“Oh, that’s on the far wall, darling,” the man told her.
That didn’t sound promising.
They thanked him again and Bo grabbed April by the hand, dragging her down the aisles until at last, they reached the far wall.
“Wow,” Bo breathed.
To April’s surprise and relief, the whole wall was covered with preserves of all flavors and colors. Handwritten cards marked sections devoted to jellies and butters from every planet April had ever heard of and many she hadn’t.
“Amazing, isn’t it love?” a woman who looked a bit like an amorphous blob wearing a straw hat asked Bo.
“Yes,” Bo said, nodding. “Wow.”
A sign with tiny hand-painted planets above the shelves read:
* * *
Ulfgard: Everyone’s Home World
* * *
Just below it,April’s eye caught a handwritten card on the top shelf noting that it included jams from the Terras 1 through 35.
The first item on it was a modest looking jar of apple butter.
April swallowed over a lump in her throat and reached for it without thinking.
“That’s plain brown,” Bo said, sounding horrified.
“This is from my home world,” April told her. “It will taste so good with your bread.”
Bo looked torn.
“Of course, you should pick one, too,” April told her quickly. “This one’s for me.”
Bo grinned and started scanning the shelves, piping up excitedly every time her eyes caught something colorful.
April busied herself reading the labels for Bo. Some of the most colorful jams weren’t sweet at all, but made from pickled or spiced vegetables.
The idea of vegetable jellies made Bo wrinkle her nose.
“As long as they aren’t spiced too hot for you, they might be really good,” April told her. “And it’s okay to try something different, because if we don’t like it, we can try something else next time, right? And who knows, you might even find one you like better than uva-berry.”
Bo eyed her suspiciously, but kept scanning the selection until they had gone through every jar on the shelf.
In the end, she couldn’t decide between two fruit jams and one veggie.
“Let me just see how much money your dad gave us, okay?” April said, tapping her bracelet. Hopefully it would be okay to get a few extra things. Especially if this could be a way to get Bo interested in eating more than just bread and jam.
When she saw the amount he had deposited for her, she had to do a double take.
“Wow,” she murmured.
“It’s not enough?” Bo asked plaintively.
It was enough to buy every jar in the store, maybe enough to buy the store itself, building and all. It must have been a mistake.
Or was he trying to impress her?