By that point, the checker, a stout woman with frizzy red hair, was furiously loading goods into plastic bags as well, tossing them at Jeremy and pointing to the cart. “Come on, come on,” she practically yelled at him.
There was too much confusion, too many people waiting. And the customer was doing absolutely nothing to control her kids. A cantaloupe rolled down, and Jeremy stuffed it into the last bag.
“Do you need help out to your car, ma’am?” he asked politely.
“No, I do not.” The woman snapped her fingers, and the two kids ran like furies out the door while the one in the cart screeched at an earsplitting volume.
Not wanting to blow Jeremy’s concentration, Will was about to back off and let him finish his shift. Until he heard the checker say, “You put that cantaloupe on top of her eggs. Can’t you do anything right?”
“I’m sorry,” Jeremy said. “I didn’t mean to mess up.”
“I don’t know why they hire people like you. You’re so slow. You and your pea-sized brain. Idiot.”
“I’m really sorry,” Jeremy said again, his face now completely red.
“If she complains, I’m gonna tell the management it’s your fault for being the worst bagger we’ve ever had.”
Rage welled up in Will. His hands fisted until his knuckles turned stark white. If Jeremy hadn’t been there as witness…if the clerk had so much as laid a hand on him…if Will hadn’t damn near annihilated the Road Warrior inside him…
Will reached Jeremy’s side just as she issued the last threat. He flayed the woman with a look that could shred flesh. “Don’t ever talk to Jeremy that way again. Apologize to him. Now.”
The checker’s hands stopped moving over the scanner, where she was holding a can of green beans. She stared at Will, openmouthed. Finally, she muttered, “I’m sorry.”
“Say his name when you apologize to him.” Will hadn’t raised his voice, but his intent to tear her apart with his bare hands if she didn’t fix things was crystal clear nonetheless.
“His name?” Her face screwed up. “I don’t know.”
“Didn’t you just say you work with him all the time? How can you not know his name?”
Fixing her stare on Jeremy, she opened her mouth, and by her narrowed eyes, Will was sure something merciless was about to spew out. Until she looked back at him, took in the steely set of his mouth—and the silent threat in his eyes—and swallowed hard. “I think it’s Jeremy.”
“Apologize again. Properly.”
“I’m sorry, Jeremy.”
“It’s okay.” Jeremy’s face was still beet red.
Will gave her one last look that personified the expression if looks could kill. And the clerk clearly recognized it. “There are no idiots here.” Except her. “And I will know if you use that word to speak to anyone here again. Ever.” He turned to Jeremy. “Ten minutes left on your shift, buddy. I’ll wait for you over there.” He crooked his chin toward the door, where the checker would be in his sights.
“Okay, Will,” Jeremy said, his voice too quiet.
Watching from his spot over by the doorway, Will was afraid he’d make Jeremy nervous. On the other hand, there was no way he’d let anyone have another crack at Harper’s brother. But Jeremy did well, with no more cantaloupe-versus-eggs incidents. He even helped an old lady out with her groceries. She winked as she passed Will. “You did good, sonny. That woman’s always been a nasty piece of work.”
Of course, the checker was as sweet as apple pie for the rest of the time that Will watched. Then it was five, and Jeremy ran to clock out. When he returned, Will slung an arm around his shoulder as he removed his store apron. “You did real good in there.”
“I didn’t. I put the melon on the eggs.”
“They probably didn’t break. And even if they did, it was just a mistake. We all make mistakes sometimes.” As Jeremy climbed into the BMW, Will wished he’d had one of his fun cars for the kid to enjoy. “Is it always like that in there?”
“Like what?”
“Busy. Crazy.” With nasty women calling him nasty names. Will’s jaw tensed again thinking about the madness that had almost taken over when he’d seen Jeremy being bullied.
“Just at the end,” Jeremy confessed. “Most of the time it’s fine. But around five, it’s really busy.”
