As proud as Ever was for driving from the snow cabin down to Vets R Us, he was glad that Zoe offered to drive them to the city.

  “Come on…” she tapped on the steering wheel with her fingers, aggressively turning into the parking lot at the Emporium shopping mall. She rolled down the window at someone who beeped at her, giving them a big thumbs down. “I read online that people get a lot more angry getting a thumbs down than getting the middle finger.” She rolled her window up. “Less rude, more devastating.”

  Ever grinned, then suddenly reached across her. “There!” He pointed. “Someone’s just left.”

  “Roger.” Zoe tapped the gas, getting to the parking space first. She drove a bit past it, then deftly reversed parked into the bay. She killed the ignition then breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Good job,” Ever said. “I couldn’t do this.”

  “What?”

  “Driving with all these cars about, parking,” he made a vague gesture with his hands. “Everything. There’s too many people.”

  Zoe smiled, patting his thigh. “If you think this is a lot of people, wait til you get inside.”

  —--

  Zoe wasn’t joking, it was a lot more crowded inside the Emporium. It almost felt like everyone in the city that he usually saw walking around outside chose to be inside this shopping mall today. Even just standing still, people walking past bumped into him, the extra bags they carried taking up too much space.

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  “OK so I’m going to go and find your gift,” Zoe said.

  “Can I come?”

  “Of course you can’t,” she said with a sly smile. “Don’t you like surprises?”

  Ever didn’t respond; he wasn’t sure he did. The problem with him was that so many experiences had been new for him that surprises were not an uncommon thing. After all, unexpected cupcakes had made him cry, as well as seeing Taylor when he had thought she had been kidnapped.

  “Anyway, I’ll let you go and do your own Christmas shopping. Don’t spend too much on me, I don’t need anything fancy.” She gave him a peck then allowed herself to be swept up by the crowd of consumers.

  Ever dodged someone rushing past, carrying a full-sized fake Christmas tree. Eventually, he made it to some open space overlooking three floors of the shopping mall. There must have been dozens of stores in here. How was he ever going to find the perfect gift?

  One level down, he did see a big sign with a picture of a dog and cat next to it: Pet Pamperers. Hopefully that would be Mimi taken care of. He scanned up and down on each floor, craning his neck to see as many stores as he could. Shaving supplies, high end fashion, discounted cookware, kids toys, video games… nothing really jumped out at him.

  He turned around, crossing his arms. He let his eyes unfocus, the rivers of rushing people melting into a blur. Besides their time at the snow and a few dates, he never really saw her outside of the clinic. What do you get for someone who doesn’t seem to want anything?

  He looked above the flow of people. Give me a sign…

  …and there it was. He smiled, making his way through the crowd. It had been right in front of him the whole time.