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It took a little sweet talking, and I was relieved when Kelly agreed. In the beginning, Kelly said no. Kelly must be the only female I have ever met that doesn’t like to shop, and she doesn’t like crowds. The crowds I understand, but a woman that doesn’t like to shop is unheard of in my family. My mother used to do all my shopping just because she loves to shop.
I thought about giving Kelly a gift card from a jewelry store but Botie said that was a bad idea because it was so impersonal. I want to buy Kelly something that she will always look at and think of me. I want Kelly to think of me the way I think of her. It’s like all thoughts of Kelly have moved in my head and I can’t stop thinking about her even when I try. This has never happened to me before and I am not sure I like it. I don’t obsess about women. This just shows me that Kelly is different since I can’t get her out of my head. I have decided to enjoy this phase of my life while I can. I know in a month or so some other woman will turn my head and then the thoughts of Kelly will be gone. Perhaps then, Kelly and I can remain friends since I like the woman a lot.
I drive my truck up Kelly’s drive and she is out on the porch waiting on me again. I wonder why the woman doesn’t want me in her house. I park my truck. Kelly walks to the passenger side of the truck, and I get out of my truck in a hurry and walk around to open her door for her. I help her get situated. She still doesn’t have the whole pulling herself up in my truck thing down yet. “You don’t need to wait on the porch for me you know. I will knock on your door.” Kelly smiles at me—that cute smile she has—and she looks almost shy.
“I don’t like to keep people waiting. It’s rude.” I laugh at that.
“Honey, in this part of the country, it’s rude for a man not come to the door for his date. You know, all this southern hospitality and everything,” I explain to her.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I’ve never had anyone that wanted to wait on me. I didn’t mean to step on your gentlemanly ways. Next time, I will let you knock on my door.” I smile. She knows there is going to be a next time. I like that.
“I like that you know there is going to be a next time every time. I’m growing on you.” I wink at her and kiss the tip of her nose where her freckles are. I shut her door and walk around and get into the truck.
“I didn’t mean to be presumptuous. I meant if there was a next time.” I fasten my seat belt and look at Kelly as I start the truck.
“I told you that I liked it. It means that you know I am in your life and I’m not going anywhere. That’s progress, and it has been inevitable since we first met. Relax, I like it a lot.” Kelly does relax. I back out and we drive back up her drive. Over the next two hours, I hope to get to know Kelly a lot better, so she won’t be such a mystery to me. “We have about a two-hour drive until we reach Austin, so why don’t you tell me about yourself. You have met my friends, and I have talked your ear off, so it’s your time to tell me all your secrets.” Kelly looks at me and I glance at her. I see something that looks a little like fear in her eyes and then it is gone in a flash.
“Why, I mean, what do you want to know? I have lived a boring life,” Kelly asks, but she is looking at her hands and not at me.
“Where were you born, do you have any siblings, where are your parents, and where all have you lived? Why Comfort, Texas? You know, the usual stuff you tell people when you’re getting to know each other.” I ask some of the questions I have been wondering about. “Who’s your best friend? What’s your favorite color and your favorite food?” Kelly seems uncomfortable and she has a fake smile on her face—the kind that doesn’t reach her eyes.
“My favorite color is different shades of gray. It’s not very original, but it goes with everything and there are so many different shades. I love the gun-metal gray; I think it’s my favorite. My favorite food is Mexican; tacos are my nirvana. I can’t get enough of them. I think I could eat them every day.” Kelly smiles big when she says this but then she goes quiet. “My parents are dead, and I have no siblings. My parents were in a car crash right after my high school graduation. My best friend, Kim, died of kidney disease and I wasn’t there.” Kelly keeps looking at her hands and not at me. I know she is either not telling me the whole story or there is something in her past that she doesn’t like talking about. “My parents and I moved around a lot, so it was hard to make friends and keep them. They were both only children and their parents died before I was born. I have moved all over trying to find a place to land. When I moved here, I liked it, but I was lonely and then I met you. See, my life is boring. No family and no roots to talk about. I’ve never had a pet and I like the quiet, so I keep to myself, but it just got too quiet. Now I have friends because of you.” Kelly stops and takes a breath. Something is off but I don’t want to upset her and have our day be ruined. I’ll ask her at a better time, or I hope one day she will open up to me on her own. I can’t imagine the life she has led on her own all these years. “Your turn. Tell me all your secrets and about your family.”
“You know me, darlin’. You’ve met my friends and I am an open book. No secrets with me.” I see Kelly smiling from my peripheral vision.
“Like you’re a womanizer that has never met an easy girl that you didn’t feel the need to hook up with.” That makes me laugh.
“Now sweetheart, I have dated a lot, and yes, I love women, but they don’t need to be easy. I love a challenge,” I tell her, not wanting to sugarcoat my past. “I can tell you that since I first saw you in the diner that no one else has caught my eye and that is a first for me.” I keep things real.