Will didn’t like it. The boy had to put up with that every single damn day. How many times had someone called him an idiot? Will’s hands were fists on the steering wheel. For so many reasons, nothing bothered him more than watching people being bullied. “That woman shouldn’t be working there.” His voice was a growl.
Jeremy fluttered his hands in the air. “Sadie didn’t mean it. It’s just that her mom’s sick and she’s going to die soon.”
He wanted to say that was no excuse for being a total jerk. Sometimes, he knew, there were reasons why a person lost control. Not an excuse, just a reason. But he still couldn’t quite squash the desire to flatten the woman with a cast iron skillet versus a fly swatter.
Will had tried to tell himself he didn’t solve things with his fists anymore, but in that grocery store, he’d been ready to run down anything in his path. It was the part of himself he still feared lurked inside him, even after all the years since he’d ditched the gang.
“Jeremy—”
“Are you going to get her fired, Will? ’Cause I’d feel really bad if you did.” The plea appeared as two big furrows across Jeremy’s brow and a moist sheen in his eyes.
Will didn’t want to let the woman off the hook, but for Jeremy he’d make an exception. “I’ll give her one more chance. But if she treats you like that again, I need to know about it. Okay?”
“Okay.” Jeremy nodded vigorously.
It was time to lighten the mood. Jeremy needed to move on even if Will’s nerves were still firing like a racing engine. “Now, what do you say we order some Chinese? I know a great place.”
“Yay.” Jeremy clapped, his enthusiastic self again, as if he’d forgotten the whole thing.
Will could only hope that he had.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“I’ll be back in the office tomorrow morning,” Will told Maya, his Human Resources director. It was after seven and he’d had to call her at home. “Thanks for rescheduling our meeting.” Ending the call, Will turned to Jeremy. “Enjoying dinner?”
Jeremy nodded exuberantly. Seated at the breakfast bar in Harper’s kitchen, he was chowing down on yet another helping of sweet-and-sour pork.
“I’ve got another question for you,” Will said. “How would you feel about a new job?”
“For me?” Jeremy asked, his mouth full. Harper likely wouldn’t be pleased with the lack of manners, but Will felt it meant that Jeremy’s guard was down with him. More like a person was with family.
“Yeah. A job for you.”
He wanted to make things better for Jeremy. Will hated it when the big fish picked on the little ones.
Mostly because at one time he’d been the big fish. But that had ended with the Mavericks. It had taken a few years before he’d believed that he truly belonged with them, but they became his brothers. And even if he hadn’t been as careful with other people as he should have been, he’d always fought for the Mavericks and protected them when they needed it.
But it had been a long, long time since anyone had needed him like that. Until Jeremy and Harper.
“What kind of job?” There was a piece of rice on Jeremy’s shirt, which Will flicked onto the bar top.
He’d come by the idea somewhere between ordering the Chinese food and the delivery person’s dropping it off: If Jeremy worked for him, he would no longer be a victim of sharp-tongued checkers. Or anyone else, for that matter. No one at Franconi Imports would dare to call him names. He would be treated with respect, Will would make sure of that. There would be no late-afternoon customer rush to confuse him, either. Sure, the tasks would be new to him, but they’d teach him new skills without the stress of too many people coming all at once. Anyone would have a problem with the environment he’d been in.
“How about working in my mailroom?” Will said. “You can deliver mail, pick up packages.”
Jeremy’s eyes glowed. “You mean like a postman?”
Will nodded, smiling. “A postman for my employees.”
“Wow. Cool.” Jeremy bit off half his spring roll and chewed, his eyes wide.
“You can also pick up people’s papers to put through the shredder, and run office errands, and deliver supplies.” The more he thought about it, the more tasks came to mind that Jeremy could easily handle. “What do you think? Would you like to try it?”
Jeremy nodded eagerly. “I do!”
Harper’s brother was so exuberant about everything that sometimes it was hard to tell if he actually wanted to do something or he merely thought he needed to play the yes man. Which was why Will asked, “Will you miss your friends at the grocery store?”