“Why aren’t you married?”

I reach to tug on the collar of my shirt, then remember I’m wearing a t-shirt. Again, I ask myself why I agreed to come with April to a family cookout. I peer over her father’s shoulder and wish she’d look up from the chat she’s having with her mom and grandmother on the opposite side of the deck. I take a sip of my beer before answering. “I guess I’ve just been too busy with work to develop a relationship.”

April’s brother Daniel coughs, hiding his grin behind his hand. He’s enjoying the interrogation I’m getting. Had we met under different circumstances, I’d probably like him. “You’re saying you’ve never met the one,” her dad prods.

I wanted to tell him I’ve met many, but that might not go over very well, so I just smile awkwardly and answer, “No. I suppose I’ve never met the one.”

Her father, Martin, leans back in his lawn chair and tips his beer toward him. His bushy brows rise as he gives me a pointed glare. “Ms. Edna tells me she’s been seeing a lot of you around White Oaks lately.”

Ms. Edna should mind her own business. “Yes, what with April under such a deadline with my sister’s wedding, I’ve been pitching in to help.”

Martin doesn’t seem to buy that answer. “April is a very sweet and beautiful woman.”

I nod. “Yes, sir. She certainly is.” I completely agree. I’ve never met anyone like April.

Martin takes his time, giving his beer another tip. “I would imagine at your age, you’re probably thinking about settling down and marrying a good woman.”

Daniel smothers another laugh, taking another pull from his beer. His eyes are bright with delight. I glare in his direction before turning my attention back to Martin. No. Those thoughts have never entered my mind. At all! Because I’m not old! “Um. Well…I’ve got plenty of time for that.”

“How do you feel about children?” Martin asks, glowering as he waits for my answer.

I fidget in my webbed lawn chair. “Children?” I pull at my collar again. Is it getting hotter outside?

“Yeah. How many do you want? It’s probably best to get right on that. I mean, at your age and all. You’ll probably want to have them close together before you’re too old to appreciate them.”

“My age… Them…” I choke out. Daniel turns back to the grill to flip the meat, but not before I see the wide grin on his face. He’s enjoying my distress way too much.

Martin doesn’t wait for me to answer as he continues to rumble on. “I also happen to know the Johnstones’ house will be coming on the market soon. April has always liked that house, then you could live right across the road from us, and we’d be able to babysit anytime you need.”

“But…” My thought process won’t get past living across the road from Martin. I shiver.

And still, Martin doesn’t stop. “I know, I know. You live in California. But April’s such a hometown girl. You’ll have to relocate. She wouldn’t be happy living away from her family. This is where she sees herself raising a family and growing old.”

I have to put a stop to this before he calls the minister over to perform the ceremony this evening. “Sir, I think you have the wrong idea. April and I are just friends. I only just met her.” I say that, but even I don’t believe it.

His eyes grow serious, almost deadly, the sound of his voice lethal. “Seems to me that staying over with someone like April would mean a man had serious intentions. Anything else wouldn’t be considerate to my baby girl.”

“Dad. What are you doing?” April asks as she puts her hand on my shoulder. I want to flinch away from her touch. Martin doesn’t need any more encouragement. I swallow and sink down in my lawn chair, thankful that April rescued me. I was going down fast.

Martin’s face transforms into good old country-boy innocence. It’s a sham. “Nothing. We were just having a little man talk.”

April looks at her dad and then at me. She doesn’t believe him for a second. “Mom said to bring the burgers and come eat.”

The rest of the evening goes much better than the first part. April is very close to her family. Rachael and Henry arrive just as we’re sitting down to eat. Henry’s almost as tall as his mother, and where Rachael has darker skin and straight, jet-black hair, Henry’s complexion is lighter in tone, and his hair is a deep auburn. Rachael’s eyes are brown, and Henry’s eyes are green. It’s safe to say that Henry looks nothing like his mother.

April said Rachael had never named the father. I would think it would be easy in a town the size of Treemont to find a man with red hair and green eyes. There certainly couldn’t be that many.

