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“I’m sure it will be fine.” I step up and wrap my arms around him for another hug. “Love you, Daddy.”
“Love you too, duchess. Autumn, it was good to see you.”
“You too, Mr. M.”
With a nod, he turns and walks away. I stand there in the middle of the busy mall and watch until I see him exit the building. Luckily, we’re close to the doors, or I would have been forced to stalk my own father. Don’t judge. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
I turn to face my soon-to-be-ex best friend. “Really, Autumn?”
“I’m sorry,” she says. “I panicked. I’m not a good liar. You know that.”
“You could have lied by omission.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” She places her arm around my shoulders. “I’ll buy you some lunch to make up for it. Please don’t be mad.”
I sigh. “I’m not mad. I should have told them. I was just waiting to talk to Mom first. Holden and I just discussed Christmas with our families this morning.”
“He’s all in, isn’t he?”
“He says he is.”
“And you don’t believe him?”
“No, I do. It’s just… not at all what I expected from him.”
“I’m happy for you.”
“Thank you.” I bite down on my cheek to fight my grin. Sure, this isn’t how I wanted my dad to find out about Holden, but Autumn’s right. He’s all in, and as his girlfriend, I’ve chosen to believe him, and the possibilities of what the future might hold have me giddy.
“Come on, let's grab some lunch at the food court, and then spend some of your man’s money.”
“I’m not with him for his money.” It’s important to me that she knows that and that Holden knows it as well. He could be working at one of these stores here at the mall, and I’ll still feel the same way about him. I’d still be falling for him.
“I know that. You’re Easton Monroe’s daughter. Hell, you don’t even have to work if you didn’t want to.” She gives my shoulders a tight squeeze. “Now, come on and let me feed you.”
“Okay, so we have a comforter set, sheets, towels, dishes, and cookware. You think that’s enough to get him started?” I ask Autumn as we take our second load to my car.
“He said he needed everything.”
“Yeah, but surely he wants to pick some of that out himself.”
“He’s a man.”
“Men choose things for their homes.”
“Not if they don’t have to.” She laughs. “I say we head to Walmart to get groceries, and we can pick up things like mixing bowls, cookie sheets, pizza pans, and pizza cutters. He’s a man living alone. We have to keep it simple.”
“Maybe we should pick up some paper plates.” I laugh. “I don’t know this side of him,” I confess.
“That’s why you’re dating. You’re going to get to know all sides of him.”
“Yeah, but shouldn’t we have done that before we added an actual title to this?”
“No. You do you, Parker. Who cares if you don’t know if he likes to use paper plates? He’s used them at our place without a problem.”
“This is weird, right? Me buying stuff for his home?”
“Sounds like he let you do the same thing last night.”
“He did, but he was with me.”
“Maybe he saw that you have good taste, and he knows you’re not going to do him wrong. I mean, unless we go back and get the dishes with the sunflowers. That’s very manly.” She laughs.
“No. I can’t do that to him.” I shake my head, fighting my own laughter.
“Okay, let’s go to Walmart and get the groceries. My poor car is packed as it is. We don’t have much room for more anyway.”
“Let’s do it.” We climb in my car and drive the short distance to Walmart. “One cart should be enough, right?” I ask Autumn.
“I say we get two. One for food and one for everything else.”
“Probably a good idea. It’s hard to tell what you’ll talk me into getting.”
“I’ve got your back.” She smiles and winks dramatically.
“Come on, goofball.”
Once inside, we both grab a cart and head to the home goods side of the store to start. I keep running through my head of things he’s going to need to be comfortable until all his belongings are delivered. I’m not going to go crazy. I just want to get what he needs to get him by.
“What about a rug for the shower?” Autumn asks.
“Yes. He’s going to need that. Let’s see if we can find a dark gray one.” She holds one up, and I nod. “Toss it in the cart.”
“He’s a man. He’s going to need one of these,” she says, holding up a plunger.
I toss my head back in laughter. “Every house needs a plunger. Add it to the cart,” I tell her.
“Oh, what about rugs for the front door?”
“Yeah, he’s going to need those too.” We turn back two aisles over and grab a couple of doormats. One for the mudroom, the front door, and the sliding door in the kitchen. That’s enough for now. He can get more as he needs them.
