Page 79
“Not for Nevada.”
“It needs a part that they don’t make anymore. It’s fine.”
He turns to me and puts his hands on my hips. “I’m begging you. Let me buy you a car.” It would be nice but probably not today.
“Nope. Unless you can find one for a hundred bucks.”
“Yours. Your car is probably blue booked at a hundred dollars. Does this place really have everything?”
“Name something.” We pass by the beauty section on our way to the home section.
“Caviar.” He smacks my butt.
“Asshat.”
I run and jump up onto the cart and it careens down the aisle. Tony runs after me. He cages me and stops the cart.
“Young lady, is that Target behavior?” I turn and get down and kiss him quickly.
“Absolutely.”
“Is this whole place divided by categories? Is there like a map or a key so I can figure them out?” he says as I pick up a pack of makeup wipes. I’m here, might as well pick up a few things.
We round the corner, and he keeps scanning the entire area and mumbling the different sections out loud to himself.
“You know most newer couples would be excited to do something domestic together, I’m finding it to be a chore to be your Sherpa through normal life.”
“Get used to it, baby. This place is fucking amazing.” His eyes won’t stop scanning the horizon. He pushes the cart with one hand and stares at me.
I swallow big and exhale. Time to reveal the last bits of my hidden life. “No more secrets, no more lies, right?”
“If you’d like to have an actual relationship, that’s the deal.” He points at me while continuing to push the cart.
“I’m going to be a doctor with a family medicine practice.” I giggle.
Tony’s eyes bug out of his head. “What the FUCK are you even telling me? You’re wicked pissah smahrt.” He hugs me and spins me around in one of the Target crossroads sections. We could go left to shoes or right to housewares. “Tell me more things like this.”
“I’m waiting to hear about my scholarship money…” I put my finger up to him. “No, you may not buy me med school. I got it. UNLV or Reno is going to cover me. You steer clear. Remember the rule.”
“I hate rules.” He shakes his head and removes his suit jacket. He places it in the seat part of the cart, then says, “Stay here.”
He runs away looking manic, then grabs a man in a red polo shirt and disappears down an aisle. I slowly walk towards the bedding area.
A couple minutes there’s a tinny honking behind me. He pulls into the aisle in a pink Barbie automated convertible. He barely fits on top of it.
“It’s only $80.00 which is more than your car is worth.” I can’t stop laughing as he parks it between dog food displays. He opens the tiny fuchsia trunk and hands me Doc McStuffins doc box.
I clutch it to my chest as he proudly proclaims, “You’ll need this too. I have a boo-boo, you’ll need to kiss better later, Doc.”
I cover his lips with mine in a long, lingering decadent moment.
“The boo-boo is lower.” He waggles his eyebrows and then says, “Nineteen ninety-nine. And apparently if I sign up and get approved for some card, we can knock 5 percent off that, baby. I’m all about the discount.”
He keeps talking, and I’ve never really let myself be proud. I’ve just kept my head down and moved forward to the next school hurdle. I grin and say, “Thank you.”
“Family medicine! You are amazing. You’re incredible. You don’t want a high-powered surgical job or a lucrative plastics position. You want to help families.”
He swings me around like we’re dancing, and I laugh.
