Tides and Tidings

Chapter 44

Charlie

S hit . That wasn’t supposed to come out. I just admitted that I remembered something about last night when I told Blythe I hadn’t. This hangover was ruining my mental faculties.

“I only remember coming back to the hotel.” I tried to smooth over my admission.

“Nothing else?” Blythe sniffed out my lie like a bloodhound. Which was odd because she said she didn’t remember anything. Was she lying?

“Not really.” I kept my eyes locked on the road ahead. If I looked at her, I would immediately admit to everything. How last night was the night that I was supposed to ask her to marry me but it was obliterated? How I remember asking her to marry me with a fucking piece of paper? How I was gut-wrenchingly terrified that I would lose her to someone better? No matter how many times she insisted she could never find someone that better suited her than me, my anxiety and overthinking would never allow me to know peace.

I think Blythe bought it because she had no more probing questions. Five minutes later, we pulled up in front of the toy store.

Blythe turned towards me, “Do you think he was serious about us not having to pay him?”

I nodded. “I confirmed with him when you were walking around.”

“It just doesn’t feel right. You have the Christmas card with the cash, right?”

“Yes, ma’am.” I tapped my jacket pocket. “Right here.”

“Just leave it on the counter. Sneakily. Don’t let him see you do it.” Blythe wiped her hands on her jeans.

I grabbed her by the shoulders, forcing her to look at me. Her green eyes were massive. “Why are you being so weird about this?”

Her face scrunched and her eyes fell, “I feel like I’m stealing!”

I pushed up her chin with my pointer finger. “Bee, look at me.” Her eyes met mine. “We’re leaving him money for it. We did our research and know how much these are worth. He’s being compensated appropriately.”

Blythe pursed her lips, mulling over my words. “Fine. You’re right.”

“Oh—again, please.” I cupped my hand over my ear.

She playfully shoved my shoulder. “Shut up.”

I turned off the engine and double-checked that I had the envelope in my pocket. Blythe had come up with an elaborate plan after we left the toy store yesterday for how we were going to give Dickie, the owner, the money for the car, but it was going to be a lot easier just to leave it on the counter when he wasn’t looking.

We walked through the door and the bell chimed, alerting Dickie we were there.

“I’ll be right there!” He called from the backroom.

Blythe raised her eyebrows and nodded towards the checkout. “Put the card under that magazine.”

“What if he doesn’t see it and throws it away?” I countered.

“I hadn’t quite thought about that. I’ll distract him while you put the card on the magazine before we leave.”

“Done deal.”

Dickie came walking out of the back with a big purple bow in his hands. “Good morning! How are you both doing?” He looked at us, “Oh, you both look like you had too much fun last night.”

I wanted to be like this guy when I got old. The ability to say whatever you feel at any time seemed liberating.

“It was a great time. We’re just not used to going out that late. With our kiddo at home, a wild night usually consists of take-out, a bottle of wine, and attempting to watch a movie.” I answered honestly.

“As long as you had a good time, that’s all that matters.”

“We did…from what we can remember,” Blythe added.

“I’m glad to hear it.” Dickie looked around the store and pointed to the Barbie Jeep. “I brought out a bow for y’all to put on it when you get home.”

He extended the bow in his hand, and Blythe grabbed it. She didn’t have the best childhood, so I knew that being able to get the same toy for Wren that she had when she was a kid was a form of healing.

“Do y’all need any help loading that into your truck?”

Blythe and I shook our heads.

“We’re a well-oiled machine, sir.” Blythe smiled warmly at him.

Even if we needed help, we would not have asked this elderly man to help us hoist this massive thing into the truck.

“We can roll it right out. It’ll fit through the door.”

Blythe held the door open and I quickly pushed the pink car through the door. I opened the tailgate and lifted the rear end of the Jeep—it wasn’t too heavy. I could easily lift this myself. In one fell swoop, I lifted the toy into the truck and ratcheted it down so it wouldn’t move on our drive home.

“You’ve got a strong man there,” Dickie commented.

Blythe’s eyes flashed from him over to me, “I sure do.”

“Y’all on your way home now?”

“Yes, sir,” I replied. The sun was bright, making my hangover that much worse.

“Well, you be safe. Thank you for giving that thing a good home. I hope your little lady loves it.”

Blythe and I glanced at each other, wondering, “How are we going to get him the envelope?” I racked my brain for a reason to go back inside. This man had been so kind to us, and we needed to be sure he got the money.

“Dickie, one more thing before we go,” Blythe piped up. “I saw a doll inside that I had some questions about. Would you mind helping me?”

His eyes lit up, “Of course!”

My best guess was Dickie didn’t have many people to talk to and was craving the human connection. Shoutout to Blythe for thinking so quickly and figuring out how to get us back in the store.

We went back in and Blythe and Dickie went off to one side of the store while I stealthily dropped the card off on the counter.

“Thank you so much for helping me! I would love to bring Wren back here and have her look around.” Blythe’s voice was purposefully loud, letting me know they were heading back to where I was standing. I shifted my gaze to the puzzles to make it look less suspicious as they walked back over.

“Bring her in the next time you’re down. I’d love to know what she thinks of the Jeep.”

I smiled at him, “We absolutely will.” I turned towards Blythe, “We should plan a trip during the spring. Wren would love to go back to the zoo.”

There was a glimmer of excitement in her eye.

We started for the door, “Thank you again, sir. You have just made a six-year-old very happy.”

Dickie turned towards me, a smile plastered on his face. “It was my pleasure. I know it’s going to a great home.”

We got in the truck and waved before pulling away. As soon as our butts hit the seat, we immediately put our sunglasses on.

“Were you able to leave the card?” Blythe turned towards me in her seat.

“Yep. I left it on the counter. Tucked it between two pieces of mail with it sticking out a bit.”

“Good.” Blythe paused, “By the way, you are talking way too loudly. My head is throbbing.”

I laughed, “It’s because I can’t hear. The damn music was deafening and now my ears are ringing.”

“We’re old, aren’t we?” Her head rested in her left hand, which was propped up against the center console.

“I don’t think so. We just didn’t make great decisions.”

We pulled into the coffee shop parking lot and Blythe’s hand hovered over the door handle. “For what it’s worth, I had a great time last time.”

“Even though we can’t remember it?” I tried to reinforce that thought.

She nodded, the bun on the top of her head bounced. “Even though we can’t remember most of it.”