Chapter Twelve
Austin
I didn’t wake up the next morning at the crack of dawn with a smile on my face. Nope, not me.
“What’s all this?” Dad asked as I brought in a full spread of french toast and fruit. I even put his coffee in the little coffee pot that Mom used to use at the table.
“Nothin’, just breakfast on this fine morning.”
He chuckled, making the tray shake. “Fine morning, huh? It was a fine morning the day after your mom and I got married.”
“Dad, come on. Nothing like that. Just a good morning.”
I sat next to his bed, and we ate together, talking about shallow things like how the cows were doing and when I was going to move the herd to another field for grazing.
“How much cow talk do I have to do before you tell me what happened last night? Or do I have to ask Alma when she comes in? I bet she’s got that same goofy grin as you.”
The goofy grin rose again, and I tried desperately to cover it with a cough.
“We took a ride in the truck.”
Dad grinned from ear to ear. “Oh, the old get in the back of the truck and look at the stars routine. Classic.”
“Dad!”
“What? I know you don’t think you made that move up. Boy, I’m the king of watchin’ the stars.” He waggled his eyebrows.
“Well, we talked about a lot of things.”
He nodded, mouth full of french toast. “Get everything straightened out? Tell her you love her?”
He wasn’t getting information out of me that quickly. I looked out the window for a while, making him squirm.
“Don’t make me get out of this bed and whip you, Austin James.”
“Please, Dad. You haven’t been able to whip me since I was thirteen. And yes, I told her how much I love her and that this time we had to do things right and honest and no secrets and no hiding.”
“Sounds like you have a plan.”
I nodded. “I do. I’ve invited them all over to dinner tonight. All of them. Our friends. Her friends. Her parents. I guess you can come too.”
“Best you get to the store then. Sounds like you have a lot of people to feed. But first, get your old dad to the bathroom and help me pick out an outfit for tonight.”
After taking him to the bathroom, we picked out his best outfit. A pair of dark washed jeans and a maroon shirt. He even took out his finest hat.
“There. Now, go impress those future in-laws. I’ve got my shows to watch.”
The man had a serious addiction to soap operas.
After the house was spotless, I needed to get to the store.
“Ahh!” I heard her yell as I opened the door. She had some kind of lip stuff in her hand and I’d apparently caught her mid-application.
“Alma? What are you doing? Dad doesn’t care if you have lip gloss on or not.”
The laugh escaped my mouth before I could stop it.
“Is that right? Well, then I won’t bother.”
I winked at her, knowing full well what it did to her. “Strawberry or peach?”
She scoffed. “Puh-lease, Austin. There’s things you don’t know about me anymore.”
I reached for her hand, snatching the lip gloss from her hands and holding it up to her eyes.
“Peach.”
She rolled her eyes and cocked one of her hips. “Don’t act like you don’t like it.”
“Mmm... let me see.” I bent down a little and pressed my lips to hers as softly as I could. Her breath hitched as I pulled away. “Yep, I approve,” I said, laughing at the blush that had instantly washed onto her cheeks.
“So, tonight. Dinner… eating… parents?”
“Yes.” I laughed at her stuttering, loving the way my kiss made her breathless. “Tonight we are going to eat all the parents for dinner. Good call.”
“What? No! Stop that. I mean tonight, you’re still good with my parents coming over?”
I pulled her to me, not able to stand the little bit of distance between us.
“Oh, I think that’s what I needed this morning. Last night felt like a dream.” She rubbed her face back and forth on my chest and reached up to place a whisper-light kiss on my neck.
“It wasn’t a dream, Alma. Although, I’ve been dreaming about you coming back to me for years. It’s gonna be right this time. You and me, no secrets, no meeting in the barn, none of it.”
Alma looked up at me with her huge brown eyes and a pout on her mouth. “No night meeting in the barn? Ever? A little barn making out never hurt anyone.”
She was killing me. All those first love tingling feelings were back in full swing. My knees even felt a little weak as I held her there on my porch. “Okay, but only because you stuck your bottom lip out. You know I’d do just about anything if you stick your bottom lip out.”
I left her there after a few more kisses to her hair and her forehead.
And she told me she loved me one more time before I got into the truck.
Shopping in record time, I managed to pick up everything for dinner. Steaks, chicken, ribs, all the fixin’s, and enough sweet tea to kill a horse. It was all going to be perfect. The dinner. Me and Alma. Our life.
Most importantly, it would be out in the open. They might not like it, but at least we would be open and honest.
This time, Alma would be mine forever, not just in the night or in the dark between her property and mine.
I felt my front pocket for the one thing of hers that I’d kept over the years – the ring I’d proposed to her with that night.
Something told me I’d need it.
Something was right. I’d need it tonight. There wasn’t any reason to delay. I wanted to make Alma my wife as soon as possible. We’d wasted too much time already.