Ginny stopped in her tracks and turned around. She knew Patrick was taking a good look at her in the dress, but still couldn’t see how she could afford it.
“Looks good to me. What do you think Ginny?” he asked.
“Well, it’s nice, but I don’t know if I’d get more than one wear out of it and it’s a lot of money for just one occasion,” she said rapidly.
“Do you like it?” Patrick asked looking her straight in the eyes.
“Yes, but…” was as far as Ginny got.
“Good. Go get changed and we’ll pay for the dress,” Patrick said. The sub-vocals in his voice brooked no disagreement.
Ginny changed clothes and came out with the dress in hand. Part of her was ecstatic while the other panicked about money.
“Do you need shoes or tights or anything like that?” he asked.
“No, not really,” she said.
“Okay,” he said. “Then it’s off to the lingerie department and the shoe department. I learned a long time ago that ‘not really’ means yes.” He took the dress and steered her towards the lingerie section.
They looked through the bras and panties, but Ginny didn’t stop for more than a moment . They moved onto the hosiery section. Ginny found a couple pairs of hose and a pair of tights that matched the dress and was trying to decide between them when Patrick just took all three packages in his hand and smiled at her. She started to say something and just shut her mouth.
At the shoe department, it was more difficult to ignore the nice shoes. Ginny had a weakness for shoes. Patrick didn’t know it yet as he hadn’t seen the inside of her closet, but they were her one vice. There were two styles she liked. Mid heel in one style and the other was a neat flat.
“Are you going to try one of those pairs on, or are you just going to drool on them?” Patrick teased her.
“I’m trying to decide,” she said.
“What size?” he asked.
“An 8,” she said not really paying attention to Patrick.
Patrick grabbed a size 8 off the shelves in both styles and handed the boxes to Ginny. “Here, try them on,” he said.
Ginny blinked, took the boxes and sat down. She tried on the mid heel style first. It was nice. She slipped on the other shoe and took a short walk. “These are doable,” she thought. Sitting down, she slipped off that pair and tried on the flats. They were comfortable, but not really dressy enough. She looked over to the shelf and tried to decide between black, dark brown, and sort of an oxblood color in the mid heel style. She took the oxblood down and tried them on. Before she could say anything, Patrick held the dress to her to check it against the shoes. They complemented the dress beautifully.
“Will those do?” he asked.
“Um, yes,” she answered deciding not to fuss.
Patrick put the shoes in the box while she got her own shoes back on. He was already heading towards the check-out area before Ginny got the last one tied.
When they got to the cashier, Patrick paid for everything before she could get her wallet out of her handbag. He handed her the bag and they left the store.
“Patrick, you didn’t need to do that,” she said taking a softer tone than she had previously.
“No, but I wanted to. Now, do we have any other shopping to do in this place or can we go get something to eat?” he asked.
Ginny thought for a moment. “No, let’s go eat.”
Ginny headed for Roberto’s. She was in the mood for green chile and tamales. Patrick’s nose scented the food the moment they stepped out of the car.
“This another one of those best kept secrets like that place we ate lunch the other day?” he asked.
“Yes,” said Ginny as they walked in and found a booth. Ten minutes later, they were eating salsa and chips while the waitress took their order to the kitchen.
“Now Andrew mentioned something about a bear claw and said I should ask you to tell me the story,” said Patrick.
“Oh. Yes. That fits in with why George is around too,” started Ginny. “A month or so ago, Luc and Meg went camping and this bear attacked Luc,” she started.
*
Patrick and Ginny got home three hours later. Ginny had told Patrick the entire story of the bear attack over lunch. Patrick was amazed that Luc and Meg had survived the attack. It also raised his opinion of the two of them. Meg showed a lot of strength for a human. They stopped at the Italian market and picked up some of the food that she and Meg had ordered earlier. Plus Ginny got a few items they had forgotten. After carrying in the packages, Patrick helped her put most if it away. George walked in as Ginny headed off to the bedroom to hang up her dress and put away her shoes.
“Did you get the message from Andrew?” George asked quietly.
“Yes, and that was a real struggle. Damn she can be stubborn,” said Patrick. “We got a nice green dress, shoes and hose. She looks gorgeous in the dress.”
“Good,” said George.
“George, why is she so reluctant to spend money on herself?” Patrick asked. He started the coffee machine and then sat down at the kitchen table.
“For the same reason she forgets to relax. Too many responsibilities and no one to share them with. She provides for Duke’s kids. Almost always has, and while we try to help, she is reluctant to take any money. It’s real easy to say that Ivan needs socks or ‘Solda needs money for school, and deny herself to make ends meet. Luc raised her salary, but she still operates like she’s broke. It’s part of the reason I moved in to help. I contribute to the household and she doesn’t have a say in it,” said George.
“Okay. Thanks. By the way, I met Andrew. Very nice man,” said Patrick.
“Yeah. He’s still in love with Ginny, but they just don’t match,” said George. He got the two of them a cup of coffee and sat back down.
“He gave me something to give Ginny if I wanted,” said Patrick and started to pull the pouch out of his pocket.
“Wait, itty bitty roses?” George asked.