Texas Tea - Post Malone

Like A Linda

In the parking lot at the grocery store, Indy stares at the grocery list she had made during the week when she and Luke were still together. Most of the stuff on here is things he liked. She won't eat most of this stuff, but she liked to have it in the house for him. There is also a list of toiletries that she had jotted down of things he was running low on. She will need to sift through the list and make up a new one of things she would like - because now it's just her. All alone. She doesn't have the stamina for all this now.

"Could you take me home, please?" she whispers.

"Why? You wanted to stop at the grocery store."

"I did, but most of the stuff on my list is not for me."

"So get the stuff that is for you."

Indy bites her lip. It's starting to get painful with how much she is biting it. She has caught on that Austin won't listen to her if she begs, pleads, or even asks nicely. He made it pretty clear in the doctor's office that if she wants him to do as she asks she needs to assert herself. She is not good with that, she has never been assertive. "Ok," she whispers and jumps out of his truck. She hears Austin sigh behind her but he does not stop her or say anything. They walk into the grocery store and he grabs a buggy. He loads it with groceries and she walks quietly next to him. She also hides behind him when parent after parent stops to greet him and welcome him to town. They all have high expectations of the success he will bring to the school team and their sons. It makes her a little nervous and she is glad she does not have that responsibility on her shoulders - she does not know how Austin manages to stay so calm and collected about it.

They eventually turn down a snack aisle and she stops in front of the shelves of nuts. She never kept nuts in the house because Luke said he had a nut allergy. She had seen him eating nuts before. Nonetheless, he insisted they had no nuts in the house. She loves nuts. She grabs a bag of chocolate-covered almonds and a bag of mixed nuts then places them in Austin's buggy. He does not say anything but she sees him smile. She is a lot more confident with pulling things off the shelves after that and by the time they get to the checkout she has the buggy full of groceries she used to buy before Luke. It feels a little empowering like she has some control over something she had given Luke control over. Maybe it's silly, but it makes her feel good.

When they are back at the house, Austin insists on helping her carry her groceries inside. "Thank you," she says as he places them on the kitchen counter. "Ain't nothin', sugar," he says with a shrug.

"But, it is a thing. Everything you have done is a thing. So thank you."

"Just bein' neighborly."

Indy stares at him as he starts packing her groceries onto the kitchen counter. Two things - one, they both know it's not just being neighborly. Two, he is as bad at accepting a thank you as she is at being assertive. "N-No," she says. "No?" he asks stopping and looking at her with an arched eyebrow.

"Yes. No. You have done more than any normal neighbor would do. If it weren't for you I would be a mess right now...I am a mess, but, I would be more of a mess. So, thank you and I insist you accept my thank you," she says clinging to the bag of sugar in her hands. She shocked herself at her little speech. Where did that come from? Austin grins at her then takes off his Stetson and holds it to his chest. "Well, sugar, I wouldn't dare test you so I accept your thank you and you are welcome," he says. He looks proud of her. She likes that.

"Good...and...and I will be making you dinner to say thank you. We will have it on your porch at 7 p.m. Don't be late...I don't care for lateness," she says then turns around and busies herself with unpacking a grocery bag while her heart hits her chest at a million miles an hour. She hears Austin chuckle softly behind her. "Yes, ma'am," he says, and then she hears his steps as he walks out. Once the front door closes behind him she lets out the breath she is holding and sinks to the kitchen floor. The cat comes up to her and rubs itself against her legs.