Excerpt of Tucked Away by Jennie Marts

The corner of the heavy dog food bag caught the strap of
her purse, and she stumbled forward, falling off the curb
and waving her arms to catch her balance. The loud snap
of her heel breaking was followed by a curse word worthy
of a sailor, and her purse went flying.

The dog food slid from his grasp. He reached to grab her
as she pitched forward and fell into his arms.

The heady scent of her perfume surrounded him as she
looked up at him, her chest pressed against his. “Oh my
gosh. I’m so sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry.” His mouth went dry, and he tried not to
look down at the front of her shirt where her blouse
gaped open and the lace edge of her bra peeked through.
He held onto her a beat too long, then let go as she
steadied herself. “You were just looking for some coffee,
and I almost knocked you over with a bag of puppy chow.”

She laughed. A light, easy sound. “I think breaking my
heel and being mauled by a giant bag of dog food is right
on par with the way the last couple of days have been
going for me. I’m just glad you didn’t impale me with the
toilet bowl brush.” She reached down to pick up the brush
that had fallen near her feet. It lay amongst the
scattered articles that had fallen from her purse.

“Here, let me help you.” Embarrassed, he knelt to the
ground and began collecting the oddest assortment of
items: a fat wallet with receipts sticking out the sides,
three tubes of lip gloss, a pink makeup bag, a collection
of fancy bottles with French names printed on their shiny
labels, more lip gloss, and a variety of feminine hygiene
products. “What is all this stuff?”

She was busy cramming things back into the enormous bag
but stopped to give him a skeptical look. “Really?”

“Well, I mean, I know what this stuff is.” He awkwardly
handed her the items filling his hands. “But why do you
have all this stuff in your purse?”

She blew her bangs out of her eyes. “It’s just stuff I
need.”

He handed her a balled up pair of gym shorts and a hot
pink sports bra. “What could you possibly need this for?”

“Those are my workout clothes.” She grabbed the garments
from him and stuffed them in her purse. “In case I want
to stop at the gym.”

“What gym? The only 24-hour fitness you’re going to find
around here is chores on a farm. They go from sun-up to
sun-down.” He watched in awe as she stuffed more things
into the leather bag. He couldn’t believe how much she
fit in there. It was like an endless cavern of space.

He heard her mumble something about one more thing she
would have to get used to before she looked up at him and
sighed. “I’m thinking about moving here. But this place
is quite a change from where I’m from.”

“I can imagine.” More stuff had fallen onto the curb, and
he collected another five tubes of lip gloss. Geez, how
much lip care could one woman need? He caught himself
glancing at her lips, wondering if they were soft as they
looked.