To Have & To Hold

Chapter 19 - Mistakes Were Made

Once again they were in the car with Blake the chauffeur on their way to the main shopping streets Stella knew so well. Jaiden, slightly more comfortable now, sat and looked over the list of items they wanted to buy.

"So that's the crafts store for the needles and frames and then two different hobby stores for the different colors of thread, is that right? Don't they have all of the colors at the one craft store?"

Stella shook her head as she messed with her hair.

"Their selection is smaller as they sell items related to many different kinds of hobbies. They can't afford to have a full selection."

"Have you ever seen...I mean, inspected their stock?" He corrected himself with a smirk. Stella stuck her tongue out.

"I've been there before, yes. I wanted to do some clay modeling as I thought that would be fun. But as it turns out clay gets absolutely everywhere if you're not careful. I thought I was getting it all by washing my hands thoroughly but of course I would occasionally get an itch somewhere while working on a project and, well... Let's just say it was a mess."

"And you inspected their selection of colored thread on your way to the clay, is that right?" He said snarkily. Stella gave him another trademark shove.

"Yes, Jaiden. I went from the front to the back of the store and felt up every little thing I could get my hands on asking, no, demanding to know exactly what it was!" She said with a fine sense of drama.

"And everyone?" He added with a smile. This time he was rewarded with a slap on the upper arm.

"Mind out of the gutter.

Let's just say, I know they don't have the full set and leave it at that, shall we, before I have to shove you so hard you'll go flying out the door and on to the street. In which case I shan't be stopping until I'm good and ready to go back home." She warned him with a smirk.

"Can't have that. I'd have hours of time to wander the streets unsupervised. What would I do? You do know that, as my owner, you would be held responsible for any of my actions when I'm out there by myself, right?" He stated matter-of-factually.

"I could be peeing on someone's rose bushes and they couldn't do much about it. I can't be held responsible for my own actions. How would I know I couldn't do that?"

Stella hissed then giggled as the mental image played out of Jaiden being out of control in someone's garden, whatever that looked like inside her mind.

"Your mind goes to strange and wondrous places, Mr Camble. Maybe it should be you doing the needle point so I can see what's going on inside that head of yours!"

Jaiden made a sound like someone had just touched upon a tricky subject.

"Not sure you'd want to know. It can get kind of sordid in there at times."

"Only at times? Well, that's a relief. You can just do the needle point at the other times, then."

"Ah, touche!" Jaiden admitted.

Stella grinned broadly at him, then suddenly stopped, turning to look forward. She pushed a button on a small panel that sat next to a drinks tray.

"Blake? Remember we need to pull over at the post office."

"Yes, ma'am." Came the reply after a short silence.

"Wouldn't want to keep your family waiting. Do you suppose they're excited about the move? They are getting a new home aren't they?"