Page 9 of Once Upon a Holidate
“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.”
“I agree. When Joylyn was little, we always made a big deal out of Thanksgiving. We would put together those funny paper turkeys and pilgrim paper dolls a few days before. The morning of, I made her blueberry pancakes. Then we’d head over to her mom’s for a big dinner.”
“That sounds nice. You were still in high school when she was born?”
The server appeared. Wynn ordered her salad and a diet soda while Garrick got a burger and iced tea. When they were alone, he looked at her.
“I’m a really great guy.”
She did her best not to smile. “Okay, sure.”
One corner of his mouth turned up. “I only say that to state the obvious before telling you about how Joylyn came to be.”
