Chapter Fifty-Four
"Mornin' Miss Tatum, let me get that for ya," she heard as she was about to head into the grocery store.
"Eh, thanks," the redhead smiled a little unsurely, not used to people being that nice to her out of nowhere. The older man gave her a nod and a smile as she passed him into the shop, making her smile a little bigger.
Tatum went into the shop with a relatively small shopping list but ended up at the till with a considerably larger amount of shopping; despite her best efforts, her cravings inspired a fair few impulse buys. She had enough bags with her, but she wasn't sure how she was going to get it all back to her truck which was parked a small way away. After trying a couple of different variations, she was seriously close to texting Sean to see if he could come help her, when she heard, "do you need some help miss?" She looked up to find a friendly young man stood in front of her with one hand already outstretched to take the bags from her.
"Oh, if you don't mind, that'd be great," Tatum quickly nodded. Normally her pride would've declined the offer, but there was no kidding herself that she'd bought too much to be able to carry by herself with her bump. "Thank you," she smiled as she watched him pick up most of her bags, except two, with minimal effort.
"It ain't no bother," he shrugged and nodded for her to lead the way to her truck.
"I still appreciate it," the redhead made sure to thank him again as he followed her and lifted the bags into the bed of her truck as if they weighed nothing. "Can I buy you a coffee to say thank you?" she asked, feeling a little uneasy that she'd had to rely on a stranger's kindness just because she was pregnant and had bought too much.
"There ain't no need miss," he assured her, gave her a smile and a tap to his hat and headed on his way again. Tatum looked after him with a small smile, contemplating her life right now. She would've given anything for some acceptance in this little town, but it hadn't appeared she'd get that as Grayson Tennant's daughter, until now. She'd expected that more of the town's folk would respond to her pregnancy in similar ways to Aaron, assuming the worst of her, but in the last few days she'd experienced none of that. It was almost as if, since her bump had become more visible, so had she. And most were actually quite helpful. She was just about to get in her truck when she felt a flutter… and a real hankering for ice cream.
"Alright bubba, I hear ya," Tatum chuckled to herself as she gave her belly a rub and quickly made her way over to the ice cream shop. It always reminded her of one of her first dates, that wasn't a planned date, with Sean and she couldn't help smiling at the thought of him. "Can I have a mango, chocolate and double chocolate chip cookie?" she asked as she decided to forego some of her normally preferred fruit flavours.
"Here you go doll," the server said as she handed the cone with three servings over. "It's on the house," the blonde said quickly as her customer went to get her wallet out.
"Are you sure?" Tatum asked surprised, getting an assured nod in response. "Thank you, so much!" she gushed gratefully, never having expected that in a million years. Thinking of what her boyfriend would say at her having three servings, she couldn't help wondering if some of this new preferential treatment was down to him. If people knew she was his girlfriend, they probably didn't want to risk upsetting him by treating her badly. It felt a little silly, but also kind'a nice.
"That's a lot of ice cream for one lady," she heard a familiar voice tease her as she made her way back to her truck.
"I'm eatin' for two Sheriff, I think I'm allowed," Tatum laughed and licked her ice cream again.
"Yeah, I guess that's true. And you're lookin' good," Austin conceded, giving her a slight nudge when she blushed. "You not in the bar today?" he asked curiously, wondering what that would mean for Isabella's shift pattern today.
"I will be later for the evenin' and Sue will close up. Izzy can handle the openin' by herself," the redhead answered with a small shrug; it was never really busy until about 3pm anyway but she was struggling more in the mornings.
"Sounds like you got the best of both there, late start and an early-ish finish," he commented, silently celebrating that Isabella would be getting off work around the same time as he was today.
"Well what good is it bein' the boss if I can't make my life a bit easier?" Tatum responded with a cheeky smile.
"I'll be tellin' your sister you said that," Austin grinned, laughing when she looked a little worried that he might actually. "Don't worry, only messin'," he assured her now. "I best be goin'. Stay out of trouble you," he gave her a teasing wink before he went on his way.
"Always," she assured him with a chuckle of her own and focused on finishing her ice cream before heading back home with their grocery shopping.
"Hey beautiful," she heard in her ear at the same time she felt a pair of hands on her waist.
"Sheriff, you should know better than bein' out back here," she warned him, trying not to lean back into him. She'd just brought out the garbage when he'd interrupted. Isabella wasn't sure how to be around Austin since they'd kissed, instead of watching a film.
"Should I caution myself?" he asked with a chuckle before he pressed a kiss to her neck.
"I could make a citizen's arrest if you'd rather," she suggested, giggling when he grabbed her closer and nuzzled her neck. "Okay, okay, I won't," she squealed. She felt his chuckle against her back as she tried to step away from him. She wasn't sure what their kiss had meant to him and was glad to realise it wasn't a one-time thing, that it meant more to him than that, too.
"I couldn't stop thinkin' 'bout you," he murmured, confessing to the one and only reason he'd decided to show up at the bar. It had been hard enough not to call her the moment he'd woken that morning, even harder not to go straight to the bar but to get some much-needed groceries first.
"You're soundin' awfully whipped there, sheriff," the brunette teased, ignoring how the room suddenly felt hotter.
"What are you doin' tonight?" the handsome man with his arms still around her asked, not even trying to deny it. He smiled when she turned around so she could wrap her arms around him, too.
"Hopefully whatever you're doin'," Isabella smiled teasingly as she leaned in a little closer.
Austin smiled as he hinted at kissing her, leaning in agonisingly close. "Do I dare suggest dinner at your place?" he asked, making her laugh.
"Tatum's at the bar until nine," she answered, not sure either what her sister and her boyfriend had planned for after that.
"Nah, too risky. Come over to mine tonight?" the sheriff suggested, his lips now brushing hers softly,hoping to entice her.
She felt a little heady as she breathed him in, his arms still securely wrapped around her body. "Okay," she nodded breathlessly as she eagerly anticipated when he'd kiss her properly. He didn't disappoint.