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“Oh, it will be,” she said easily, opening the door for him, indicating that they should leave and quickly locking it behind him. “There’s going to be about four or five dates before we go to the courthouse together.”
“DO WHAT?” he balked, tripping and falling off the curb, stumbling to keep from falling down in front of her.
“Oh, don’t act surprised, Luke,” she smiled openly, playfully tapping him on the nose as she stepped off the steep curb. “If you need to go on dates to have a few moments to think - or some fancy premise to be sure that ‘I’m the one’… that’s fine. I think it would be fun to date you and see how you react to me, but there’s no changing things. You and I are a thing.”
“We are?” he gulped nervously, opening the truck door for her. “How do you figure?”
“That’s why we are dating…” she said mischievously, looking over her shoulder at him as she moved to climb into the truck. “So you can do all the ‘figuring’ you need to…”
He stared at her for a moment before shutting the passenger side door, looked at her again curiously, shook his head, then slowly walked around the truck before climbing in and buckling up.
As the truck started, he looked at her again with this bewildered look that caused a smile to touch her lips.
“What’s wrong?”
“I never expected… well… this or any of what you just said and I’m…”
“Luke,” she breathed, reaching out to touch his arm and feeling it jump under her fingertips. “It’s okay. That’s why we are going to take things slow so you can feel confident in this. I’m a Saxon. I’m my father’s daughter through-and-through… and you are the one for me.”
“How? Why? Why do you say that?”
“I can’t answer that,” she smiled, laying her other hand over her chest. “I just feel it here and know it deep down inside.”
“That makes no sense.”
“Drive…” she whispered softly. “I’m hungry, and we need to get out of town before someone sees us.”
That seemed to spur him into action. He nodded, swallowed audibly, and threw the truck into reverse, before quickly backing up and pulling out onto the main road.
Within minutes, Yonder was behind them and all you could see were the open fields of a pasture on both sides of the road with slight hills in the distance. They drove silently for several minutes before he turned off onto another country road that suddenly was dotted with pecan trees, elms, and oaks… with a large babbling creek ran along the road.
Crossing a small, ancient iron bridge with wooden slats along the bottom, they finally pulled into a park. He put the truck underneath a gathering of trees to give them some shade, and Nicolette immediately rolled down the window.
“Do you want to get out and walk around?” he asked nervously, unbuckling.
“Nope.”
“What do you…”
“We are going to eat, remember?” she beamed, patting the cooler between them and turning slightly in the bench seat of the truck. “Eat, talk, get to know each other a little better.”
“Nicolette,” he sighed heavily, closing his eyes, and put his head back on the headrest.
She marveled at the way he looked right now, stunned by his lack of conviction, understanding that he was doubting any of this. He thought he wasn’t good enough and simply was frightened to believe. Oh yes, she knew Luke quite well over the years and had seen him struggle before a few times.
“We both know that this will never happen. It’s sweet that you believe that there’s something between…”
She suddenly leaned upwards, tucking her knees underneath her, and the slight jostling movement was enough to cause him to turn to look at her.
“Nope. Close your eyes, Luke. You need a dose of faith in your heart…”
“I have faith…”
“Shhh… are you going to argue with me all the time when we date?” she began gently, smiling softly at him – only to see that hesitant smile returned. He was watching her, looking completely unsure, but that glimmer in his eyes spoke volumes to her soul.
“Close your eyes,” she repeated.
He did.
