“There’s a gift receipt taped to the box,” Ethan explains. “You can return it for credit, or if you want a different color?—”
“Oh, I love the color,” Melissa enthuses. “Look, Luke, it’s the empire red one.”
“Very nice,” Luke says.
“Close your mouth, Sophie,” Austin teases, as Sophie examines some sort of whisk attachment. “I doubt Melissa wants you drooling on it.”
“I don’t think you understand, Austin,” Melissa says. “This isthemixer.”
Austin meets my eye, and I can tell he doesn’t get it either.
“I didn’t know you wanted a mixer,” Luke says. It’s clear he wishes his girlfriend didn’t like Ethan’s gift quite so much. “I’m going to start the barbecue.”
Luke grills burgers and chicken, and the afternoon passes in an easy blur. Ethan seems to relax, and we avoid the subject of his recent absence from work.
I don’t get a chance to talk to Ally alone until we’re on our way home.
“Look, Drew,” she says nervously, as soon as we’re back in the car. “I should explain about the kiss. It was just?—”
“I understood,” I say quickly. “It was a nice thing to do.”
“You didn’t mind?”
“No, it was fine.” So fine that I don’t want to think about it anymore. “Do you really want one of those KitchenAid mixers?”
“Sure,” Ally says. “But only when I have a big enough kitchen, because they take up a lot of counter space.”
“Uh huh. What color?”
“Pistachio green, probably.”
“Hmm.”
I feel Ally’s eyes on my face. “Drew!” she exclaims. “You can’t—you can’t buy me a KitchenAid mixer!”
“Why not?”
“They cost, like, four hundred bucks. Maybe more, depending on the model.”
“Uh huh,” I say, trying not to show my surprise. I’d have guessed about half that much. It’s over the top for ahousewarming gift, but I guess Ethan’s trying to apologize to Luke for everything that happened last fall.
“It’s probably a good investment,” I muse.
It’s not like I can’t afford it. After my mother died, my dad gave my sister and me each a quarter of the life insurance payout. So I graduated med school without debt, and I make a very good income now. It’s way more than I need, since I don’t have expensive hobbies and I’m not into buying stuff.
But now I really want to buy this mixer.
“Drew, you can’t buy me a four hundred dollar mixer!” Ally sputters. “It’s not like we’re actually in a relationship. And even if we were, it would be way too soon for something that expensive.”
I don’t reply right away, because I’m feeling too frustrated. I get that I can’t take her to bed, or even kiss her properly, but I should be able to buy her a mixer.
“And when I move out of your place, I won’t have the space for it,” Ally says.
Right. She’ll be moving out in August. “Maybe I want a mixer for myself. Ethan’s mother said it changed her life.”
Ally rolls her eyes. “Are you planning to take up cooking?”
“I might.”
