“Have fun,” Cane calls as I follow Kari out of the pool area.
“See you soon.”
Jada
“I don’t need more swimsuits,” I exclaim as Kari thrusts an orange bikini and a yellow one-piece with the sides cut out into my arms. I try to balance them on top of the sundresses she’s burdened me with. “Seriously, Kari. I’m not buying these.”
“Oh, you are. Try them on first, though.”
“Why? I don’t need any of this.”
“Because,” she says, adding a white sundress to the stack. “Cane instructed me to make sure you spent his money. He knows how I like to shop, so I’m taking it as he wants you to make a dent in his credit card. And I,” she says, tossing on a dark purple tank top, “am not one to disappoint.”
“Since when?”
“Since now.” She shoves me into the dressing room. “Pick a door. Any door.” She stretches her hands out to the side, and I do as instructed.
I try on everything. Kari, of course, loves it all. Before I know what’s happening, I’m watching her deposit the entire load onto the counter beside the cash register.
“This is ridiculous,” I say, forking over Cane’s credit card. The lady hands it back to me after swiping it, and Kari picks up my bags.
“No, it’s sweet.” She flounces out of the store, and I follow, still not sure how I got talked into this.
“You didn’t even get anything.”
“Yeah. That purple tank top is mine. If it fits you, it’ll fit me.”
We enter the parking lot, find our rental car, and climb inside.
“Why does shopping exhaust me so much?” I ask, reclining back in the passenger seat. “I seriously feel like I’ve just ran a marathon.”
Kari laughs and starts the car. “Because you’re lame?”
“Funny.” I watch the city fly by as we make our way back to the hotel. “Want to tell me why we really just spent a few thousand of Cane’s hard-earned dollars on things I don’t need?’
“Because you need them?”
“Seriously, Kari. I’m not stupid.”
“Because he wants to make you happy?”
I roll my eyes. “He knows this stuff doesn’t make me happy. Try again.”
“Because he doesn’t work very hard for his money?”
“Not true.”
“Because you look amazing in that stuff andthat’llmake him happy?”
She bites her lip, and I can tell by the way she keeps gripping the wheel that something’s bothering her.
“I’ll take the last one just so we can switch topics.”
“To what?”
“To … what’s wrong with you?”
She releases a quick breath and glances at me out of the corner of her eye. She didn’t expect me to catch on, but I know her better than anyone. Something is definitely on her mind.
