She found the store easily enough. The battered pickup from yesterday was parked along the side, and when she walked in, the old Latino man who had given her the ride was behind the counter.
Connor. His name is Connor, but I shouldn’t call him that because we haven’t been introduced.Selena hated it when people used her name too much in conversation, it made them sound like salesmen.Selena, hello, Selena, so nice to meet you, Selena, what can I sell you today, Selena, we have a lovely selection here today, Selena.
Connor smiled at her. “We meet again,” he said. “What can I do for you?”
I would like to buy dog food, please. No, wait. Do you have any dog food? By chance?
“Do you have any dog food, by chance?”
“Sure,” said Connor. “Only the one kind, though, twenty bucks a bag. If your dog’s got some weird allergy, it’s cheaper to feed ’em chicken and oatmeal than it is to import the expensive stuff. It’s made outta unicorns, for the price they charge.”
“No allergies, thankfully,” said Selena, smiling. She knew this conversation—every pet store in the world had some variation of it. Twenty dollars was more than she’d wanted to spend and would leave her even more broke, but Copper had to eat. She pulled the wad of cash out of her pocket. “Can I buy a bag?”
“Nope,” said Connor.
Selena’s smile faltered.
What? Did I say something wrong?
She could feel her smile turning bewildered, and Connor took pity on her.
“You can’t buy a bag, because your aunt already paid for it.” He patted a binder on the counter. “Shipped off a load right before she passed away. Credit’s been sitting on the books for a year.”
“Oh,” said Selena faintly, not sure how to feel. Apparently news traveled very fast in Quartz Creek. “Is that ... are you sure?”
“She’s got no other kin to use it,” said Connor. “I’d give it to Grandma Billy, but she wouldn’t take it, said it belonged to Jackrabbit Hole House. You’re living there now, and you’re her kin, so it’s yours.”
He flipped open the book. “Looks like five hundred and twenty-eight dollars. I’ll take the dog food off it for you, and have Samuel drop it off in the truck later.”
“Oh ...” said Selena again, and before she quite knew it, she was standing on the front porch of the general store, with Copper thumping her tail amiably against her shin.
It occurred to her, as she walked down the dusty path to Jackrabbit Hole House, that she could have asked to take the credit in cash so she could buy a ticket and leave Quartz Creek.
No!She felt a strong internal revulsion at the thought, as if her mind had suggested something indecent.
No. That would be like asking someone to take a gift back and give you the money instead.
She would treat the credit as an unexpected windfall, as a gift, not as something she had a right to. And if she was stuck here for more than a day or two, as seemed likely, at least she’d have dog food.
It made it easier if she thought of it as being for Copper. Nothing was too good for Copper.
The dog in question was panting, her tongue out a mile. Selena patted her and felt how hot the black fur was.
“Poor girl, you’re dressed wrong for the desert, aren’t you?”
Copper grinned hugely and lolled her tongue out even farther.
It was hot enough to give anyone pause. Selena could feel a headache starting over her left eye. The glare off the white dust was achingly bright. Maybe she should have used some of that credit to buy a pair of sunglasses.
When she glanced up and saw the wall around Jackrabbit Hole House, she sagged with relief. To be inside, where it would be cooler, and have a drink of water ...
She dragged herself up onto the porch. Copper flopped down and panted rapidly.
The faucet only spat a few times when she turned it on, before settling down. Presumably the well was getting used to being used. Selena took a bowl out to Copper, who gulped noisily.
She drank out of her cupped hands, feeling ridiculous with water running down her chin, and had to blot her face on her arm. She should have bought a mug at the store—
“Who are you?” asked a man’s voice, practically in her ear. “Why are you here?”
