“Please let me go.” Her eyes were full of hope.
He put his spoon down and folded his hands. “I took your mom to every dance all through high school. I remember the first time. Mom told me to go down to Dixie’s Flower Shop and buy a corsage. I can’t even say for certain what kind of flowers were in it, just that they were blue. Light blue as pretty as her eyes. Your mom didn’t tell me until years after we were married that the corsage was supposed to match her dress… not her eyes.”
“That’s sweet. I never knew about that.”
“Then our senior year she wore a strapless dress. Totally screwed me up. I thought I had it all covered with the corsage that time, but there wasn’t anywhere to put the darn thing.”
“What did you do?”
“Improvised.”
Misty started laughing. “Oh no. I know what it means when you improvise. Did this involve baling twine or fence wire?”
“Maybe,” he said with a serious look.
Misty’s mouth dropped wide. “Oh, no!”
He laughed. “Yep. I went to my truck and pulled out a couple pieces of baling twine, then laid that pretty little bunch of flowers on her arm and wrapped it around her wrist and over the flowers with a bunch of half-hitch knots with that twine and then tied it in a bow. Worked like a charm.”
“I hope I don’t get a corsage like that.”
“If you do, I hope you’ll be as gracious as your mother was that night.” He could still see her face. “She flaunted it like it was the best corsage in town.”
“She didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”
“At the time, I really thought she was impressed. But no. I’m sure you’re right. Your mom was a very nice girl. It didn’t take much to make her smile.” Just the thought still made his insides go gushy. “I loved her smile.”
“You’re getting all googly-eyed again. I hope someday somebody looks like that when they talk about me.”
“Don’t rush it. I’m not ready for that.”
“I know, Dad. I’ll always be your little girl. Don’t you worry.”
She got up and came around the table and hugged him. “So, I’m going to need a really pretty dress.”
“I don’t know the first thing about buying a dress. Do you think Lilene or one of the ladies at Porter’s could help you?”
“Probably, but please don’t make me have them help. I’ll end up with a poofy old-lady dress.”
Visions of his little girl all dressed up made his heart knot.
“If you’ll trust me with your credit card, I can buy one online. That’s what all the girls are doing.”
“All the girls?”
“Yes, but I promise to clear it with you first.”
For a while there he’d thought she believed it when he said she couldn’t date until she was thirty. That wild hope was about to get kicked to the curb.
He leaned forward in his chair and pulled his wallet from his back pocket. “This is a big step. I’m trusting you to be responsible with this.” He flipped his platinum card down on the table in front of her. “I want to see the dress before you enter that credit card number.” It almost broke his heart to think she was going to go to her first dance, a date no matter how you framed it, without Olivia.
She squealed so loud he flinched.
“I guess that means you’re happy. Or my soup is already giving you some serious gas pains. Too many jalapeños in it?”
She swatted him. “Stop that. You know I’m happy. You’re the best dad in the world. I promise you can trust me with your credit card.”
“There’ll be a curfew.”
