She heard the amusement in Scott’s voice when he said, “Or that. What should I get?”
She pointed to the screen. “No one’s bought this fancy baby monitor set yet. That’s about what you usually spend for this sort of thing.”
“And no one would know that better than you,” he murmured with a smile. “Okay, so I’ll get the monitor. That was easy enough. What are you getting?”
“I don’t know yet.” She scooted past a giddy young couple who appeared to be choosing items for their own registry, so absorbed in the colorful displays that they didn’t realize they were blocking an aisle. Tess couldn’t really be annoyed with them; they looked so excited and eager, and they apologized sheepishly when they realized they were in her way.
She moved down an aisle, idly touching one cute little item after another, looking for something that spoke to her of Heather. Heather and her husband had chosen a nautical theme in navy, red and taupe. According to the registry, the bedding items had all been purchased, but the coordinating laundry hamper and changing table cover were still available. She chewed her lower lip as she debated between the two.
“Not exactly an exciting choice, is it?” Scott asked as he eyed the options. “A laundry hamper?”
“They’re things Heather wants. That’s all that matters. I’ll get the hamper. But I’m going to get a nice little outfit to go with it,” she added with a decisive nod. “Something not on the list for a surprise.”
“Excuse me?”
In response to the voice, Tess glanced around to find an older, silver-haired woman eying Scott with an oddly assessing expression.
Scott smiled at the woman. “Yes, ma’am?” he asked, instinctively displaying the manners his Southern mother had drilled into him.
“Do you mind if I ask how tall you are?”
With a quick, amused glance toward Tess, Scott replied politely to the diminutive senior citizen. “I’m six-one. Do you need help reaching something?”
“No. I need you to stand right here by these strollers and tell me which one would be more comfortable for you to push. My grandson is about your height, and his wife’s expecting. I’m here to buy them a stroller, but I want to make sure the handle is high enough for my grandson to push comfortably.”
“I think most of them are adjustable,” he explained, reminding Tess of his familiarity with his young nieces and nephew. “There’s usually a button to push to raise or lower the handle.”
The woman still wanted him to pose with a couple of strollers, just so she could “get a mental picture” of her grandson with her ultimate choice. Obliging, Scott took down the display models the woman indicated, then stood behind each one. His mouth quirked into a wry smile, he waited patiently while she studied him from all angles. She narrowed her choices down to two, had him stand behind each for another look, then pointed. “I think I like that one best.”
“That’s the one I’d have picked, too,” Scott assured her as he hoisted the display model back onto its shelf. Having enjoyed the entire encounter from close by, Tess couldn’t help but admire his gracefully strong movements.
“Really?” His new friend beamed in pleasure. “Is that the same stroller you two are buying for your little one?”
Tess’s smile faded. “We’re shopping for a friend’s baby shower,” she blurted.
“Oh. Well, I’m sure you’ll choose something nice. Thank you, young man,” she said over her shoulder as she bustled toward the customer service desk. “I appreciate your help.”
“You’re very welcome,” Scott called after her before turning back to Tess. “Well, that was interesting.”
Ready to get out of this baby-obsessed place, Tess grabbed the hamper, then marched over to the clothing section with Scott behind her. Flipping through the outfits, she selected a three-piece set consisting of a red snap-bottom shirt, navy pull-on knit pants and a navy-and-white-striped hoodie with an embroidered sailboat. It was cute and looked comfortable, and it worked well with the nautical theme. “This will do. I’m ready to check out now.”
They paid at separate registers for their purchases, then headed for the door almost at the same time. Still, she was a good three steps ahead of Scott when they reached their cars, which were parked side by side in the lot.
“Were we racing?” he asked ironically when he caught up. “If so, you win.”
“Sorry,” she muttered. A night breeze blew steadily against her face, but didn’t seem to cool her overly warm cheeks. She couldn’t have explained why she felt so uncharacteristically awkward and foolish all of a sudden. She hated this feeling of being not quite in control.
He took a step closer to her. The parking lot was well lit with tall security lamps decorated with holiday wreaths, but his eyes were shadowed from the light behind him. She couldn’t quite read his expression. Still, she could see he wasn’t smiling now.
He touched her arm. Even through the fabric of her coat and clothing she was intensely aware of that point of contact between them. She hoped he attributed her shiver to the weather.
“Tess, you’ve been tense and jumpy ever since I came back to the office. I’m guessing you’re trying to figure out how to tell me you aren’t interested in the suggestion I made the other night. I don’t know if you’re afraid of hurting my feelings or worried that I’ll be upset with you or what, but really, you can relax. I promised I wouldn’t let your answer affect our working relationship—or our friendship—and I’m standing by that promise.”
A brisk gust of cold wind whipped a strand of hair out of her loose updo and into her eyes. She reached up to push it back. Were they truly going to have this conversation in a parking lot?
“We can get past this, right?” he asked quietly, the question barely audible over the drone of passing cars and the voices of shoppers milling in the lot around them. “We’ll be okay
?”