“But please don’t remind him of that,” Nyx said. “He generally is anyway, which he never lets me forget. Shocked he doesn’t have a scorecard hidden somewhere.”
“Who says he doesn’t?”
“True. Somehow, he still finds ways to surprise me, and I’ve known him more than half my life.”
“Something else I’ll discover in time.”
“Just picture the shenanigans,” Nyx said.
“I am, and I can’t wait,” I replied as I finally found a booth with a variety of board shorts and basketball shorts that would do just fine for now, because four pairs in, I realized that our wagon was beginning to run out of space.
The colors and patterns made it hard to stop though, so I grabbed two more before calling it good. With the three he’d found, we were reaching peak wagon capacity.
“We might have to pick up a few cloth sacks while we’re here,” Nyx said. “I don’t think either of us is done shopping yet.”
Giggling I eyed the wagon, trying to play mental Tetris to see if there was any way we could get anything more in there.
“We may be able to get one more bag of fruit in there,” Nyx said, rubbing his chin. “As long as it’s something like plums and not a sack full of melons.”
“Why are you eyeing me like you are expecting me to upset the applecart?” I asked. “Or in this case, the shopping wagon.”
“Because you haven’t found a fruit stand yet that you’ve been willing to walk past without grabbing something.”
“Because fruit is delicious.”
“Lani will be happy to hear you say that because he loves it too,” Nyx said. “I’ll take both of your words on it and happily enjoy my fruit when Lani presents me with it surrounded by pastry and cream.”
As if to prove his theory about me and fruit stands, the universe decided to put one right in our path as we rounded the corner, and right there on top were star fruits and tangerines. They had honeydew too, and as I reached to smell a melon, I caught him shaking his head at me.
“I’m about to upset the shopping wagon,” I told him.
“I’ll get the bags,” he said, chuckling while I picked out a variety of fruit. “It won’t be the first time. We have a bag of bags on the back of the laundry room door. Not that they are doing us any good there. I just keep forgetting to put some in the jeep.”
“I’d say put a message on your dry erase board to remind you, but I noticed you don’t have one.”
“Another of those things we’ve been meaning to get but keep forgetting.”
“Didn’t we just pass a stall with kitchen supplies and decorations?” I asked as I finished bagging five pepino fruits, which were mini melons that tasted delicious, especially cold.
“I think so.”
“Then let’s go back and get it,” I suggested.
Reversing was hard, especially with a cart and bags, but we managed it without bumping anyone and found the booth, with several dry erase boards to choose from. As soon as I spotted one with sand dollars and sea stars making up the border, I knew it would go perfectly with their beach décor.
“Better grab an extra pack of pens while we’re here,” Nyx said. “And potholders, Lani is always running out of them. I swear he loses more of them than I do socks, not that I’m a fan of them.”
“How do you lose potholders?” I asked. “By the very definition of what they are used for, they aren’t supposed to leave the kitchen.”
The light in the aisle was dim, but not so much so that I missed the blush slowly creeping across his nose.
“He doesn’t lose the potholders, does he?” I asked, eying him up and down. “You do.”
“Okay, okay, you got me,” he said, sighing and running a hand through his hair. “I don’t even know how it happens. I just turn my back on them for a moment, and poof.”
“Are you trying to imply that they just got up and walked away?”
“No, that would be completely absurd,” Nyx replied, face splitting into a grin that morphed into laughter. “Oh man, now all I can picture is a potholder growing two little legs to match its hook and scurrying off on them.”
