Farm Girl Has Bad Boy (#3)

Chapter Nine

Mary exhales nosily and starts backing out of my driveway. “Careful is my middle name.”

“I thought it was Rosemary.”

Mary gives me a look once we’re driving down County Road Six. “So what are we going to buy Emery anyways?”

I lean my head back into the seat and give an over exaggerated sigh. “I honestly have no idea. Let’s just go to Springdale and look for ideas.”

“Oh, we have to go to the grocery store to get cake making supplies! What about decorating?” I mentally scold myself for forgetting Emery’s birthday. If I could have planned this ahead of time, it would have worked out so much better.

“We can go to the Dollar Store for streamers and balloons. Should we invite anyone?” I ask, wondering who there really is to invite.

“I can ask my parents to come, and Danny too?” Mary raises my eyebrows and I shrug. Then my parents should have someone to talk to other than the kids.

“There’s not really anyone else I guess,” I mumble and Mary gives me a look. “Okay, well there is. But what am I supposed to do? Invite her, after she basically stole my boyfriend?”

“River,” Mary whines, her eyes wavering from the road to look at me. I shoot her a keep-your-eyes-on-the-road look and she rolls her eyes. “I’m not saying you don’t have good grounds to not invite her, but when you think about it, she’s really the only other friend Emery has.”

Suddenly, an idea pops into my head. As much as I despise Alana, she may be somewhat of use. I don’t think Emery ever had a good birthday so this is the chance I have to give him a happy one to remember.

“What if I invite her and get her to see if some of Emery’s old friends can come?” Mary’s face lights up with my enthusiasm and she grins.

“That’s a great idea!” She pulls onto the main road leading into Springdale and I’m glad we’ve made it here mailbox-free. “But it’s a long drive for them.”

“They could sleep over I guess,” I mumble. “Either in the barn or the living room.” We pull into the parking lot of the grocery store when Mary pulls out a piece of paper and pen from the armrest. She starts making a list as we walk towards the automatic sliding doors of the store.

“What kind of cake do you think he’d like better?” Mary asks, as we stand in front of a row of cake mixes. Honestly, I have no idea. The only time I’ve seen him eat cake was at my birthday so I’m going to have to go on instinct.

“He seems like a chocolate kind of guy,” I mumble, as Mary throws two packages of chocolate cake mix into the red basket she carries.

“Chocolate icing too?” She holds two containers and puts it beside the cake mixes when I nod. After we’ve chosen sprinkles and candles, we head towards the frozen food.

“We’re going to need something to eat before the cake,” I murmur, looking over pizzas and steaks. “But we don’t have much money to work with so we should get two pizzas and some smaller snacks.”

Mary nods, putting two of the cheaper pizzas in her basket. We look over the food and she opens one of the freezer doors.

“What about this?” She asks, grinning. She holds up a box of French fries and gives me a pleading look. “Please, River!” She whines, stretching out the word ‘please.’

“Your parents never let you have French fries, do they?” I laugh, snatching the box and holding it behind me.

“They heard they’re one of the unhealthiest foods,” she shrugs, rolling her eyes. “But they’re so good!”

“Okay, fine.” I put the box in her basket and we head towards the checkout. “But only because if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be here.” Mary gives me a half hug as we pay for our food and when we’re done, we put the groceries in the truck. Walking along the sidewalk to the Dollar Store, we window shop for Emery, who surprisingly, is impossible to shop for.

“Any ideas?” Mary asks as we walk into the Dollar Store.

“None,” I mutter, heading towards the party isle. In a matter of minutes we settle on a black and blue theme, with balloons, streamers, noise makers and even party hats. By the time we’re window shopping again, I still haven’t gotten any ideas for his present. At least, not until I see the one store Emery ever shopped at. “In here.” I link my arm through Mary’s and drag her towards the one and only tattoo parlour.

“No way,” Mary tells me, stopping in her tracks outside of the parlour. “I am not going in there.”

I roll my eyes. “Mary, I know you think it’s scary, but it’s not that bad.” I grab her wrist and practically throw her through the door before she can protest more. The bald man at the counter gives us a strange look however I do my best to ignore it as I saunter towards him.

“Tattoo or piercing?” He asks, looking unimpressed. Every inch of his arms are tattooed but other than that, he looks pretty normal.

“Neither,” I reply, looking over the t-shirts that hang on the wall behind him. I feel Mary move closer to me when the tattoo needle starts buzzing from another room. I don’t know much about Emery’s music taste except for one band. So when my eyes lay on the one t-shirt I know he’ll love, I know I have to get it. “I’d like that shirt,” I say, pointing towards it. “A medium.”

The man gives me a strange look before sifting through the shirts and pulling out a medium. “You like Lamb of God?” He asks with raised eyebrows. I shake my head no and laugh.

“It’s for my boyfriend. He’s awful to shop for.” The man gives a knowing smile and looks under the counter for something.

“I thought you were too small for a medium,” he laughs, lifting a small box onto the counter. “However I might be able to help you out.” He pulls out a Lamb of God CD and hands it to me. “It’s the newest one and if he likes them…” He trails off, searching the box of CD’s for something. “He should like these bands.” He hands me two CD’s to look over. “DevilDriver and Killswitch Engage are a bit similar, but most Lamb of God fans love them just as much.”

I nod and place the Cd’s with the other one and the t-shirt. “I think we’re good to good,” I grin, pulling out my wallet.

“Let me know if he likes them!” The man calls, as Mary and I leave the parlour. She’s still linked through my arm, scared to let go of me.

“I will!” I smile back before stepping out into the afternoon sun.

“Well, I guess we got everything,” Mary says happily, glad to be back outside. As we walk towards her truck, I shake my head.

“There’s still one last thing to do,” I mutter, clenching my teeth together. I’m dreading doing this and I know I’ll regret it, however I have to do this for Emery.

“What’s that?” Asks Mary with raised eyebrows.

I bang my head lightly against the door of her truck. “Call Alana.”