“I learned from a good man,” Jack chuckled proudly and winked at her. “I still say you look prettier without that furry critter on your head.”
“Just like him, I swear,” Mimi chuckled, smiling. She walked off toward her little house, muttering something he couldn’t quite catch. Yeah, he was going to ask Heidi to marry him; it was just a matter of when… and how.
Jack wanted things to be perfect – especially if she was going to settle on sticking around and dealing with a very imperfect and flawed man. He didn’t have a fancy car, a pristine house, or a fleet of people to wait on her hand and foot. Having been raised in this small town, he knew community, friendship, and responsibility… and had that in spades. As time passed, she might get frustrated that Jack could be needed to help a friend put up a swing set for their children, or that he was needed to help run a fundraiser in town. Being part of the town’s essential services meant being at the very heart of things – and it could also mean a demand on his time, but family would be first in his heart always.
She would always be first to him… and he prayed that would be enough.
Several hours later,sunburned and exhausted, Jack was pulling up with his truck in town and saw that the square was already being decorated for tomorrow night. He couldn’t wait to show Heidi what being part of a communitycould be like – and he wanted her to be in the center of it, to be a pillar, someone others could look to when they needed something… and wanted to give her all of that – need, belonging, security, a home, and his heart.
The ring he’d bought less than an hour ago was burning a hole in his pocket. It had to be special, a memory she would cherish forever and brag to their children about someday… not a ‘Hey, I picked up a few things – and are we getting hitched or not?’ casual commentary just tossed out haphazardly between them.
Nope – he needed his wits about him, to look somewhat passable for her, and to make her shine during that moment… and the woman he saw in the windowpanes as he walked up was anything but ‘shining’. In fact, she looked so stressed that he almost backed away from the door, turned around, and hopped in his truck. Even Becky Sue beside her looked at Heidi skeptically… and then Heidi spotted him.
“Ohh crap…” he barely got out as her arm came flying out the front door like a claw out of a horror film, grasped the front of his shirt, and dragged him inside bodily. His life – and Mimi’s death grip earlier – flashed before his eyes… until Heidi pressed herself against him, molding herself, gripping him tightly.
“This is your fault, you know,” she whispered against his chest.
“I’ll do whatever-it-was again to get this greeting,” he chuckled warmly, his focus solely on Heidi as he tried to determine what had happened.
“It’s the Jamboree,” Becky Sue volunteered. “Your woman is freaking out that someone might look at her crossways. I told her that wasn’t the case, but she keeps blithering on about ‘being perfect’.”
Jack chuckled knowingly, smoothed back Heidi’s hair,and tilted her head back so he could look into those eyes he wanted to drown in the rest of his life. “All they have to do is meet you – and they’ll get a glimpse of perfection,” he murmured softly and ignored Becky Sue’s sigh of envious longing. His focus was Heidi – always Heidi. “Whatever you’re serving is just a bonus. You could hand me a flour brick, and I’d feel blessed, Sweetheart.”
“You’re putting undue stress on me with this stupid Jamboree…”
“I’m putting a spotlight on the woman I’m so proud to call my own,” he admitted in a hushed voice. “Nothing you can do will ever be wrong – and I swear that compared to Dottie’s pickles…”
“Vile things,” Heidi shivered in disgust and curled her lip, interrupting him.
“… Whatever you make will be pure heaven,” he finished, smiling as he leaned down and stole a much-needed kiss. “I’ve missed you.” And saw her respond as she sighed, hugged him again, and whispered, “I missed you too,” somewhere against his neck.
As he looked up at Becky Sue, he mouthed ‘What’s wrong?’ Becky Sue just rolled her eyes, twirled a finger by her head, and then shrugged. It was a moment later that Becky Sue plopped something on a plate and carried it over to him – but nudged Heidi instead.
“Here,” Becky Sue ordered. “Make him a taste-tester since you didn’t believe me the first two times. I’m gonna go grab a third serving of this supposed ‘garbage’ that we just spent the last hour making.”
Heidi took the small plate, turned, and looked at him. She lifted an eyebrow, glared at him warily, and hesitated. “I need you to be honest,” she began carefully, like she was debating on how to say whatever was on her mind. “Not ‘we’re-dating-so-I-better-lie-to-her’ but the God’s honesttruth, Jack… no mincing words. I need to know exactly what you think because my reputation and the café are on the line.”
“What do you mean?”
“I can’t exactly fry donuts at a table on the street, now can I?”
Uh oh…
That was a very real problem that hadn’t occurred to him. She was right. There would be no plugs, no fryers, in the middle of the town square, and staying inside meant missing all the atmosphere – which is why he’d insisted that participants have booths, tables, and tents set up along the street. Maybe he wasn’t so great at logistics after all?
“No,” he drew out slowly. “You’re right about that – and let me apologize now because I didn’t think about that.”
“Apology accepted,” Heidi said curtly. “Now – bite into that.”
“What is it?”
“I don’t have a name for it yet.”
“Experimental Goo number three?” Becky Sue volunteered cheerfully, her mouth full in the distance. Both Jack and Heidi angled their heads to look at the other woman who was sitting on a stool, chewing happily. “What?”
“You’re not helping,” Heidi muttered. “I thought I liked you…”
“You love me,” Becky Sue grinned – and took another bite, wagging her eyebrows at them both. “Go ahead, Loverboy. Tell her what you think.”
