“I don’t have one at home and I should, according to you. Choose one for me.”
Suddenly, she’s a child in a candy store and her eyes swirl around the options. “Long or short? Where will it go?”
“Probably the back deck. Long and strong?”
She throws me a devilish grin. “Is that a question or a fact?” Her eyes bulge out, and she’s back at it with our banter.
“Funny. Maybe the wind will blow toward an answer for that,” I warn her as it sinks in that I have quite a drive ahead with her close to me, and my restraint is dissolving into history.
She enjoys that I give back as much as she throws at me. “Long and strong it is,” she rasps.
I roll my eyes at her humor.
Straightening her back, she studies the chimes and then spots the winning one.
“Here you are. Perfect.”
To me it is a simple wind chime with various extended silver bars hanging and a ball in the middle.
She’s satisfied with her choice, and her eyes return to the one that she was staring at earlier.
“You like that one?”
She hums a sound. “Yeah, I would for sure have a chime if I ever open a school. Also, the chimes using bamboo. There are many options, but this one has a little moon shape in the middle.”
“You should get it,” I insist.
She shakes her head, dismissing the idea. “I don’t want to jinx myself so that everything I want won’t come true one day.”
“Didn’t you say that it can carry luck?”
The corner of her mouth snatches up. “I know but…”
I jump right in. “Then I’ll buy it and keep it at my house until you have your preschool.”
She snickers. “You may be keeping it a while.”
I’m already unhooking the chime, refusing to let her say no. “I’m the driver today, so I’m making the decisions.”
Hailey crosses her arms and taps her foot. “Is that so?”
“Yep.” I turn my back and beeline it to the register where the jolly lady beams brightly and bounces her eyes between me and Hailey.
“Great choices. What a cute couple you are.”
“We’re not a…” We both say in unison, yet neither one of us manages to complete that sentence.
We realize and our eyes droop, but then I paste on a smile for the lady as I hand her my card.
A minute later, with a bag in hand, we find ourselves back at the car and standing in front of it, like two magnets trying to pull ourselves apart to venture back to our seats.
“Thank you,” Hailey mentions shyly.
I hold the key fob up. “You don’t need to thank me.”
Our moment lingers, and I’m not sure what she is thinking. I can’t appraise her for too long as she puffs in a breath and pivots on her foot back to her side of the car.
When we drive off, Hailey is quick to turn the music on, and we both seem occupied with our thoughts.
