Page 70 of Tides and Tidings

Blythe held the door open and I quickly pushed the pink car through the door. I opened the tailgate and lifted the rear end of the Jeep—it wasn’t too heavy. I could easily lift this myself. In one fell swoop, I lifted the toy into the truck and ratcheted it down so it wouldn’t move on our drive home.

“You’ve got a strong man there,” Dickie commented.

Blythe’s eyes flashed from him over to me, “I sure do.”

“Y’all on your way home now?”

“Yes, sir,” I replied. The sun was bright, making my hangover that much worse.

“Well, you be safe. Thank you for giving that thing a good home. I hope your little lady loves it.”

Blythe and I glanced at each other, wondering, “How are we going to get him the envelope?” I racked my brain for a reason to go back inside. This man had been so kind to us, and we needed to be sure he got the money.

“Dickie, one more thing before we go,” Blythe piped up. “I saw a doll inside that I had some questions about. Would you mind helping me?”

His eyes lit up, “Of course!”

My best guess was Dickie didn’t have many people to talk to and was craving the human connection. Shoutout to Blythe for thinking so quickly and figuring out how to get us back in the store.

We went back in and Blythe and Dickie went off to one side of the store while I stealthily dropped the card off on the counter.

“Thank you so much for helping me! I would love to bring Wren back here and have her look around.” Blythe’s voice was purposefully loud, letting me know they were heading back to where I was standing. I shifted my gaze to the puzzles to make it look less suspicious as they walked back over.

“Bring her in the next time you’re down. I’d love to know what she thinks of the Jeep.”

I smiled at him, “We absolutely will.” I turned towards Blythe, “We should plan a trip during the spring. Wren would love to go back to the zoo.”

There was a glimmer of excitement in her eye.

We started for the door, “Thank you again, sir. You have just made a six-year-old very happy.”

Dickie turned towards me, a smile plastered on his face. “It was my pleasure. I know it’s going to a great home.”

We got in the truck and waved before pulling away. As soon as our butts hit the seat, we immediately put our sunglasses on.

“Were you able to leave the card?” Blythe turned towards me in her seat.

“Yep. I left it on the counter. Tucked it between two pieces of mail with it sticking out a bit.”

“Good.” Blythe paused, “By the way, you are talking way too loudly. My head is throbbing.”

I laughed, “It’s because I can’t hear. The damn music was deafening and now my ears are ringing.”

“We’re old, aren’t we?” Her head rested in her left hand, which was propped up against the center console.

“I don’t think so. We just didn’t make great decisions.”

We pulled into the coffee shop parking lot and Blythe’s hand hovered over the door handle. “For what it’s worth, I had a great time last time.”

“Even though we can’t remember it?” I tried to reinforce that thought.

She nodded, the bun on the top of her head bounced. “Even though we can’t remember most of it.”

Blythe

With some caffeine coursing through our bodies, Charlie and I started to feel our hangovers lift. I no longer hated the sun, and Charlie could quietly put some music on. Most of the ride was in silence, allowing me to close my eyes and make this headache disappear.

I reflected on last night—the bits I could remember—and wouldn’t change a thing. Yeah, it would’ve been nice to go to L’Acqua, but if the chef was a douchebag, I’m happy we didn’t support him. Having a juicy burger with cheese and condiments dripping down my hands was exactly what I wanted.