“No way, Reed Matthews! You can wipe that look off your face right now. My car is fine and it is paid for!”
“This one will be paid for too.”
“I’m so sorry we wasted your time this afternoon.” She tells the salesman and starts walking to the passenger side of my truck. She lifts Davis to his seat and I give the man a nod. He turns to walk away knowing what I mean.
“You are in so much trouble. Cut off…you are cut off until I get over this little trick of yours.”
I ignore her rant and stop her from buckling the seat belt. “Babe, you’re driving your new ride.”
“I don’t have a new ride; I think we just established that.” Right as she finishes her sentence a brand new Land Rover SUV drives around the corner with the salesman behind the wheel.
I actually laugh as realization hits her that she is leaving with a new car today, which makes her even madder. Her eyes narrow and she shoots me a death glare.
“You didn’t.”
“I tried to give you a choice of colors and options, but you were stubborn. So now I choose.”
“That’s ludicrous!”
I can tell she is about to have a full-blown hissy fit. So I lean over and trap her with my body. “Angel, let me do this. You’re going to be on the road a lot this fall. It’ll make me feel better knowing you are safe. And no joke, your car is a piece of shit.”
Her eyes fill with tears, which confuses me. “It’s not a piece of shit Reed; it’s all I could afford.”
Fucking A’ another reminder. “Baby, that car has served its purpose. Now we can afford a safer, more reliable vehicle.”
“You can afford it, not me. That SUV probably costs more than I make in a year.”
“We’re not getting into this now, but I didn’t stutter. We can afford it. Now, come on, we’ve got paperwork to fill out.”
I get Davis, grab her hand, and follow the salesman into the dealership. It’s totally going to suck if Ari fights me on everything I have planned for her. The car wasn’t even in the equation until yesterday. She seemed pretty serious about cutting me off, so I need to figure out how to make her understand this is her life now.
My phone rings right as Ari signs the last of the papers. I refused to be on the title, which earned me another death glare. I excuse myself and walk outside.
“Hey, Bobbie, what’s up?”
“You back in town yet?”
“For tonight only. I go back to the beach house tomorrow. I’m buying Ari a car.”
“Wow, I’ve done some crazy shit, but even I never bought a girl a car before.”
“She’s not just some girl, Bobbie, thought you understood that.”
“Yeah, I’m only messing with you. I called to see if you wanted to get together for dinner tonight?”
“I’m grilling at my place; you’re welcome to join us. We have Davis with us and I promised him he could play in the pool tonight.”
“I’ll be there around six, need me to bring anything?”
“I got the dinner covered, but don’t bring that ditz you brought on the boat.”
“Haven’t seen her since that day. As soon as I heard she was listening to Tina, I knew she was gone.”
“Alright man, see ya later.”
The salesman is explaining everything to Ari about the vehicle and I watch her face light up with all the extra features I picked out. Davis is thrilled about the DVD players in the back. When she is comfortable driving it, I load Davis in my truck and she follows me back to my house. She calls me twice on the way testing her new hands free phone system. When she’s not on the phone with me, I still see her lips moving in my rearview mirror. I assume she’s calling everyone she can think of.
Davis begs to go swimming as soon as he sees the backyard. Ari sunbathes while we play until he finally tires out. I lay him down for his nap then go back to join her. It’s natural having them here and I need to talk to her about where we will stay when the season starts, but I’m smart enough to tackle one issue at a time.
“Come with me.” I hold out my hand to help her up. She comes willingly and I lead us into the pool.
“See how easy that was? No carrying me around, I came willingly.” She refers to the day at the beach.
I lift her up, forcing her legs to wrap around me and cage her in between my body and the side of the pool. “Like your new car?”
“You know I do. It’s really too much.”
“I don’t want to hear that. I want to hear how you are going to thank me later tonight.”