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I thought for a moment. She’d asked me many times prior to my arriving and now again. “Never know. I will not say no. I am, however, going to tell you I have another date with Peggy on Sunday. We will see how this one goes.”
“Wow, another one already? Are you thinking this might be something serious?” Melinda asked, raising her eyebrows, a smile on her face. “Are you also trying to tell me you’ll only stay if you and Peggy get together?”
“No, that isn’t what I’m saying.”
“All right then. Just wanted to make sure.”
“Anyway, yes, we have another one already. I can certainly see that there may be potential for more. She is a wonderful lady. Anyway, we are spending the day together, heading down to Cedar Landing to a used car lot. I need to find myself something to drive.”
“I told you it’s not a problem to borrow my car.”
“I know, and I appreciate that, but I’ll need a car eventually.”
Melinda thought for a moment. “True. Well then, if you have a date on Sunday, then perhaps we should go shopping before that.”
“What for?”
“Clothes.”
“Perhaps.” The thought of shopping for clothes made me a little queasy.
“Perhaps?” Melinda asked. “You are kidding, right? I’ve already gone through your entire closet. You need something. New things.”
I let out a sigh as I took the cup that she’d placed in front of me and took a sip. “If I must.”
“You must. I won’t take no for an answer.” She placed her mug on the table and looked up at the clock. “What are you doing today?”
“Today?”
“Yes, Dad, today. I’m off, so maybe we should just get it over with. Gives you less time to think about going. Less time to back out of going. Besides, even these T-shirts you have are a little tight.” She pulled at the fabric of my T-shirt.
I looked down at myself. I saw nothing wrong with what I had on. I looked at Melinda. The look on her face was the same one her mother used to have when she had already decided what it was I was going to spend my day doing. I blew out a breath, knowing there was nothing I was going to say to change her mind. “All right, if you insist. But I’m finishing my coffee first.”
“Deal,” she said, clapping her hands together.
* * *
I stood in the center of a men’s clothing store just on the outskirts of Willow Valley as Melinda sifted through a rack of shirts. Apparently, I wasn’t any good at dressing myself, or so she said after the last few things I’d picked out. So, I’d agreed to her choosing the clothing, and I’d try it on. So far, to my surprise, everything that she’d picked had been a success.
“All right, these are the last of these. Go try them on as well,” she said, handing me another large lot of shirts and pants.
I’d gotten halfway through the pile when I heard her clear her throat on the other side of the change room door. “Dad,” she whispered.
“Yeah.”
“Promise me you won’t kill me?”
“Why is it I’m worried about what you’re going to ask me?” I chuckled.
Melinda giggled. “Probably because you will. How are you for dating underwear?” she whispered through the door.
I frowned. I came from a generation where underwear was underwear. We didn’t have morning, day, night, and dating kind. “Um, kid, I don’t know what that even is,” I answered.
“Ugh. Figures,” she said, annoyance in her voice. “Get with the times. It’s underwear you’d wear on a date.”
I pulled the door open to show her the next shirt and found her standing in front of me with three packages of underwear in her hand.
“See. Boxers or briefs,” she said, shrugging her shoulders as she looked at each package. “I don’t know which you prefer, but you really need to have a few good pairs of dating underwear,” she said, shoving the three packs at me.
