Gretchen leaned back in the booth and put a hand on her belly. "Told you so." To be honest, the last two tacos were really hard to finish, but Lincoln had dared her to finish them all, and backing down from a challenge just wasn't her style.
He looked at the empanada he'd abandoned after polishing off the other four. "You're my hero. I have to tap out because there's no way I can eat another bite."
"You also had most of the chips and guac. No wonder you can't finish."
The waiter came by and cleared a few of the plates. "Any dessert?"
Gretchen would have laughed at the way Lincoln blanched at the suggestion, but she was too stuffed. "No. No, thank you. No dessert."
"How about some complementary churros for the road?"
"I won't say no to that," she said with a smile. It was likely more of a grimace, because she was uncomfortably full. Probably not the best idea to inhale all ten tacos, even though they were delicious. Especially when she also had every last bit of the spicy sour cream, creamy cilantro lime dressing, and homemade pico de gallo.
The waiter brought their check and a to go box full of churros. "You can pay up front. Have a great day."
"You, too." Gretchen fished cash out of her wallet.
"I'll get it," Lincoln offered.
"Thanks. I'll leave the tip." She put some bills on the table. "I also need to get those gift certificates on the way out."
A few minutes later, they were back in the car. Gretchen stuffed the gift cards into the bag with the wooden flowers. "What are you getting your dad at the hardware store?"
"He does a lot of woodworking in the winter, so I get him a bunch of little stuff, like new drill bits and saw blades. I saw they've got a Dremel tool kit on sale. He's been wanting one for ages, so hopefully they haven't sold out."
Gretchen held up her hand and crossed her fingers.
Luckily for Lincoln, there were still two kits left on the nearly-empty display just inside the doors. He put one kit in the cart and pushed it toward the back of the store to the section of woodworking tools.
While he looked at blades and accessories, Gretchen wandered into the next aisle where she found a section of model kits and related glues and little plastic parts and tools whose purpose escaped her. She did know one thing, though. Her dad loved putting model planes together, and would definitely put them to good use. She picked a set of fancy tweezers in several sizes and a stand magnifying glass with a light built into it.
She went back to the other aisle and held the magnifier aloft. "Jackpot. This is also a Small Business Saturday deal."
"Nice." Lincoln held up his hand for a high five.
"I'll have to bring Abby here to pick out a new model kit for him. I had no idea they had a whole hobby section here."
"How did you not know that?" Avery's voice teased from behind her.
Gretchen spun, a little guilty. "I guess I don't come in often enough."
"Well, I'm glad to see you anyway." She lifted her wrist and pointed at her watch. "I'm just now heading back to take my lunch break. It's been crazy in here all day."
"That's awful and great."
"I'm definitely not complaining, but it's exhausting. I'll definitely be sleeping late tomorrow."
Lincoln said, "I'd sleep until noon and make Alex go pick up lunch."
Avery pointed at him and nodded. "Genius. You should text him and plant the seed."
Lincoln pulled out his phone.
"Tell him to make her dinner tonight, too," Gretchen joked.
Avery gave them a double thumbs up as she headed toward the back of the store. "See you later!"
They went to the front to check out. As they were loading their purchases into the trunk of Lincoln's car, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and grinned. "Alex says he's coming in to help Avery close the store at six, and he's bringing her favorite large iced coffee from Caretti's."
"Awww, that's so sweet. They make such a good team," she mused as she got in the car. "Alex seems so thoughtful and sensible. I still can't understand how on Earth he thought it was a good idea to send you on a date with an earpiece."
"Must have been having an off day."
"I wonder if he told Avery his plan before he sent you off with your fancy spy gear."
Lincoln shook his head emphatically. "No. He absolutely did not, and he got his own earful after the fact."
Gretchen laughed. "I can only imagine. And the other guys? My goodness, what a crew and not a single functioning brain cell among you."
Lincoln shot her a side-eye. "So you've said. Many, many times."
