The Green Rising

Chapter Twenty-three

We all came down with a bad case of the Flu, and spent the remainder of Christmas Break in bed or in the bathroom. Fortunately, Noah avoided it, but he took no prisoners when it came to his hunger. Our sickness didn’t matter to the newborn.

The morning that break ended, we walked a tearful Rosy to the bus stop then dropped Sue off at the airport. We’d enjoyed her extended visit and had tried to talk her into staying with us until spring, but she was ready to return home.

“Hey, sweetie,” Luc said as he leaned in to kiss my cheek. “You had a good day?”

Shocked that he had arrived while dinner was being prepared, I nodded my answer.

“You’re home early.” Early took on new meaning here in Virginia. Technically, he was supposed to be off work at five, but it was rare to see him before seven, and eight was becoming the new norm.

“I decided that you deserve having your husband around every so often.” He pulled me into a squeeze. “I heard from Mike today. Turns out he’s in DC for a conference. Do you mind if he comes over for dinner tomorrow night?”

“It’s fine with me. You told him he’s always welcome, right?”

Zucchini, yellow squash, and julienned carrots crackled in a skillet. I gave them a quick stir and flipped over the chicken breasts that popped on the griddle, oil splattering with each turn.

“I wanted to check with you first, but told him you’d probably be delighted to see him. He’s going to be in town until Friday then he’ll come back next week for some meetings.”

Luc reached into the skillet and grabbed a carrot. His pinky grazed the side of the pan. He winced, shaking his hand to will away the pain before he ate the carrot.

“Definitely worth the pain.”

            *                                                *                                                *

Maggie darted in front of an elderly man, nearly tripping him, in the candy aisle. I apologized to him, a smile crossing his face as the bouncing preschooler reached for the chocolate.

“Pwease, Mommy. I want some chocolate,” she said as she rattled the plastic wrapper between her hands. The girl had quite the sweet tooth.

I sighed. “You have to share with Jessa and Rosy, and we have to hurry. Don’t ask for anything else.”

I wheeled the cart to the Italian aisle. Two young men were stocking the shelves, and my breath caught in astonishment.  

“Holy crap!” I laughed. “I thought you guys had gone the way of dinosaurs.”

“Hey now,” the one that looked like he should still be in high school said. “We exist, but you customers keep buying us out. We just got this shipment and it’ll probably be gone in an hour.”

“It’s like there’s gonna be a bad blizzard, but no one’s told us about any storm coming our way,” the other said. “Craziness.”

“Well, I hate to add to the craziness, but if this stuff is here now, I’m going to save myself from the heartache of it not being here the next time. I don’t understand what’s up with these shortages.”

“We don’t either, Miss,” the younger one said. “I can say my mama has had luck finding groceries out in the smaller towns, but here it’s almost impossible.”