第7章 梦想之舟（第2页）

我递给马修一张纸巾，我们一起默默地站在那里，任思绪飞扬，激动不已。

“我保证！”说完，我飞快地奔了出去，去找我亲爱的丈夫。

"Sheesh！Givemeafewpoirol！"IsmykyhusbaopataspoingOutofBusi;salewepassedinthemall。"There'snothi;hisusualgrumpymaleent。"it'salloverprik。Iftheyhadanythinggoodtheywouldn'tbegoingoutofbusi;

"But，it&#oods，"Iwheedled。"couldbesomegooddealsfrandkids。And，youlikeboatsandfishingstuff。I'veputuphotoofyour'dream-oe'stuthebathroommirrorforyearsnow。Maybeyou'denjoyjustlookingaround？"

"Areyoucrazy？"hiseyesgotfunnyandhesaidsomethiheboatIwantistheSupremoNumero-Unoblah，blah。SoonasIfinishsavingup6000bucksforthatbabyI'mghtfromthemaom。Ihisloserstorewouldn'tethi。AndI&#oihosesuckercrowds。"

"You'resativeandb！"Iretorted。"IhappeheymakemefeellikeI'mpartofsomething。IpromiseIwon'tbuyanythingbutI'mgoingtolookaroundforfunanyways。YougofordI'llmeetyoubahalfanhour。"

"Don'tmakepromisesyou'tkeep，oldgirl。"Hechuthatself-satisfied"I'llbelieveitwhe;waythatalwaysgetsmeriled。"Iknowytoeoutoftherewithuselessjunk。Youalwaysdo。"

Hiswordsmadememad。Howdareheaccusemeofbeingfrivolous！Ipridedmyselfonbeingawiseshopper。Ihadadarngoodnainsachedepensionslikenobody'sbusiness。NowIhadamadon，that'sforsure。"Boy，I'llshowhim。"IpromisedmyselfIwouldnotbuyadarnthing，。Ha！Iwouldn'tgiveMr。Know-It-Allsmarty-paogloat。

Isquaredmydmartothecrowdedstore。Aislesandaislesofhockeyequipmeballs，golfclubs，exerciseequipment，fishioysgalwithhugeblaringsigns。GOUTSALE—Upto80%OFF。NOREFUNDS。

UpanddowntheaislesIstrolled，duddodged，hummingtomyselfahefreiergyaofasale。

Allofasuddehebackofthestleamingsilver，fulloflifejackets，paddlesandfishingstuff，sattheexayhusband'spicture。Igaspedaimes。Yup。Itwasstillthere。TheSupremoNumero-Unoblah，blah。Myheartbeatwildly。Ielbowedmywaythroughthecrowds，scrambledoverjunkintheaislesanddarnedheoelookiag。

&wasalittletattered，withthemanufacturer'ssuggestedretailpriceat$6750plustaxcrossedoutandahaOCLEAR$750ASIS。URake。$6000off？Salesman。Ihadtotalktoasalesman。

Ispottedayouha"Hi。I'mMathew&qutohideoutfromthemaichedhissleeve。"Mathew。TellmeaboutthisSupremooe。What&#withit？Whyisitonly$750？"

"Oh。There'snwithit。It'sbrandnew。We&#thestore。Thatisall。It'soncelikeeverythihinkthatincludeslifejackets，paddlesandabunchoffishioo。I'llgocheck。"

&eslaterhecamebadsaid，"I'msorryma'am。Someoakeo'ssupposedtobe$4750forthewholepackage。Ijusttalkedtomydadwhtheclose-out。Hesaiditwasworthmorethan$8ularpricesoit'sstillarealgooddeal。"

&earswellupi;Ohwell，"Isaidsadly，"ofcourse，itwastoogoodtobetrue。Thisisexactlylikemyhusband'sdreamboat。IguessIstartedtodreammyselfricetag。He'sgoingtobe62yearsoldFriday。Hadtoretireearlyforhishealth。It'sbeenhardonjustthepensioubbornoldfoolhasbeensaving$10everyweekforyearstobuyolikethis。Justanoldman'ssillydream，youknow。Alwayssaidhewaospeoutfishingi;myvoicetrailedoffandIturnedand>

Iwasalreadyatthemalldoorwheupwithme。"Doyouhave$750plus$25fordeliveryandabitmorefortax，ma'am？"Igasped。"Yes。Yes。That'saboutallIhave。"IsaidasIthoughtfleetinglyaboutthecataractsurgeryIfor。

"Wellthen，youjusthaveyourhusbandsittiporFridaymaround10o'clocksohebetherewhenmyDadaounloadhis。We'llevenputabowonitforhisbirthday。"

Istartedtocry。MyoldhandshookandIhadtosquintasIwroteoutmycheque。Matheedhard。

"Ma'am。There'ssomethingyoushouldknow。Thisstorea's。Heranitformorethan30years。Healromisedtoretireoneday。Saidhewaospendtimerelaxingandoutfishinginaoe。Heorderedthisoom，forhimselflastyearbut，well，justhetimeofftouseit。"

Heswallowedeve;MyGrandpadied，suddelastweek。Hewasonly68yearsold。Ithinkhe'dbemightyhappythatyourhusbahishereyDadthinksso，too。Youjusthavetomakesureheusesitalot，okay？Promise？"

IhahewaKleeheretogether，quietlylostinourownthoughtsforamoment，blowingournoses。

"Ipromise！"IsaidasIdashedofftolookformydears