“Oh yeah. That’s some rad rock climbing up there. Jocassee Gorges is good, too. Right in the neighborhood. Lots of dudes I know climb up there.”
Theodosia smiled at the kid. “I’d like to buy this one for my friend, to replace the one he lost.” She dropped her voice to a conspiratorial tone. “But I want it to be a secret. You know, a surprise gift.”
The kid nodded. “Sure. Cool.”
“Which means I’d like to have it wrapped up and shipped out to him. You can take care of that, right?” She handed the hammer back to him.
“Send it out UPS today if you’d like.” They walked back to the cash register, where the kid grabbed a pen and pulled out an order form. “What’s the name?”
“Clement,” Theodosia said. She fumbled in her handbag, searched around for a few moments, and then made a lemon face. “Oh, crumbs.” She wobbled her head back and forth to reinforce her dingbat status. “I forgot the address at home.” Then, “But I bet you have the address here. My friend has shopped here before, lots of times. So he’s probably in your customer database, right?”
“Mmn.” The kid stepped over to his computer terminal. “Let me take a look.”
Theodosia followed him, staying on her side of the counter, but managing to get a good look at the computer screen.
“Clement?” you said.
Theodosia gave him a bright smile. “That’s right.”
The kid tapped a few keys and a name and address popped up.
“Here it is. Marcus Clement. Fifteen sixty-two Waverly Street. In North Charleston.”
“That’s it exactly,” Theodosia said, committing the full name and address to memory. She pulled out her American Express card and handed it to the clerk. “Those are rock-climbing shoes that you’re wearing?”
The kid nodded. “Yeah. La Sportiva.”
She leaned over the counter to get a better look at his shoes. They were black and neon orange with two Velcro strip closures and a squishy-looking rubber sole. She decided they were probably the exact sort of quiet, easy-creepy shoe that a cat burglar might favor.
? ? ?
Theodosia was humming to herself as she hurried through her back door. She kissed Earl Grey on the top of his fuzzy head and let him scoot outside into the backyard. Then she bounded upstairs, taking two steps at a time.
Formal. Drayton had said she had to wear something formal tonight and she’d been tossing around a germ of an idea as she drove home. With the weather so nice and cool, maybe it was time to pull out that cashmere sweater she’d bought at Delaine’s shop.
She found it still in a plastic Cotton Duck bag sitting on a shelf in her walk-in closet. Decided it was perfect.
Theodosia jumped into the shower, worked up a froth of bubbles, and jumped out again, feeling a lot more perky. As she moved about her bedroom in her terry cloth robe, drying off, thinking about the evening ahead, her thoughts wandered to Max. She liked the idea of visiting him in Savannah at Christmastime. Really, there was nothing like celebrating the holidays in Savannah. Such a civilized city. She recalled going down there once for Christmas on the River with all its concerts, art festivals, and home tours.
As she retouched her makeup, she thought about the emotional aspect of their broken relationship. Did she miss Max? Yes, she did. Did she miss him a lot? She thought about that as she added a faint smudge of golden-beige shadow above her eyes. Mmn, maybe not as much as she thought she would.
And wasn’t that surprising?
The blue-gray cashmere sweater felt soft and cloudlike as she slipped it over her head. But now . . . now to see if the outfit she’d envisioned would really work. She stepped into her floor-length silver crinkle skirt. She’d seen a photo spread in Vogue, where a supermodel wore something just like this, and loved the idea. The juxtaposition of a cozy casual sweater with a very formal, floor-length skirt appealed to her. It was a kind of . . . dichotomy.
Theodosia eyed herself in the full-length mirror. Did it work? Could she carry it off?
Her image shimmered back at her and she loved it.
In fact, the concept of high-low dressing definitely appealed to her. There was something very modern and today about it. She’d even noticed that celebrities were pulling off high-low with great aplomb. A Gucci blouse tucked into H&M khakis. A Burberry T-shirt worn with Target jeans. Fun.
Theodosia stood in front of her mirror and brushed out her hair. It snapped and crackled with a life of its own. But it was still fiercely windy out, so maybe she should wear her hair up?
Why not?
She brushed her hair into a thick ponytail and then twisted it around a couple of times into what stylists today were calling a messy knot. She stuck in a couple of pins to anchor it.
Theodosia grabbed a silver beaded bag and tossed in her cell phone, lipstick, and a twenty-dollar bill. Then, for the pièce de résistance, she slipped into a pair of silver Manolo Blahnik heels.