Page 48 of Refuge for Ailsa

Tavish grinned as he thought about the night before. “Oh, you have no idea.”

Harley started to laugh. “Yeah, well, that dreamy look on your face pretty well sums it up. I think you’re already totally gone.”

“I’m definitely gone. Please let me know if you find out anything else.”

“Will do, ConstableBob.” Tavish started to laugh and gave him an air slap as he walked away. “You know, that never gets old!” Harley called out before closing his car door and motoring away.

Tavish headed back to the store to tell Ailsa goodbye. He needed to run to town and gas up the truck before his shift started, and he figured he’d pick up something to carry with him for dinner too. He had a feeling it was going to be a long, long night.

* * *

She’d beenasleep when Tavish came in. There was some vague recollection of him slipping into bed with her and drawing her into his arms, but she couldn’t really remember. She’d spent all afternoon hauling boat covers out of the old storage area and into the new building she’d had built. Even though they took them up on a cart, it took two people to load them, and by the end of the day, she, Toby, and Vince were exhausted. She told them to go home as soon as they finished because they’d be working the weekend without her, and she’d finished up by herself before she finally went back to the houseboat.

Tavish was still asleep when she got up on Saturday morning, and she was surprised to find donuts in a box on the counter. It appeared he’d picked them up before he came home, and that made her happy. Nothing like a good donut to make the day start out right. She was standing at the counter, filling up the coffee maker’s reservoir, when a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist from behind. She could feel the heat from his body through her thin gown. “Good morning, handsome.”

He spun her and kissed her, then grinned down at her. “Good morning, beautiful. I see you found breakfast.”

“Yeah. Pretty excited about those. And about what we’re going to be doing later.” He frowned. “Wait. Do you have to work tonight?”

“No. But I didn’t know there were some kind of grand plans.”

“There aren’t. I need to do some shopping and thought maybe we could do it together.”

Tavish groaned and dropped his hands to her hips. “God, I fucking hate shopping. Where are we going, themall?” he practically spat.

“No. Like grocery shopping. You know, food and toilet paper and all that kind of stuff.”

That seemed to make it a little better, at least if the look on his face was any indication. “I don’t mind that kind of stuff.”

“Actually, I believe you can learn a lot about a person from what they buy at the grocery store.”

His fingers dug into the flesh on her hips and he pulled her closer into him. “Oh, yeah? How’s that?”

“You can tell if they prefer sweet things or salty, crunchy things, what kind of meat they like best?”

“What kind of meat do you like best?” he asked with a wicked grin.

“Yours, but that’s not?”

“That’s the right answer,” he chirped.

“Well, that’s no surprise. I’m sure it is. But you can see if they have any allergies you might not be aware of, or something they just can’t stand. Whether or not they eat healthy or if they consume mostly garbage. Favorite snack food. Favorite flavor of ice cream. Do they like crew socks, or athletic socks, or cuffed socks, or no-show socks? What kind of underwear do they wear?”

“You already know what I wear.”

“Yeah. And shampoo, soap, toothpaste, cologne, all kinds of things. Regular or relaxed fit jeans? Undershirts? Do they like to use paper plates and plastic forks, or wash everything? What kind of dish detergent do they use, or laundry detergent? All kinds of things.”

“You must be very observant.”

“I am. And from their choices, you can tell if they’re someone who’s frugal and tries to save money where possible, or if they’re super bougie and just want the best of everything. Or if they’ve found a few things that might cost a little more, but they’re great quality and last longer.”

“I can see you’ve given this a lot of thought.”

“I have. Oh, and I noticed you don’t have a pair of chinos, so we have to get you some while we’re out.”

Tavish frowned at her, his eyebrows pointing toward the bridge of his nose. “Why?”

“Because we’re having dinner with my parents tomorrow afternoon.”

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