She leaned forward and pulled a can of nuts out of the cart. “Ahead of you there. We’ll split this with the other van.”
“Are you part of that tour group?” Mrs. Lopez asked, returning to the register when Esperanza filled her cart and steered it toward the front. “What are you touring?”
Javi didn’t for a minute believe that Mrs. Lopez hadn’t walked over to see what the side of the van said.
“We’re storm chasers,” Esperanza said, unloading her cart onto the small conveyor belt.
“Storm chasers? All those people?” Mrs. Lopez motioned toward the square.
“We’re a tour. We drive people around looking for storms.”
Mrs. Lopez’s eyebrows snapped together. “Why are you here?”
“We’re expecting some storms to come down out of Colorado and hit just northwest of here,” she said. “My sister is tracking them.”
Mrs. Lopez cut her eyes to Javi, and he did his best not to squirm under her scrutiny. “You’re not going with them?”
“Long story,” Esperanza said. “But Javi is helping us out by driving an SUV.”
“Towards a storm. Towards a tornado.”
Esperanza looked from Mrs. Lopez to Javi, her brow furrowing just a bit. He knew she wanted to ask, and was grateful when she didn’t. More grateful when Mrs. Lopez didn’t elaborate.
He was glad he’d decided to come help Esperanza when he lifted the case of water and she stacked two bags on top before looping her arms through the other bags.
“I’m usually more environmentally conscious,” she told him as they walked out. “But the plastic bags come in handy on the road.”
He grunted his acknowledgement, wanting as much distance between himself and Mrs. Lopez as possible before she decided to reveal all his weaknesses, which she would happily do to a pretty girl.
CHAPTER7
Espy wasn’t used to giving up control of the vehicle. But because she wasn’t driving, she was able to keep her own laptop open, running on a hot spot, and keep track of the storms as well as navigate, though she really didn’t have to do much of that because Javi knew the area so well.
As predicted, Mr. Laughton protested being assigned to the older, less comfortable vehicle, but Espy did her best to soothe him by pointing out that without so many others to worry about, they’d be able to stop more often, and he’d have more privacy. She didn’t want to bring up the possibility of refunding part of their money until she absolutely had to, though maybe informing him of her intention would soften his mood somewhat.
He really hated the grate between the seats, but Espy found its presence oddly satisfying. It didn’t offer privacy, but she sill felt as though it did, and she felt free to quiz Javi.
“So why did the lady at the grocery store ask you that question about storms?”
The vehicle did a quick stall, like it was surprised by the question, too. “What question about storms?” Javi asked.
Right. He knew exactly what she was talking about. He was just playing dumb. She could see the tightness around his mouth. Weird that she could read him so well already. “She seemed surprised that you were going on the tour with us.”
“Maybe she just thought I should be working.”
“Maybe.” But Espy didn’t get that impression. “She didn’t seem too friendly, especially toward you.”
A corner of his mouth hitched up. “She’s mad because I order a lot of my food online. She was having to order some stuff special for me and she was charging me a lot. It turned out to be more economical to just do a meal plan that gets delivered to my house.”
“I always wondered about those,” she said. “Are they pretty easy?”
“They’re actually a lot of work,” Mrs. Laughton chimed in from the back seat. “We started doing one, and I was actually working more in the kitchen than before.”
“I like it because it doesn’t have any waste,” Javi said. “And I don’t have to figure out what to cook when I get home. I think it’s made me a better cook, when I do get my own groceries.”
“And it’s a good portion for one person? I mean, they have it for just one?”
“I take the leftovers for lunch. A couple of years ago, we had a cooking competition in town, trying to get people to eat healthier, spearheaded by my best friend, and his now-wife, the owner of the diner. I wish I could say it had long-lasting effects, but I don’t think it’s that easy to change points of view.”
