Tracy

I feel bad that I wasn't at the bakery today, but I left a message for Carly last night to let her know what had happened.

Carly called me at six a.m. to check and see how I was doing. I told her where I was staying. Playfully, she made jokes, but promised not to tell Amelia. It didn’t matter because she already knows and is cool with it. That was a big worry for me. Amelia and I close in age but not that close. Everybody seems to think I'm only twenty years old, but I'm already twenty-three. I’m sure that she wants the best for her dad and I’m happy that she likes me enough to approve.

 Breakfast is halfway done. So I finish it and wait while he makes some work calls. After serving the sheriff dozens of times at the diner, I know what he likes. Just as he comes into the kitchen, I hand him a plate. “Damn, this looks and smells fabulous.”

“You’re welcome. Amelia did half the work. Enjoy.” We both sit down and eat, talking about nothing really.

“I want to ask you something. How come at twenty-three you were a virgin?”

“Bad dating experiences and then I left my hometown about four years ago. Since then I’ve been trying to make things work for me, leaving dating to the side. Besides, for the past year, I’ve been only interested in a man who did his best to irritate me.”

“Sorry about that. Trust me, it’s been hard for me too.”

“We need to get a moving truck to your place and have you moved in here as soon as possible,” he tells me.

“Aren’t you rushing this?” I ask, sipping from my coffee cup.

“Didn’t you just say that we wasted months?” He’s right about that. I know that I only want him. I may be young, but I’m not naïve.

“We just don’t know each other,” I explain.

He grabs my hand, intertwining our fingers. It feels so perfect that I don’t know if I can walk away. My heart and body belong to him, but I have to be strong. It’s a fight I’m not sure I can win. Then he looks me deep in the eyes and begins, “I know that you don’t like coffee creamer, you work hard as hell, you’re way too good for me. And most importantly, I know that I can’t live without you.”

Yep, I surrender. I nod, smiling so “Then it’s settled. I’ll move in with you.”

He tilts his head, quirking his brows. “Move in? You’re more than moving in, Tracy. You’re marrying me as soon as possible. Do you have any family and friends that you need to give notice to?”

“No, I don’t,” I confess.

“Why not?” He brushes my face with the back of his fingers.

“I was raised by my Grandma, but she died two years ago.” My eyes water up because I miss her so much. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be the caring woman I am today. I would probably be dead or on drugs. That’s a scary thought.

“I’m sorry, Tracy. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“No, I’m okay. I promise. I’m just happy that I have you now.”

“Good, then it can be a small wedding,” he adds. I can see his mind moving a million miles an hour and that strong jaw upturning to a show his sexy smile.

I’m completely his. “I suppose, boss man. And when are we supposed to have this wedding?”

“I’d marry you today if I could get away with it.”

“Well, then we better get this together. I want to be your wife, Derek,” I answer. I’m so in love with him that it doesn’t matter. He grabs my hand and pulls me off my chair and into his lap. He attacks my neck with his lips.

“Marry me this weekend,” he says, nibbling on me.

“Yes,” I answer and that’s when I feel something metal slide across my finger. I look down to see a very large and beautiful three stone diamond ring.

“I’ve had this since we met. I didn’t get it in town because some people are too nosy. You know that people gossip around here.”

“Yes, I totally get that. I might have run away from this place if I found out, thinking it was for someone else. Having worked in the diner, I can hear what the people say when they are socializing.”

“Then I’m thrilled as fuck that I didn’t buy it anywhere near here. Speaking of the diner, I know you’re not going back to work there, but what about the bakery?”

“It’s good, but it’s not what I want to do with my life.”

“What do you want to do?”

“I’m not sure. When I was younger I wanted to work in law enforcement.”

“Really? That’s pretty cool. Did you want to be an officer or something else?”

“I wanted to work in Narcotics. After being taken away from my mom because of drugs, I wanted to get the drug dealers off the streets. It’s now an insurmountable task, but it’s out of the cards. I don’t want to spend that much time away from you,” I admit. It’s scary how much I need him. I’ve managed to keep myself together, but then he acknowledged his feelings and that was it.

“Good, because I selfishly don’t want you in danger. Speaking of, I want you to come down to the station with me. There’s a lot of shit that needs to be taken care of before I can let you out of my sight. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“There’s something I need to tell you as well.”

“What, Tracy? You can tell me anything.”

“My grandmother had a trust created for me. I get it in two years.”

“Really, well that will come in handy.”

“You’re not curious about it?”

“It’s not my business. If you want to tell me then you can, but I’m not going to press you about your money.”

“Well, it won’t matter because we’ll be married.”

“You can tell me when you get it, okay?”

“Okay,” I agree, kissing him on the lips then hop off his lap. I still have to clean up the dishes. He’s going to freak out that we’ll be rich pretty soon. It’s not enough to live off forever, but it’ll set us up nicely for our retirement and our kids’ colleges.