CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Ruby
Late November
“I’m warning you, my house isn’t like yours.” I fidget with my fingers as I hold my hands in my lap.
Caleb’s driving us to my parents’ house for Thanksgiving dinner. Because of my extended family, we’re actually having it on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Which is good, since he wasn’t scheduled to work today.
“I know, in the years I’ve been hanging out with friends and stuff, I’ve come to realize my family situation is way different than most. I’ll be able to handle it, Red, it’s okay.”
My parents are so much less laid back than Mason and Karina, they take things way too seriously when it comes to me, and let Lance run around like he has no responsibilities, or any kind of care in the world. It isn’t fair, but it’s what I live with. “I just hope you won’t want to say fuck it with me after this.”
He reaches over, grabbing my hand. “I’ll always want to fuck you, Red; you’re hot as hell.”
My face flames. I’m still not used to the way he talks, even a few months into this relationship. I think Caleb will always heat me up, and even I know that’s something most people never get. “Ditto.” I grip his fingers in mine now.
I direct him down a tree-lined road on the opposite side of town from where his parents’ house is. My parent’s own a farm, and even though there isn’t much money in it anymore, they still work the land like it’s the best gift they’ve ever been given. As the white house I grew up in comes into view, I try to look at it from Caleb’s eyes. It’s old, been in my family for generations, and while there have been a few upgrades, most of what’s there has been there since the early 1900s. It used to embarrass me, but I learned it’s a part of our heritage.
“Wow,” he breathes deeply as he gets a good look at the wrap around porch.
“It’s mostly the original design.” I give him a brief history. “Of course they’ve had to replace the wood over the years, but mostly, this is the house my great-great-grandfather built for his family.”
“Do you know what I would give to have that kind of history for my family?” he whispers.
And in this moment, I realize that maybe the two of us are fulfilling roles in our lives that both of us needed filled. He makes me not take myself so seriously, makes me push at the boundaries both myself and my parents have set for me my whole life, and I give him the history, the sense of belonging he’s always needed.
“I never thought about how truly important that is, but you can bet I am now. C’mon, Caleb.” I hitch my head toward the front door as we park. “Be your normal charming self and my mom will love you. Don’t worry about my dad and brother; once they find out you played for Alabama, you’re golden.”
* * *
“He’s really cute,” Mom whispers to me as we finish up the last of the side dishes.
Caleb had offered to help, but the men in the family had commandeered him and not let go.
“He is.” I look back at the living room, hearing his deep voice explain why the team on the television had run a play opposite of what the consensus had been they would run.
“He seems to be a good man too, good manners, I like the way he held the door open for you when you came in the house. Seems like he’s very polite.”
I fight the snicker that wants to come out. He’s polite all right, until we get naked and then Caleb can be downright demanding, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t need that in my life.
“He’s everything and more, Mom. I’m lucky he was there that night, at The Café.”
“Yes you are,” she agrees as she wipes her hands on her apron. “Maybe we should invite him to Sunday service. You think he’d come?”
I think he would probably do anything I asked him to do. “I can, if you want me to. It’s not a promise he’ll be there, but I’ll put the invitation out, because I know that’s important to you. He’s busy and it would depend on his schedule.”
She smiles at me and calls the men to the table, while we set the dishes out. As I’m lifting the big platter of turkey, Caleb swoops in, grabbing it from my hands. “I got it, Red. Where does it go?”
I literally fucking swoon at how hot he is when he’s being a gentleman to impress my family. “Over there.” I point to a bare spot on the table. “Thank you.”
“Any time.” He gives me a wink over his shoulder.
As we have a seat and my dad prays over the meal, I’m starting to relax.
“What’s it like being a cop here?” my brother asks, being as polite as I’ve ever seen him be. “There was a time when I thought about trying out at the academy, but I’m needed to work around here.”
I know he doesn’t mean it as a slight to me, but I feel it as Lance reminds us all he’s expected to work the land. He hadn’t really been given an option, as the male child, and maybe that’s why he is how he is. He wasn’t really given a choice. I had no idea that had ever been something he wanted to do. While I’ve been judgmental of him, maybe I should listen instead when he speaks.
“We aren’t a big town, so we don’t have a lot of the problems other cities do. That’s not to say there aren’t situations that are dangerous. We have our fair share of domestics, drugs, and just people who are mean, but I’d never want to do this anywhere else. My home is here, my heart is here.”
“Was the academy hard?” my mom asks, as she fills his plate with stuffing.
“Not any harder than playing football was.” He shrugs. “I kind of had a physical advantage because I was already used to most of the fitness stuff. My dad taught me to shoot when I was young, so I had that advantage too. I had a hard time with the ten-codes and statutes. Other cadets gave me a hard time because of who my dad is and thought that I’d be treated differently. I wasn’t; I had to pass all my classes and do everything else that the rest of them did. But, in the end I figured it out and graduated. It was one of the proudest moments I’ve ever had.”
“Watching Ruby graduate from college was one of our proudest moments.” Dad looks over at me. “As a family, it was one of our proudest days ever. Even though it wasn’t that long ago, it’ll be one of our better memories.”
“Really?” I ask, genuinely surprised.
“Yeah.” He smiles. “It wasn’t easy to get you there. Just like most everything else, there were sacrifices that had to be made, but we knew we wanted to do it for you. It was a decision we made as a family. Me, your mom, your brother. We wanted you to have your dream.”
I’m speechless as I think about what that probably meant for Lance. Now, I understand why they give him such leeway, why they let him do the things he wants to do. He sacrificed so much for me, and I never gave him credit for it.
“I’ll make you proud,” I promise them all.
Lance gives me a grin from across the table. “You already do.”
As we all get back to our food, I realize that without Caleb being here, without him starting this conversation, we never would have had it. It’s just one other way he’s brought new perspective to my life, and I grow more thankful for it every single day.
Cruise
“Thanks for inviting me,” I tell Ruby’s parents as she and I prepare to leave. “And thanks for having your dinner on another day, to help accommodate. Unfortunately in my line of work, sometimes I’m not available on holidays.”
“You’re talking to a family of farmer’s son, I think we get it.” Phillip puts my mind at ease.
One of the things I had been most worried about when it came to meeting her family was them thinking I couldn’t give her everything. My job has been a deterrent for most of my adult life, but I’m willing to admit the deterrent has been because of me. Because of what I’ve wanted, not because of what they’ve wanted. Now I’m ready to give in and experience it all.
Ruby stands next to me as her mom reaches in and gives me a hug. “Hopefully we’ll see you at church?”
I’ve never gone to church in my life, not regularly, but I’ll do whatever’s expected of me to get in the good graces of this family. Just so they know I’m serious about their daughter.
“As soon as I can make it,” I promise as Ruby and I head out the door, down the porch steps and to the Jeep.
Once we get in and shut the door, we both breathe a sigh of relief.
She leans over, kissing me fully on the mouth. “We made it!”
We sure did.