Free No Time for Horses by Shannon Kennedy Page B

agreed. “Thank
goodness you can still keep Chrissy contained in the cart.”
    “You got it.”
    When we were in the store, we grabbed two
carts. By now, we pretty much had a system since we’d been doing
this for six months. I stocked up on staples like flour, sugar,
shortening, spices, cake mixes, cereals, bread, and paper products.
Jack headed for the produce, dairy, frozen food, and meat aisles.
We met up in canned goods. I was in the middle of comparing prices
on mushroom soup when I heard someone call my name.
    I turned and saw Adam Chambers sauntering
toward me. His cart had several bags of chips and a case of sodas.
I nodded at him. “Hi. What’s going on?”
    “Not much.” He eyed the carts that Jack and I
pushed. “Is that for the food drive? Okay if I get a photo for the
paper?”
    I laughed. “No, this is just groceries for my
family. We won’t be shopping for the food bank until the weekend
before Thanksgiving. What are you up to?”
    “Just loading up on junk food.” Adam
shrugged. “A bunch of us have to put together headlines for the
paper. It always goes faster when I feed the troops.”
    “That makes sense,” I said. “So did you have
anybody at the rec cheer competition today? We came in second in
our division.”
    “I was there and so were a couple other
reporters.” Adam stuck around, asking questions about the rec cheer
schedule.
    I answered while I finished loading up on
soups, canned fruit, vegetables, and beans. Adam had more things he
claimed he’d forgotten to ask regarding the food drive all the way
to the cash registers. I paused long enough in the apparel section
to grab a couple packages of cloth diapers to go along with the
disposable ones I already had in the cart. Now, I wouldn’t have to
count on Rick returning the kids with clean laundry tomorrow night,
much less with completed homework.
    Okay, so Mom was supposed to step up. How
could she? If she worked until seven or eight in the morning, came
home and got some sleep, she’d be lucky if she wasn’t a zombie when
she had to go back to the casino. After another swing shift, she’d
be back about ten tomorrow night. By that point, I’d have bathed
the kids and put them to bed. I’d be in the middle of my own
homework.
    Adam finally finished up his questions about
everything under the sun, from the student council to the food
drive to recreational cheerleading, when we were out in the parking
lot. He helped us pack the bags of groceries into the car then went
off to deal with his newspaper reporters. I shook my head and
glanced at Jack. “What do you suppose that was really about?”
    “I have no idea.” Jack stepped close to me.
He feathered his thumb over my mouth. “If I was the jealous type,
I’d think he was making a play for my girlfriend.”
    “No.” I tiptoed up to kiss him. “He didn’t
look at me that way. I’d have felt the vibes if he was interested
in me as a person, not a story for the school paper.”
    “I have no idea what the guy wants, and I
really don’t care.” Jack leaned down. He brushed his lips across
mine. “Let’s get this stuff back to your house and go find some pie
before Rocky calls to see what we’re doing.”
    “Sounds great.”
    * * * *
    Sunday, November 17th, 8:40 a.m.
     
    Shamrock Stable didn’t open until noon on
Sunday. I’d forgotten about that when I set up internship hours
with Rocky. When Sierra and I finished watering and feeding the
horses, we returned to the house to find Autumn and her mom dressed
for church. Rocky pointed to the bathroom. “Hustle up, ladies. We
don’t want to be late.”
    “I don’t mind staying here by myself,” I
said. “I haven’t been to church a lot in the last six months.”
    “We get to go have pancakes first,” Autumn
told me. “At the café. Come on, Vicky. They have berries and
whipped cream.”
    “In that case, I’m rushing,” I said.
    Sierra grinned at me. “You can use Mom’s
bathroom, and I’ll use this one.