“My mom says you’re helping Aunt April with a wedding.”

I look up and Henry is taking the seat beside me. “Yes, I am. My sister is getting married.”

“Aunt April said that Filthy Arc is going to be there.”

I watch in wonder as the kid builds his burger with six pickles and a handful of potato chips. “They sure are. Do you like them?”

Henry takes a crunchy bite and chews before he shrugs and says, “They’re okay, I guess.”

Even though I can tell he’s trying to act cool, I hear the underlying excitement. “Do you want to come and hear them play? I could even introduce you to them.”

He lowers his head and plays with a chip in his plate. “No, thanks. Mom says I can’t go.”

“Want me to talk to her?” I have no idea what I’ll say. Maybe April could talk her into letting the boy come, since I’m still not in Rachael’s good graces.

Again, Henry takes a bite and chews before answering. “No. That’s okay. They don’t really play my kind of music.”

That doesn’t offend me. Not everyone likes rock. “What do you like?”

“More contemporary country.”

That makes sense. He does live in the south. There are probably not many rockers around. I watch as his fingers tap out a melody on the tabletop. The guys in the band do that all the time. “Ahhh, I see. I like that, too. Do you play?”

April leans over. “Henry taught himself to play, and he writes his own music. He’s very talented.”

I turn back to Henry, impressed with his accomplishments. “Really? That’s great. Can I hear you play sometime?”

Henry shrugs which I understand as, not a chance. “Temperamental artist. I know how they are.” I grin. The conversation around the table moves on to another topic, and by the time April and I leave, I feel very comfortable around her family. I was eighteen when my mom and dad were killed. We didn’t have family barbeques growing up. Other than the grilling I got from April’s dad, I had a really good time.

“That was really a nice evening. Your parents are great,” I tell April as I pull out of her parents’ driveway.

April chuckles and turns toward me, her eyes sparkling in the streetlights. “Even with my dad’s interrogation?”

“He was just looking out for you,” I admit. I’m afraid I acted the same way, if not worse, around Belinda’s dates. I reach for April’s hand, needing to touch her.

Her fingers thread through mine, and I move our hands to rest on my thigh. “What were your parents like? Is that okay to ask?”

I haven’t talked about my parents in a long time. I wanted April to know them. “My dad was an accountant, and Mom had a lot of volunteer jobs that kept her busy. She had such a soft heart. She’d hear that someone in the community didn’t have money to pay their power bill, and she’d have a fundraiser going the next day. We’d take family vacations once a year, and those were the best times. Usually to the beach if Mom got her way. Dad liked going to the mountains. It didn’t matter whether we went to the beach or mountains, Dad and I always spent time fishing, just the two of us. Dad worked a lot, but on vacation, we had his undivided attention.” I feel a loss for Belinda that she didn’t get as much time with our folks as I did. I wonder how much she remembers them. I should have taken the time to continue vacations with just us.

April turns her head to me and smiles. “Those sound like happy memories.”

“They are.” My parents would have loved April. I often wonder how my life would be different if they hadn’t died. Would I already be married and have children? Would I have gone to college to play football? That’s what I had planned to do. Where would that path have taken me? Would I have been good enough to play pro ball?

I pull into April’s parking lot and cut the engine. I want more than anything to spend the night. But after talking with her dad, I’m not sure that would be the best thing for April.

“Your dad said that Ms. Edna has been keeping tabs on us.” I watch her closely to see if that upsets her, and don’t see the least unease. Instead, she laughs.

“Ms. Edna and Ms. Blanche keep tabs on everybody. That’s nothing new.”

“I know. But it’s a small town, and I don’t want to make things hard for you.” I stopped myself from adding, ‘when I leave.’

April pauses, and I feel her gaze. “Are you saying you don’t want to come up?”

I don’t answer, because if I say no, then it’s a lie. If I say yes, then it might hurt her in the end. Which is quickly approaching.

She puts her hand on my arm, and I look down at her delicate fingers. “Elias, I’m a grown woman.”

