Chapter 6: Shopping Trip & Lillian

I looked over to her, sitting there with the wind blowing her hair back and smiled at her. I asked her, "Where to Cindy?" She looked puzzled and shrugged her shoulders.

She said, "Jim, I thought we were going shopping, but we can go anywhere you want. I am just glad to be out of that place and out here riding with you."

I explained to her that what I meant was to ask her where she wanted to go shopping. She said that the only places she had ever been were Goodwill or The Mission Bargain Shop. She told me that Darla's mom had bought Darla's clothes at Wal-Mart or sometimes K-Mart but her mom said those clothes were too expensive for poor people. I explained to her that I hadn't been shopping with a lovely woman in quite a while but I thought we could do a bit better than even Wal-Mart. I proposed that we go into Pensacola and go to the mall. I usually bought my clothes at McRaes Department Store and knew that they had twice as many women's clothes as men's clothes. I told her if we couldn't find her something there then there was a whole mall attached to the store and surely one or more of those stores would have something that a beautiful young woman would like.

She sat there digesting that and then lit up even further and turned to me and said, "You mean I am going to get to pick out my own clothes? By myself?"

I laughed and said that I didn't know much about women's clothes and sure hoped that she was going to pick things out. I told her that there were sales ladies in the store that would help her but that the choice of what to buy was hers alone. She looked at me with an almost distressed look about her and asked about how much money she could spend. I told her not to worry about money just to enjoy getting some nice things. She said, "Jim all I can think of is my mom telling me how expensive things are and to be careful, because money is hard to come by."

We talked some more and I think I convinced her not to even look at price tags this one time. I told her that I wasn't rich but that I had more money than I ever would use, which was true. I also explained to her that it really made me happy to spend money on her.

We stopped at McDonald's for lunch as I don't believe in shopping on an empty stomach and I didn't want to waste time at a regular restaurant, because I knew from experience that shopping requires a lot of time. Our shopping was an experience that I would not soon forget. Although I had told Cindy that I wanted her to buy clothes that she liked and clothes that would fit in at school and with her friends she turned to me for my approval on almost every item. She would take several items and go into the dressing room and come out and model them for me, asking me what I thought. Of course I watched her face to see what she thought and then reflected that back at her. Her megawatt smile had everyone we met in a good mood that afternoon.

Cindy had a sharp eye and exceptional taste and she wanted to immediately change out of the dress and wear the first short set that she bought. I paid for that set right away and she changed clothes and it was like she was a new person, almost. After that she was practically bubbling over with joy and happiness. I bought her the works, because she needed everything. I bought new blouses, shorts, jeans, skirts, shoes, socks pantyhose, dresses and then we got to the lingerie department.

I knew she needed bras and panties and I was a bit worried that she might try to come out and try to model what she bought for me. I wouldn't have minded but the store was full of other shoppers. I told her to get the young sales lady to help her and that she could show me what she bought when we got home. I gave her my charge card and told her to buy five or six bras and twice as many panties. I told her to get the young fitting clerk to help her to make sure she got the right cup size and the proper fit. Cindy was embarrassed on her own but did as I asked. The young lady was helpful and after Cindy had the sizes helped her pick out what she wanted and went to the register with the charge card and the items.

I was standing a short distance away and made eye contact with the clerk to let her know that it was all right for Cindy to use my charge card. While she was finishing that purchase I saw a set of pierced heart shaped earrings with a gold heart shaped necklace that would be perfect for her and I bought them on impulse. Of course I didn't even think about the fact that Cindy didn't have her ears pierced but that was fixed at a later visit to the mall. Finally, before leaving the lingerie, we ended up in the swim wear department. I wanted to get her a couple of suits because I had a pool at my house and knew she would enjoy doing that. I let her pick out the suits, which she then modeled for me. They were both two-piece, French-cut heart stoppers.

Finally we took everything to the car and all the bags and boxes barely fit in the trunk. We got them in and I said one more stop and we can go home. Cindy looked puzzled until I said, "We both need a haircut."

Cindy said, "Your hair looks fine, Jim. My hair is a mess though." I told her that her hair was beautiful it just needed a little cut of the ends. I have always been partial to longer hair and really didn't want more of hers cut than could be avoided. The shampoo and conditioner had already added some shine to her hair but it still was ragged at the edges. I had thought about getting her hair cut at the mall but then I thought that Lillian would kill me if I let anyone else touch her hair.

Lillian had been cutting my hair for about 10 years now and the thing that I loved about her was that I didn't have to tell her what to do with my hair. I hated it when I went into a hair salon or barber shop and would be asked how I wanted my hair cut, as if it was my first visit, when I had been there 15 times before and gotten it cut the same way every time. Instead of small talk about my hair, Lillian and I would talk about her 17 year-old son, Gerald or her 22 year-old daughter, Christine, or her latest gambling trip to Biloxi, Mississippi. I had been a mentor to her daughter, Christine, while she was going to the local university working on her business management degree. I had helped Christine get her first job after college at the local bank. Christine was one of the most beautiful young women I had ever met and had good business sense. I had a feeling that one day she would either be president of the local bank or leave for greener pastures elsewhere.

Lillian was always interesting to talk to and a good friend besides. I always tipped her well, more for the company than for the haircut, not that the haircut was ever bad. Lillian and Naomi, my wife, had been very good friends and we had cried on each other's shoulders at the funeral. Lillian had been telling me that I should get married again, that I was in need of someone to look after me. When the cancer had come, Lillian had helped to cut off all of Naomi's hair, before it could fall out, and had helped Naomi find a nice hair piece when the radiation and chemicals had done their worst. She had refused to accept any payment for any of that.

Lillian had told me that Naomi had taken her to lunch about two months before she died. Naomi asked Lillian to keep her eye on me and to convince me to find someone else. Naomi knew that I would listen to Lillian before I would listen to most of my other friends about things like that. We had talked about it but I had put Lillian off about finding someone else. I had told her that I would make an effort to try but that I didn't think I was ready.

Today, I needed to see Lillian as much to see what she thought about the relationship I was developing with Cindy as to have her cut Cindy's hair. I knew that Lillian's approval would be as close as I could come to getting my dead wife's blessing as they had always been in close agreement as to affairs of the heart. I was thinking about all of this as Cindy and I walked into the small shop that afternoon. I put us both on the list with Cindy's name first and marking Lillian's name besides both of ours on the list. Lillian worked with her back to the door and it took her a few minutes to notice that I was there. When she did she, she stopped what she was doing, came over and gave me a big hug. I introduced Cindy to her as my neighbor and Lillian immediately raised her eyebrows. I told her we both needed haircuts but that Cindy was to go first. Lillian said she wasn't that busy but it would be about 15 minutes.