“Let’s go to the sit-down place, TheRainbow, it’s supposed to be cozy.”He turned onto the street without waiting for her opinion.He did that a lot.While she was grateful for the clothing, sort of, she hated being indebted to him.
“I’d like a sub.”
He stopped at a red light and gave her a squinting look.“Really?”
“Yeah.Just food and home.”
“No.Food and hotel.It’s nearly seven.I don’t want to drive half the night.I didn’t get much sleep last night.I’m bushed.”
“Aren’t you worried about business?”she snarked, despite understanding his reluctance to travel at night and the logic of resting first.She’d probably be well-served by sleeping in a proper bed.
“Of course.But I gotourphonesback from Brent, I’ve been checking in, and I can make more calls from the hotel.”He passed over her phone.
She rolled her eyes and said nothing.She couldn’t really afford a hotel room, but she was too tired to put up a fight.“I’m good with whatever you choose.”She’d prefer fast food and going home, but apparently, she had no choice.Restaurant and bed, it was.
“One room?”She asked ninety minutes later.
“It’s what they had.There’s a hockey tourney in town.Relax, Wanda.You’ve been a bear all night.”He pushed open the door and bowed low, waving her inside.
She didn’t dignify his comment with an answer.She was being grumpy, and she knew it.But she was hurting, and the way he just up and bought everything annoyed her.The crutches helped her walk but were cumbersome and hurt her hands.
Plus, she’d learned he hadn’t rented the SUV; he’d bought it!Who does that?No wonder he’d been gone so long.She’d been waiting twenty minutes after being cast.He’d been gone nearly two hours.
She walked into the hotel room, or rather, the suite.A sitting area with a loveseat and chair.A small kitchen, three doors leading off the main room.Two bedrooms and a bathroom.“Wow.I guess I can live with this.”
“It’ll do.”
Too tired and grumpy to decide if he was joking or not, she headed straight for the bathroom to clean up.The doctor had told her she couldn’t shower until tomorrow, which sucked.After a week on the river and hours in the ER, a nice, long soak would be wonderful.However, she could have a sink-bath.As she closed the door, he said, “I’ll just pop out to the car and grab our bags.”
Before she finished cleaning up, he knocked lightly on the bathroom door.“I’ve brought you some clean clothes and a clean toothbrush.I’ll leave it outside the door while I go into my room and catch a shower.”
“Thanks.”She wanted to be pleased by his thoughtfulness; okay, she was, but it made her distinctly uncomfortable that he kept shopping for her.He’d probably brought this stuff when he grabbed the stuff he’d given her at the hospital.
After he walked away, she opened the door and pulled the bag inside.Toothbrush and paste, moisturizer, deodorant, hand lotion, undergarments, more clean clothing, and holy hamburgers, fuzzy pajamas, and bunny slippers.The man was amazing.She smiled and got dressed in the sleepwear.
Hobbling with one crutch, she left the washroom, taking the clothing with her into the main room.One bedroom door was shut, so she headed for the other and dropped the bundle onto the chair.It was almost bedtime, but she needed her medication first.
Back in the living room, there was a pile of big-box store bags on the coffee table.But no sign of a drugstore bag.Maybe it was inside the others.She grabbed the first and opened it.Potato chips, a mango, four apples, two oranges, a paring knife, and some chocolate bars.How long did he think they were staying?
The next bag had cheezie puffs, mini-muffins, black and red licorice, hot cocoa packets, and small bottles of juice.Apparently, a famine was coming.She shook her head in bemusement.What wasn’t there was her pain medication.
“Help yourself to anything you want,” he said.
She jerked in surprise.“Sorry for snooping.I was looking for my meds.You did grab them, right?”
“I did.”He smiled.“Help yourself to a snack.The pills are in my jacket, I’ll grab them.”
She watched him rummage in his jacket.He was freshly showered and wearing a set of navy pajamas.She snickered.He didn’t strike her as the pajama type.Suddenly, her overtired mind flashed a mental image of him in those pajama pants, sans top.Oh, boy!
To distract herself, she turned on the television and, after much flipping, found a documentary to watch.She opened a juice and took the pills from him as he joined her on the sofa.
“I know you said road trip food needs to look like a kid was given a hundred dollars to spend on whatever he wanted, but I had to grab something with a bit of nutrition.”
“We’ll never eat all this,” she argued.
“Probably not, I’ll just take it home.”
“Makes sense.”Suddenly, she realized her light blue pajamas were covered in tiny kittens, and his in tiny kitten paw prints.Good heavens, they matched.She started laughing.