"Sorry. Sort of. But four of you. Four. And not one of you thought it might not end well." She shook her head. "And those three especially should know better. Avery, Chandler, and Becky would never in a million years have gone for something like that."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, keep rubbing it in."
She reached over and squeezed his arm. "At least you're in good hands now."
He shifted his eyes again. "That remains to be seen," he teased.
She put her hand back in her lap and leaned back in the seat. "What's next?"
"That's entirely up to you. I got everything on my list."
"Wow, does that mean your Christmas shopping is completely done?"
"Yup. It's all over but the wrapping."
"I'm really impressed."
He held up a finger. "Oh, wait, I lied. I'm waiting on the calendars. I'll buy one for everyone in the family. Except my aunt. She's a retired teacher and still gets her new calendars in August."
"I thought they came in a few weeks ago?"
"The first shipment came in two and a half weeks ago, but we sold out, so the next batch is supposed to be here Monday. Which is great because we have the booth at the winter festival next Saturday."
"I can't believe tomorrow is December already. It feels like Thanksgiving was really late this year."
"I said the same thing when we were getting dinner ready on Thursday. Thanksgiving was the twenty-eighth, which is as late as it can be, so now Christmas feels like it's next week."
Gretchen's phone vibrated with an incoming text. She pulled it out of her pocket. "I better check this."
Lincoln adjusted the knobs on the heater.
"It's my dad. He's asking if they can take Abby to pick out their Christmas tree."
His head jerked up. "Did you want me to take you home so you can go along?"
"I hate to say yes because we're having a great day and I feel like it would be rude to cut it short."
He gave her an adorable half-smile. "We've been out for seven hours. That hardly counts as cutting it short."
Reluctantly, she said, "Okay. But how about you drop me off at the tree farm since it's closer than taking me the whole way back home."
"Sounds good." He backed out of the parking space.
"Did you get your tree?"
"Not yet."
"Do you want to get it now? My dad will have his truck so we can easily drop it off at your place."
He shrugged one shoulder. "Maybe."
Gretchen felt like there was something he wasn't saying. "Of course if you're not ready to get your tree, don't let me pressure you."
He gave a little laugh. "No, it's just… I guess this is another lesson."
"What do you mean?"
"It feels rude to say I don't want to pick my tree tonight. Especially when I don't really have a good reason." He pulled into the full parking lot of the tree farm.
Large lights had been set up throughout the field so people could cut down their own trees. It looked like daylight even though the sun had set before five o'clock.
"It's not rude to say no, Lincoln. You don't need a reason."
"I'm not sure. I mean, maybe not for you, but what if I'm dating someone I don't know very well? She might think it's rude."
"Then she's rude." Gretchen reached over and put a hand on his arm. "I get it. Believe me, as a woman, we're expected to go along to get along, and set our needs aside to please the people we're with because it's the 'nice' thing to do." She put air quotes around the word. "But I've learned, and so can you, that it's not rude to say no thanks, and you don't need some great reason. You're a good friend, so you know when to do things you might not particularly want to do because the people you care about want you to. You just carry that same mindset into a romantic relationship. If she's the right person, she's not going to be a jerk because you don't want to do something."
She saw her dad's extended cab truck pull into the lot. He'd bought it brand new ten years earlier and treated it like his baby. Hand wash and wax every week, whether it needed it or not.
"My parents just got here."
The truck parked a few spaces away from Lincoln's car.
Gretchen jumped out of the car and waved at her mom. Her dad got Abby out of the back seat and they all walked over.
Abby waited until Lincoln was out of the car, then said, "Are you helping Mommy find our tree? I have to help Grandma."
Before Gretchen could jump in to say he wasn't staying, he said, "Sure."
When she looked at him curiously, he said, "I just didn't want to get my tree tonight."
"Ah." She shook her head and followed her parents and Abby toward the barn where they kept the saws, as well as a bunch of precut trees. One of those would have suited her fine, but Abby was all about wandering the rows of trees until she found the perfect one.