“Your reputation proceeds you, Trask. I think Cheryl let everyone know that the day in the diner.” I laugh.
“Honey, Cheryl is not the first woman that has let everyone know that I’m not the settling down type.” I hesitate. “I was not the settling down type, the boyfriend type, or even taking a woman out for a second date type until you. You have changed me, and I like it, or I think I do. This thing we are doing today, going shopping and spending time together, this isn’t the normal me.” I don’t know if this is too much too soon, but it’s too late now. I need to finish this. “I told you that I want to get to know you and that isn’t me either. I don’t want to scare you off but my normal is to get a woman underneath me naked and for us to enjoy each other. Then it’s over. No lies told along the way. I have never had to do that. I want more with you and this is me being honest.” I have never been this honest with a woman before. “After we know each other, then we’ll enjoy each other in a more physical way. I don’t want to rush this. If I keep doing the same thing, then I’ll get the same results. I think you and I can be more but don’t run because I’m not the stalker type.” I laugh at the end. “Well, unless you run, then I might consider it.”
“Wow, that was a lot of information for the second date,” Kelly says with a smile on her face.
“I could definitely get into that stalker thing if you run. I just spewed my heart out at you.” I laugh to try to ease the tension a little. Maybe I should have eased into this a little slower. What the hell, I stand by everything I said. I can’t walk it back now. That horse is out of the barn.
“I wouldn’t want you turning into a stalker and getting thrown in jail, so I suppose I won’t run just yet.” Kelly puts my nerves at ease. I don’t know what kind of spell this woman has me under, but I am nervous of how she will react to what I say. This isn’t me. I change the direction of my words.
“My mom and dad are hard to explain. They love me and I love them, but they have changed throughout the years. My mom, Skeeter, is so worried about what other people think. My dad, Donald, just wants more everything. He’s never satisfied with what he accomplishes. Maybe it’s just I have matured, and I see the way they are. When I was growing up, Dad was my hero. I thought he could do no wrong until I become a teenager and he started trying to tell me who I could and couldn’t be friends with and Mom wanted to handpick my girlfriends. They just didn’t think some people were good enough.” I stop and think about what I have said, and I know it sounds awful, but it is the way I feel.
“Do you have any brothers or sisters?” Kelly asks.
“I have one brother, Branton. He’s two years younger than me and we are nothing alike. I love him because he’s my brother, but I don’t like him very much most of the time.” I try to explain Branton’s and my relationship in as few words as possible.
“Jealous of your little brother?” Kelly asks innocently.
“Not hardly. Branton is irresponsible and keeps getting into scrapes with the law. He doesn’t stick around the ranch and help with the work, but he comes crawling home when he needs Dad to get him out of trouble or if he needs money to pay off loan sharks. The man has a gambling problem and a bigger problem telling the truth.” I see Kelly nodding her head.
“Do your parents always bail him out?” she asks.
“Yes, Branton is their pride and joy. He went to Hollywood and made a few movies that bombed pitifully but they got to go out there and walk the red carpet at the openings. They have put their hopes in Branton to hobnob with the rich and famous. Then his sex tapes leaked to the media, but they didn’t make him famous. He hasn’t been able to get a job since then.” I don’t even like to think of the money that Dad had to shell out to get his hands on those tapes. They had already hit the internet and there is no taking that back.
“Did your mom and dad come from money or did they have to work for it?” I look at Kelly and then back to the road. That’s an odd question.
“My grandpa gave them the land when they married and quite a bit of money too, but Dad made the ranch so it would make money. Mom was a seamstress when she was younger, and she took side jobs when things would get lean in their early days, or that’s the stories I have heard. By the time I was old enough to remember, Dad had whipped the ranch into making money. We aren’t billionaires or anything but the ranch still makes a comfortable living,” I answer.
“I wasn’t talking about now. I’m not digging for what you’re worth. I am just trying to understand your mom and dad.” Kelly stops and then starts again. “Have you ever thought that your parents only want better for you and Branton? Better than what they had when they started so they want to build something that won’t be torn down. I mean, some people know what it’s like not to have everything they want and sometimes what they need, so they overcompensate. The memories keep them working harder so their loved ones never need to know what it feels like not to have what you need. Maybe at one time, your mom and dad felt like they didn’t fit, and they were less. Now, they want to show everyone that they do fit, and they have succeeded.” Kelly hesitates again. “Just… maybe your parents know that you are a strong man, and you will always be able to survive because you don’t have stars in your eyes, and you have a good foundation—both feet planted firmly on the ground. Maybe they know Branton can’t survive without help from them and they are scared what will happen to him when they are no longer here to take care of him. Most parents love their children and only want what’s best for them. The lucky children, anyway. Just try to look at it from their point of view. Every story has two sides.” Kelly looks sad as she speaks. Did Kelly’s parents not want that for her? I think about what she’s said. I never thought of it that way. The silence in the truck goes on too long for Kelly. “I mean, that’s just my opinion. I’m not trying to butt into your business.”
