Chapter 26
Twenty-Six
Julie
“Are you sure that’s the one you want?” I asked, looking at Daisy as her eyes watered.
She nodded, trying not to let her emotions show as we stared at the box she was holding, which held a baby doll with dark brown hair and freckles lightly splattered across her nose. It was the last one they had, and someone had torn open the box and stolen the accessories that went with it.
“I’ll go up to the front and see if they can check in the back,” Patrick offered, smiling at Daisy.
“Thank you. I appreciate it,” I said, sighing when I looked at the shopping cart that was nearly overflowing with toys Daisy had already picked out.
The goal was to make a list of what she really wanted, and then we would put the items back so she could be surprised on Christmas Day.
Or at least, that was my plan. Apparently, Gage and my brother had plans of their own and were going to buy it all when I took Daisy back to the truck in a bit so we could head to another store.
Thankfully, Patrick had a cover over the bed of his truck so he could stash everything without her seeing.
“I can’t tell which dolls they are, but I can see some boxes up there,” Gage said, nodding to the very top of the shelf. “If I pick you up, can you check them?”
“You want to pick me up?”
“Yeah. If I try to climb the shelf, I’ll pull the entire thing down. If I pick you up, you can quickly check whether any of them is the one we’re looking for. It will be quick and easy.”
I glanced at Daisy, hating the hopeful look on her little face.
“Okay. Yeah. Let’s check it out,” I said, smiling at her before turning to Gage.
“Turn around, and I will pick you up from behind.”
I did as he asked and tried to ignore the heat that flushed through my body once his hands touched it.
He was incredibly strong as he hoisted me in the air, lifting me high enough to see the top of the shelf.
I quickly reached forward and started going through the boxes, setting them aside in a new pile as I started to lose hope.
“Can you move to the right?” I asked, looking down to make sure Daisy was okay. She smiled up at me, seeming delighted that we were doing this for her.
Gage moved a few steps to the right, and I began sorting through those boxes. There was far more to go through in this stack than there had been in the other. I had almost given up hope when I picked up the last box and squealed.
“Oh my God! I found it!” I exclaimed, a wide grin taking over my face as Gage lowered me back to the floor.
I spun around to show Daisy, and my heart dropped when I realized she wasn’t there. Sitting on the floor where she had stood was the box she had been holding with the doll inside.
Gage’s smile immediately vanished as he looked around and couldn’t find her either.
“Daisy!” I screamed, dropping the box as I took off running frantically.