Chapter Two
Chapter Two
Wynn was surprised to realize she’d never been shopping with a man before.
It seemed an odd kind of event to have missed in her life—after all, she was a business owner and single mom.
She’d dated men—sort of—and had been in a couple of semiserious relationships.
She’d had sex with men, had dinner, gone to bars, concerts and completed a whole list of normal activities with the opposite gender, but she’d never gone shopping of any kind.
“Thanks again for helping me with my project,” Garrick said, glancing at her briefly before turning his attention to the road.
They were in his ridiculously large black SUV, heading to the outlet mall about forty miles from Happily Inc where there were a couple of big bed-and-bath kind of stores, along with a few furniture places.
“I’m looking forward to it,” she told him with a grin. “I’m going to test your ability to handle fringe.”
“You keep mentioning that. I’m starting to think you’re not kidding.”
“You’re going to have to wait and find out.”
She pulled a list out of her handbag. “We should get the kitchen table and chairs first. Once we have that, we’ll deal with linens and kitchenware, leaving the artwork for last.” She glanced at him. “In case you flake out, we’ll have the most important items taken care of.”
“Flake out? I’m the one who came to you. I want to make this happen.”
“You say that now, but let’s see how you handle all the shopping.”
The corners of his mouth turned up. “Maybe I like shopping.”
“Oh, please. If you did, you’d have more stuff in your house. Most guys don’t like shopping, which I’ve never understood. All you have to do is pretend you’re hunting. You stalk, you pounce, you strap it to the car and take it home. A total win, but men don’t see it that way.”
He chuckled. “There are a lot of gross generalizations in those few sentences.”
“I’ll admit that’s true, but how many of them are wrong?”
“Not as many as I’d like.”
She smiled. This was nice—being with Garrick in the not-quite close confines of his SUV.
He had a very commanding presence she found appealing, along with the subtle scent of freshly showered man that she’d been missing in her life.
Today would be a great opportunity to figure out if they had any kind of chemistry and if there was any “there” there.
Of course given her sucky personal life, there was every chance she was going to end up being ready to try a little kissing action about the time he was ready to head home and watch the game.
“What’s Hunter doing today?” he asked.
“Hanging out with a friend. He couldn’t believe I was letting him out of his Sunday chores.”
“That would be a sweet victory. He’s in what, ninth grade?”
“Uh-huh. Ninth grade is middle school in Happily Inc, so he’s in high school next year. I can’t believe how fast he’s growing up.”
“They do that. Enjoy every second while he’s still living at home.”
“I do my best.”
She pointed to the off-ramp for the outlet center up ahead, and Garrick moved into the right lane of the freeway. They quickly found a parking space and walked into the furniture store. Wynn headed for the dining room and kitchen tables, Garrick keeping pace with her.
“No one needs this much stuff,” he said as they wove their way through a massive display of sofa and recliners.
“Maybe not, but people like choices. What if your sofa had only come in purple?”
His cool gray eyes shifted to her face. “Was it a toss-up between saying purple and pink to get your point across, or did you go right for the purple?”
She grinned. “I went right there. It’s not too girlie, but there’s a message.”
He surprised her by laughing. She liked the sound of his amusement, the way he relaxed when he laughed.
Something stirred to life low in her belly, reminding her it had been a very long time since her last relationship and that she would very much like to be in one again.
The boy-girl kind, she added, just to be clear.
With lots of touching and kissing and naked time.
But that wasn’t on the schedule for today, she told herself, pushing the whisper of anticipation to the back of her mind. Shopping and getting to know Garrick came first. She would enjoy her fantasies about her neighbor later.
They circled the dining room sets and headed for the more casual kitchen tables and chairs. Wynn stopped next to a round oak table with four chairs.
“It’s very classic,” she said. “And wood, which you seem to like. What do you think?”
Garrick walked around the display a couple of times before picking up one of the chairs and studying the underside. “They’re not very well made and the style is kind of boring. Let’s see what else they have.”
“The alcove is big enough to take a table for six, if you want to do that,” she said. “I don’t think the shape of the table will matter, so if you want square or rectangular instead of round, we can do that. I have the measurements with me, so we’ll be able to double-check that it fits.”
“A table for six might be better,” he said. “I’m hoping Joylyn will have some friends come by to keep her company. She doesn’t know anyone in Happily Inc, and I don’t want her to feel isolated.”
They walked around the various displays.
Garrick spent time studying a simple rectangular table and chairs in the Shaker style, then surprised her by stopping next to a round glass-top table with a wrought-iron base.
The pedestal base was made up of curving iron bars that wove around each other, almost like a braid.
“That one?” she asked, not keeping the surprise out of her voice. “But you’re all into wood and handcrafted.”
“I know, but this one is interesting. I like that there aren’t fifty like it in the store.”
“I think it’s great. The glass top keeps the look open, and it’s easy to clean. They have chairs over there. We could go find something fun to go with the table.”
They carried several chair options back to the table. Garrick considered plain wooden chairs painted black, several chrome and suede styles.
“None of these are right,” he said. “The table needs something more.”
Wynn eyed the chair selection before pointing to a set of lacquered red chairs with black-plaid seats. They were contemporary, unexpected and, when she sat on one, surprisingly comfortable.
“I know they’re not traditional,” she said.
“Let’s try them.”
He carried two over to the table and slid them into place.
The proportions were perfect, she thought. The red was a pop of color, while the black base grounded the look.
“I’m sure we could find white plates with a bit of red and black in the border,” she said, walking around the table. “A pattern would be too heavy with the plaid cushions.”
She looked at him and smiled. “There’s a whole Christmas plaid thing. Tablecloths and napkins, with green instead of black in the pattern. That would be beautiful for the holidays.” She paused. “If you like the chairs.”
“I do. I have no idea why, but I like them a lot.”
He used his phone to take a picture of the sales tag for the table and one of the chairs, then he suggested they look at outdoor furniture.
“I don’t have much by the pool,” he said. “I thought Joylyn might enjoy being outside in the afternoons. Right now the weather is perfect.”
“Good idea. You have a lot of patio area. You could get two or three loungers and still have room for a table and chairs.”
They made their selections quickly. Garrick went looking for a salesperson to write it all up. Delivery was arranged for the 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.”