Happily This Christmas (Happily Inc #6) - Susan Mallery Page 0,8
following Tuesday. As they walked back to the car, Garrick glanced at his watch.
“Less than thirty minutes,” he said, his tone approving. “I like how you shop.”
“Wait until you see me stocking your kitchen. I’ll be a blur of activity.”
They went into the home goods store. Wynn collected a shopping cart for herself and had Garrick take one, as well. As she’d promised, they moved quickly.
“Linens,” she said, pointing to the far side of the store. “Bedding, towels and accessories.” She smiled. “This time I think we really are going to be looking for anything purple.”
“It’s her favorite color.”
Wynn found a pretty bedding set with a soft comforter and good quality sheets in various shades of purple and lavender. For the towels, she went for a soft shade, then found a set of bathroom accessories in lavender with a pop of silver. She added a half dozen throw pillows to the cart.
On their way to the kitchen department, they swung by a display of prints. Wynn held up a set of adorable fairy prints.
“Too young? They’ll look great with the furniture, but I don’t want her to think you forgot how old she is.”
He shook his head. “Not too young. They’re perfect.”
Wynn added them to her cart, then steered into the middle of the displays of dishes.
Garrick looked at all the options, then took a step back. “There are too many. Nope. Not going to do this.”
She grinned. “Chest getting a little tight?”
“I’m fighting the urge to bolt. I’m man enough to admit it.”
“Just remember we want white dishes with just a touch of red and black. It can be a border or a subtle pattern. If we can’t find that, we can go for white with red or white with black.”
He relaxed a little. “You’re right. That helps.”
They left their carts and wandered up and down the aisle. Garrick walked over with a dish in his hand.
The round plate was white with a swirl of black in the middle and a single spot of red by the rim.
“What about this?” he asked.
“Do you like it?”
He looked at the plate. “Not really. But the colors are right.”
“They’re only right if you like them. You’re going to be eating off these plates for the next however many years, Garrick. You need to want to have them in your life.”
He looked at her. “I don’t think about wanting dishes in my life.”
She smiled. “Yes, I know, but for today, let’s pretend.”
She found a couple of patterned dishes, but Garrick shook his head at them before surprising her by holding up a simple red plate.
“This,” he said.
“It’s red.”
“Yes, I knew that. I like it. The mugs are a good size, the bowls work for me and there’s no pattern. I want these.”
“And you said you didn’t think about wanting dishes in your life,” she teased. “Let’s get two sets. That’s service for eight.”
As Garrick put the boxes of dishes in the cart, she spotted a Betty Boop canister set across the aisle. The colors were perfect, the style retro. She picked up the smallest canister.
“Too much?” she asked.
Garrick shook his head and grinned. “I’m in. I love Betty.”
Less than a half hour later, they had picked up glasses, cookware, flatware and a baking set. By then they were up to four full carts, and Wynn was thinking it was really good that Garrick drove a big SUV. She didn’t think she would have gotten everything into her car.
“Thank you,” he said when they had checked out and loaded everything. “I couldn’t have done this without you.”
“You’re welcome. I enjoy spending other people’s money.”
He pointed to the steakhouse across the parking lot. “Can I buy you lunch?”
“I’d like that.”
They were seated at a booth by the window. Wynn scanned the menu, her mouth watering when she read the description of the steak salad. Her decision made, she put down her menu.
Garrick was still studying his. She took a second to admire the strong lines of his face and the unfairness of men having thick lashes. Why did that always happen? Was it the Y chromosome? Did it come with naturally thick lashes?
Garrick looked up and smiled at her. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing. I was just thinking about eyelashes.”
His brows drew together. “I wouldn’t have guessed that.”
“I know. My mind can be an unusual place.” She glanced around at the ceramic turkeys on every table. “It’s nice to see a place celebrating Thanksgiving. Too often we seem to go right from Halloween to Christmas.”