He bent down, because his legs did it for him, and picked up the can of salmon from where it had rolled half under the shelf. He turned it over. On the bottom, slightly crooked, was a small round orange sticker printed with a wave and a sun and $2.49. He set it on the table. He picked up the jam jar. Orange sticker. $2.79. The cookie tin. $2.99. The Ensure, a sticker on the shrink-wrap. The tea. The saltines.
"And that one," the man said, and nodded at the can of Campbell's Chicken Noodle standing upright on the floor beside the Fairmont tote. "Look at that one."
Kurt picked it up. There was no orange sticker on the bottom. There was no sticker of any kind.
"That's hers," the man said. "That's from Fairmont. Del takes it out so there's room. The insulated bag's only so big. She takes a couple of hers out and packs ours in at the bottom where it won't look like much and then puts hers back on top so it looks the same when the bag's open. Last week she left one on the floor because somebody came in and scared her. Read Mrs. Dunning's slip. It's stapled right there. Go on. Read what she ordered."
Kurt knelt beside the green tote. The Fairmont receipt was stapled to the strap, a long curl of paper. DUNNING, C. — UNIT 2F. Order 88213-T. Delivery window 3:00–4:00 PM.
CAMPBELL CHKN NOODLE 2
WONDER CLASSIC WHITE 1
DARIGOLD 2% MILK HALF GAL 1
LARGE EGGS 12CT 1
BANANAS 1.4LB