There were toys with removable bellies that could be heated up, soft eye masks, fluffy bathrobes and slippers to match. Heated blankets. Face masks and tons of soft socks.
She didn’t reach for anything, so he went through it all, drawing out two pairs of fluffy socks, one with strawberries and one with little pink bows that he thought were pretty cute.
Then he grabbed two of the face masks, as well as one of the toys that had the heating thing inside. It was actually a strawberry with eyes and little black legs dangling out the front.
He thought it was pretty cute.
“Who are you getting these for?” she asked without looking at him. She was busy staring down at her feet.
“Oh, just a cute girl that I just met,” he said teasingly, expecting that she’d get it. But she simply nodded and kept her face lowered. Did she not understand that he was talking about her?
“Addie, look at me.”
She shook her head.
“Addie. Eyes on mine.”
Immediately, her head rose and she stared at him.
“These are for you, silly.”
“For me?” Surprise filled her face.
“Of course they’re for you. Who else would they be for?”
“I don’t know. I thought you said a cute girl you just met. Oh, you really mean me?”
“We need to work on your self-esteem,” he told her. Unfortunately, there wasn’t going to be time for him to help her with that.
He led her back to the desk. On the way there, they walked down an aisle with toys and clothes. She stopped at a few boxes of squishy toys. The ones that you could squeeze when you were stressed. Addie reached out one hand to touch a fake banana. She pulled her hand back before she could touch it, though.
Well, that wouldn’t do.
He picked up a cube. It was actually quite nice to squeeze.
“What do you think of this one?” he asked, handing it to her.
She squeezed it and her face lit up.
Yeah, she liked the cube.
Picking up a hoodie, he studied it. It was pale yellow and there seemed to be something in the cuffs. Oh, were there squishies stitched into the cuffs?
“Look, there are squishies sown into the cuffs of this hoodie.”
“Ooh,” she said, squeezing the cuff.
He thought about buying her the hoodie. But it was probably enough to get the other things.
For the moment.
He could sneak back and get it later.
Cash watched her put the cube reluctantly back.
“Pink or blue?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I don’t need it.”