I still don’t say anything. In the back of my mind, I hear the comments April’s dad made about marriage and kids. I honestly don’t know if I ever want kids. I raised Belinda and thankfully didn’t screw her up, but do I want to take the chance again? Her hand leaves my arm, and suddenly a coldness comes over me.

She waits. Probably for me to explain. But I can’t. “Okay, then. Will I see you tomorrow?” She sounds confused.

Why wouldn’t she be confused? I should tell her, but instead, I say, “Sure. What do you need help with?”

“If you could come help unload the trucks when the flower shipment arrives, that would be great.”

“What time?” I ask without looking at her. I’m afraid of what I’ll see in her eyes. Clearly, I’m sending mixed messages. Of course she’s confused. I am too.

“Around nine,” she says, pausing with her hand on the car door.

Her eyes move back to me, waiting, but I continue to look out the windshield as I answer, “I’ll be there.”

I watch her walk into the apartment building. I should start the car and go back to the B&B, but I don’t. After Sunday, I’ll be back home. I continue to sit in the rental car and stare at the door April went through. What’s holding me back from having more time with April? I’m still debating the issue when my phone rings. I smile and push the button to answer this one.

“Hey, brat. How are you?” I let my head drop back on the headrest.

“Hi, Elias. Wes and I are having so much fun.” Hearing the joy in Belinda’s voice makes me happy.

“Stop. I can’t handle hearing any details,” I tease.

“Silly. That’s not what I meant. How’s the wedding planning coming?” she asks.

“You owe me big time. Thanks to April, everything is going smoothly.” I still can’t believe how much goes into planning a wedding.

“I knew she was the one. Isn’t she incredible?”

She’s so much more than that. “Yeah. She really is.”

“Elias.” Her voice goes serious. “Have you and April gotten close?”

I should have known my sister would pick up on my confused mood. “Would that be a bad thing if we did?”

“No. Not at all. I really like April. She’s the complete opposite of your usual female interests.”

My head jerks up. “And what do you know about my interests?” I’ve been careful to keep my personal life separate from Belinda.

She chuckles, and I can see her roll her eyes. “Oh, come on, E. Just because you never brought them around me didn’t mean I couldn’t read about them in the news. So, what’s going on with you and April?”

I sigh and answer honestly. “I don’t know.”

“Do you like her?” she asks, and I can hear the hopeful tone in her voice.

“Yeah. I do,” I admit.

“Do you like her, like her?” Belinda teases.

I laugh, and this time I roll my eyes. “What are we, ten?”

“You know what I mean.”

I pause. “I do like her, B. But I’m not sure if that means anything.”

“Of course it does. You just need to decide what it means.”

I watch a couple come out of the door that April went in. They’re in a deep discussion as they walk down the sidewalk. “I’m not sure I’m the right man for her. Her whole life is tied up in the town, and with her family. She’d never be happy moving away from here.”

“If she’s the one, Elias, you’ll find a way to make it happen. You’ve always gone after what you want.”

I settled back in my seat, more at ease than I’d been since going April’s family cookout. “How did you get so smart?”

“I had the best big brother in the world. I’ll see you the day after tomorrow.”

I hear Wes in the background, and I don’t want to know what’s going on with that. “Yeah. You know, Mom wouldn’t let me trade you in for a dirt bike when you were born, but I will finally get to give you away.”

After a few more words, I hang up and sit in the car for only a few seconds before I slam and lock the door. Luckily, a couple are too busy talking to notice that I hurry into the building behind them before the door could lock me out. I take the stairs, too impatient to wait for the elevator. I stand in front of April’s apartment door and knock quietly. As soon as she opens the door, I can see from her red eyes and stained cheeks that she’d been crying. I did that to her.

I reach out and swipe away a tear. “I’m sorry.”

Our eyes meet and hold, saying more than I’m capable of at the moment. Her hand lands in the center of my t-shirt, and she grabs a handful to pull me inside. My lips find hers, then it’s a race to rid ourselves of our clothes.