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Kyle looked at her sharply, holding up his hand with a finger extended, silently asking if Joe had been shot. Reyna shook her head ‘no’as she handed both of them one of the sundaes… and he continued on, with relief on his face.
“Betty Jean’s dad would have to catch me first,” he replied, winking at Reyna. “How can I stay away, when she looks so breathtakingly beautiful?”
Reyna stared at him in surprise, realizing that he was speaking to her – not as ‘Joe’, but fromhisheart…
“She’s a very pretty girl, isn’t she?” her mother said knowingly, nodding, before taking a bite of her ice cream.
“Exquisite,” Kyle replied, not looking away from Reyna.
“You need to take your time courtin’ her, Joe. She’s going to want the whole deal. She’s not someone you can dabble around with like those girls on the other side of the tracks.”
“What do you mean?”
“Betty Jean will be expecting marriage before she ever frolics about with you in the bedroom, you rogue. I swear, Mother is right. You do act just like Uncle Bernard chasing after skirts all the time…”
Reyna raised an eyebrow mockingly, smirking at Kyle – who grinned.
“So, you think Betty Jean is expecting marriage, huh?” Kyle replied quietly, looking at Reyna, making her blush as he turned the tables on the conversation before she even had a chance to realize it. “I’d say that things are quite new between us, but pretty incredible…”
“She’s gonna wantthe whole package, my dear brother,” her mother stressed before laughing happily, reaching for a napkin as she got chocolate on her chin. “Marriage, a home, children…”
“Oh really?” Kyle asked, grinning at Reyna. “You think she wants the whole deal, eh? Children, too? Wow, I guess things are getting serious fast between us, huh?”
“You want children, don’t you Betty Jean?” her mother asked, looking at her pointedly – as Kyle lifted an eyebrow, just like she’d done to him.
“Do you,Betty Jean?” he asked innocently. “Do you want children -with me- someday?”
“I don’t think we should be talking about this…”
“She’s shy,” her mother began. “Go ahead and tell Joe what you told me…”
“Oh, I’ve gotta hear this,” Kyle grinned, putting his spoon down into his sundae and smiling at her. “How many children do you want some day,Betty Jean…”he drawled out, grinning.
There was something in his eyes, a playfulness as well as a curiosity, that seemed to touch her. He was genuinely wanting to know, but asking as ‘Joe’ because it felt safer for him to have this discussion.
“If it’s the right person, then a family would be wonderful someday,” Reyna said softly in a hushed voice.
“She wants seven or eight kids,” her mother interrupted, slapping Kyle on the knee in laughter as she cackled in delight, causing Kyle to look at Reyna in surprise.
“You want seven or eight children?” he choked out in shock.
“No, maybe two or three,” she countered quickly, the words slipping out of her mouth before she realized it.
“You’re gonna have to convince her to marry you first, scoundrel,” her mother guffawed. “She knows what kind of hooligan you are – and just how bad you are with those lightskirts you chase.”
“Betty Jean isn’t like those… lightskirts,” Kyle began, hesitating over the old-fashioned term, as he met Reyna’s eyes. “She’s the real deal and I know I need to take my time, so I don’t mess things up with her.”
“Just don’t take too long,” Reyna whispered softly, lost in the moment, and not even comprehending what she was saying aloud, as the words just seemed to come from her very soul. “She’s ready for a piece of happiness that she can share with the right guy – and the rest is just a blessing.”
Kyle’s gaze that was already full of emotion, seemed to melt before her as he stared at her openly and with such an intense yearning that it was humbling.
“I promise I won’t take too long,” he murmured quietly, not looking away from her. “… But I do want it to be right for us both, because you’re a miracle to me, and I don’t deserve someone so incredible as…Betty Jean.”
“She’s just a normal girl.”
“She’s my everything…” he countered openly.
“Her daddy will put a muzzle full of lead in you, brother, if he catches you making those mooneyes at his daughter or saying such sweet stuff to her…”
