“What’s up?” she asks when she notices me.
“We’re running to the store, so we’ll be back in a little while.”
Brows furrowed, she slips her glasses off. “Why?” Knowing her, she’s not thinking about the possibility that we’re making birthday plans. She’s worried about what kind of mischief the boys might be up to.
“They, uh, want a new video game or something,” I stammer.
Narrowing her eyes, she says, “Why do I feel like you’re lying?”
Probably because I’m bad at it.
“We’ll be back in a little while.” I turn and dart out the door before she can question me further.
“Caleb!” she calls after me, but I steadfastly ignore her.
At the mall thirty minutes later, I give the boys cash so they can pick out gifts for Halle as well as purchase the video game we’re supposed to be getting.
Naturally, they’re all too pleased by how my little white lie benefits them.
“Meet me back here in an hour. You got me?”
With matching nods, they’re off.
Once I’m alone, I blow out a breath and scan the nearby stores. Halle isn’t very materialistic, but that has more to do with her upbringing than her natural desires. Even so, I don’t have the first clue about what she’d like. Since I don’t know where to begin, I figure I’ll browse for a bit, hoping I’ll find inspiration.
In a stationery store, I pick up a pack of pastel notepads decorated with cute animals and a set of pens. Surely she’ll like these, since she’s always scribbling down notes in my office. They’re way more fun than my plain notebook paper or Post-its.
Next, I pop into the bookstore across the way. At our last dance lesson, she mentioned wanting to get back into reading and talked about how, when she was younger, borrowing books from the library was one of her favorite things to do.
I browse the aisles, not sure what genre might pique her interest. I settle for two romance novels off a display table and two from the fantasy bestsellers. Then I venture toward the poetry section. Pretty quickly, three catch my eye, so I snag them all and add them to my stack. On my way to the register, I pick up a non-fiction, a mystery, and a thriller to ensure I’ve covered all my bases.
As I’m exiting the store, lugging an overloaded bag of books, I realize I probably should have saved this stop for last.
A few stores down, a pair of overalls with flowers embroidered on the legs catches my eye, so I head inside. I have to guess at her size, but I feel like I’m close enough.
She’s going to accuse me of going overboard, and maybe she’ll be right, but I don’t care.
I’m determined to make up for all the shitty birthdays she’s endured.
I stop off at a few more shops, adding a perfume, two candles, and a decorative container of matches the girl at the store told me was a must to go along with the candles. It’s a good thing I only gave the boys an hour. Given longer, there’s no telling what I might’ve purchased.
When I make it back to the door closest to where we parked, Quinn and Casen are waiting where I told them to be, each with a bag in hand, along with one from the video game store.
“Find what you wanted?” I ask.
“Yeah,” Casen answers, his lips twitching. “Did you?”
I hold up both bag-laden arms. “Found maybe a little too much.”
Quinn snorts. “We can tell.”
As we step outside, I say, “I thought we could stop by the party supply store before we go home. What do you think?”
“Really?” Casen asks. “You’d do that?”
“It’s her birthday.” I shrug. “We should have balloonsand stuff, right?”
Quinn laughs. “She’s going to hate us for making such a big deal of it.”
