Fear - 16

Gene thanked the woman in souvenir shop for her help, paid her for his purchases, then put them in his backpack and went out into the warm sunshine that lit the busy street. It took his eyes a moment to adjust after the dark shop. When they did, he paused, frowning.

He saw a slender young man coming out of the grocery store across the way, his arms heavily laden with plastic bags. That looks like Shawn. A second look told him it was. Shawn was juggling the bags, obviously trying to keep his hold on all of them as he turned and headed down the sidewalk.

Gene hurried across the street, coming up behind him, saying, "Looks like you could use a hand with those."

"No, no, I'm fine," Shawn told him, not turning to see who had spoken. Even as he said it, one of the bags started to slip out of his too-full hands.

Gene caught it before it fell, then said again, "Let me help you carry them, Shawn." The expression of pure panic when Shawn finally looked at him almost made Gene step away. "I'm not going to bite," he told him with a grin.

Instead of smiling at Gene's comment, Shawn looked even more fearful. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm on vacation." Gene held out his hand. "Give me a couple of those before you drop them." He saw an egg carton peeking out of the top of one bag and chuckled, trying again to ease Shawn's tension by saying, "Scrambled eggs are good, but not all over the sidewalk."

That did bring a tiny smile to Shawn's lips, even as his glance darted around the area. Then, with obvious reluctance tempered with a bit of relief, he let Gene take the bag.

"Is Jared around?" Gene asked, figuring he probably wasn't since it was a weekday. He instantly knew that was the wrong thing to ask when a flash of fear crossed Shawn's face, his gaze whipping around again as if to make certain Jared wasn't anywhere in sight.

By then they were beside a truck. Shawn put two of the bags down beside it and dug into his jeans pocket for the keys. After unlocking the door, he put the other bags inside behind the seat then bent to pick up the last two. When he did, he hissed softly in apparent pain.

"Here. I'll get those," Gene told him, handing Shawn the bags he was carrying and picking up the two on the ground. "Did you do something to your ribs?" he asked, keeping his voice gentle and non-threatening.