in and then stood in front of the counter while I got ready to open. I peeked up at him, curious. He noticed and cleared his throat. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave you this morning," he said. "My wife and I are watching our grandchildren today, so I'm afraid I won't be back until it's time to close. Will you be okay by yourself?"

I nodded. "Of course. I pretty much know what I'm supposed to do and where everything is. If I need anything, I'll call you."

He gave me a relieved smile. "Okay, then. I'll be back at five to help you close. Thank you very much."

The moment he walked out the door I felt a mixture of terror and loneliness. This day wasn't going to be my very best day at work. I could just feel it.

I texted Jimmy about our change of plans and he seemed fine with bringing me something for lunch instead of taking me out somewhere. Just as I'd thought he would be. I reached into my bag and pulled out a ponytail holder and pulled my hair back as the first of what would end up being several customers walked into the store.

By the time lunch rolled around, I had no idea what time it was. It had been nonstop all day so far. The days I'd worked this week so far had been fairly sparse, so I wasn't prepared for this. It left me feeling completely overwhelmed with frayed nerves. How long he'd been standing there I don't know. I just know one minute it was just me and three different customers with three different demands in the store, and the next it was me, one customer left, and Jim.

At first, I jumped a little and he shook his head at me. I could feel his eyes on me and ended up nervously dropping the change I was trying to hand the customer. I apologized profusely but they assured me it was fine. Once they were gone, I slumped onto the stool I'd rested against every so often this morning and tried to run my fingers through my hair, only to find - yet again - it was pulled back. I didn't want to think about how messy it must look right about now. All I wanted to think about was how Jimmy was studying me like I was an exquisite work of art and the food inside the bag he was holding.

"You look frazzled," he said, setting the bag on the counter.

I smelled burgers and fries and my mouth began watering. I was hungrier than I thought I was. "I feel it. Did you remember no onion on mine?"

"They're all no onion, actually." He pulled out a burger and sat it on the counter in front of me before ripping the bag open and revealing a large fry. I grabbed three and stuffed them in my mouth.

He chuckled, grabbing one and munching it as he just looked at me. I was suddenly very self-conscious about how full my mouth was. My hand came up to try to cover it, but he lowered it. "You're fine," he said with a loving smile. He laced his fingers with mine and kissed my hand. "I was walking by the police station this morning and had a thought." He rubbed my hand gently with his thumb, a slow swiping gesture that I felt all the way up my arm. "Does Heather maybe watch Rob's kid? You mentioned they're related somehow, right?"

I nodded as I picked up some more fries. "Yeah. I already told Kev this, but she was watching Rob's kid while he was working. Like, she came on the bus with her oldest boy and stayed until her mom picked her up after getting off work."

Jim raised an eyebrow. "You told him?" I nodded, stuffing the fries in my mouth. "What did he say about it?" he asked once I was done chewing.

"Well, he was busy, so I'm not sure he really got what I was saying, but I was thinking of maybe stopping by tomorrow and getting her to go to the police with what she knows."