Page 79 of Tito

Reggie

Ipulled the drapes to the side and stared at the silver late-model Chevrolet sedan that came to a rest in the driveway. It looked like Tito was sitting inside, but I couldn’t be sure with the sun’s reflection gleaming off the windshield.

As I studied the silhouette, the door opened. Dressed in his normal attire of a white tee shirt, cuffed jeans, and a pair of boots, Tito stepped outside the car and opened the back door. Surprisingly, he removed a large wrapped gift from the rear seat. Tied around the center of the shiny white package was a big lavender-colored bow.

I ran to the front door and snatched it open. “My only earthly concern was finding out the contents of the box. Mentioning it, however, would make me seem materialistic, which I wasn’t.

I was simply curious.

“Why are you driving that car?” I asked.

He jostled the package back and forth as he stepped onto the porch. “I couldn’t carry this on the bike.”

“Oh,” I said, feigning surprise. “I didn’t even notice.”

He lowered the package and gave me a look. “Really?”

“Well, maybe I did.” I moved to the side. “What is it?”

“It’s a surprise.” He edged his way past me. “For you.”

“For me?”

“Well.” He leaned the gift against his only remaining option, the love seat. “It’s not for me.”

Curiosity ate away at me like a cancer. “What’s it for?”

“It’s just a gift,” he replied. “For you.”

I kissed him. “Can I open it?”

“That was the plan,” he said. “I bring it over, and you open it.”

Getting a gift for no reason was better than almost anything. I fought not to act like a giddy eight-year-old at her birthday party.

I glanced at the large flat package. “Now?”

He seemed to be nearly as excited as I was. Grinning from ear to ear, he tried to play it off as if it was no big deal. He shrugged. “It’s as good of a time as any, I suppose.”

I started to reach for it, and then paused. “I feel crappy.”

“Crappy?” His brows knitted together. “Why?”

“Because I don’t have anything for you.”

“It’s not a gift exchange,” he said with a laugh. “I just got you a little something.”

“Just because?”

He smiled. “Just because.”

I removed the bow, set it aside, and carefully unwrapped the gift. As I suspected, it was a picture frame. Upon seeing what the frame contained, my heart faltered.

A dark-blue sphere filled with constellations and the names of the stars. Beneath it, the latitude and longitude of the location and the time of day.

The Stars Above the Buckle

June 6, 2019 2:07 p.m.