Gunner barks in affirmation, and Caleb grins as he loads the cart up with it along with a couple of dog bowls.
“You’re making me feel like I’m moving in with you,” I tell him jokingly.
“Well then, I guess so.”
“Would you have to ask?”
“I’d be happy to have you move in with me. Very romantic,” he says. “I didn’t plan to ask you in the dog food aisle at the general store in the next town over, but suppose your tastes aren’t romantic. You don’t need the kind of grand gestures I had in mind.”
“Wait,” I say, protesting with a laugh. “I love a grand gesture. Give me a grand gesture.”
Before I know it, he gets down on one knee and pulls something out of his pocket.
My eyes get huge, and then I smack his hand as I realize he’s holding out a piece of lint.
“It’s been bothering me all day,” he says with a laugh.
“You are out of control,” I tell him, scandalized and relieved and overwhelmed in the best way. We’re loud enough that a couple of workers peer around the aisle and grin at us. I have a feeling they’ll be talking about that moment on the security camera for the rest of the week.
“All right, what else do we need? We could pick up food here. Not much, but if you want to get anything, we could get it. Stock up.”
“I figured we’d go down the tool aisle and see if we can grab any things on your list.” He raises his eyebrow in a meaningful way, and I immediately know the list he’s talking about.
The list for the big spell.
Some of the humor goes out of me, deflating like a balloon.
“Right,” I say seriously. “The list.”
I pull it out of my pocket and straighten it as best I can, Hazel’s teeny tiny handwriting marches across the lines like small ants.
“Beeswax candles,” I say. “Lavender oil. Copper nails.” I say the last in a questioning voice, pausing and looking up at Caleb with confusion. “Copper nails?”
“Some people use them for shingles or roofs. They might have them on the hardware aisle.”
“I had no idea.”
“Well, that’s why you’ve got to keep me around,” Caleb says. “Full of information you had no idea about.” He winks at me. “Come on, wifey. They’re over here.”
“Stop calling me that,” I say.
One of the women clad in the general store’s branded apron nods at me as we walk by. “Well, if you don’t want him, I’ll take him off your hands.”
Caleb starts laughing. “Oh, don’t get her started, you have no idea how jealous she can be.” Then he loops an arm around my waist and plants a huge kiss on my cheek, making me blush. “Besides, I’m happy being under her spell.”
I remember Caleb being smooth when we were growing up. But I certainly don’t remember him beingthissmooth.
I don’t really quite know what to do with myself, so I grip the cart with both hands and push it through the aisle as Caleb loads more and more things in.
Gunner keeps looking back and forth between us like he’s at the most interesting tennis match in the world.
“I’ve never been to a general store like this,” I say. Then I tilt my head and think about it.
“I’m not sure I’ve ever been to an actual general store.”
“It’s pretty fancy,” he says. “Stopped in here sometimes when my uncle was alive and grabbed a few things to make nicer dinners with. He was always amused to see what I’d come up with, said he liked it better than his frozen TV dinner Salisbury steak.”
“High praise,” I say.
