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They’d broken up, and Cherry had fled Sweet Water Falls in favor of San Antonio.
“But he’s still just one,” Cherry said, sounding tired now. “Listen, Lee, I have to go. I’m so happy you asked Rosalie. Are you happy?”
“Yeah,” he said slowly. “Do you think I should press her about the wedding when we go out tonight?”
“I think…wait and see how it goes. If it goes real well, you can ask her when you drop her off. Just be like, ‘so…I didn’t really hear if you said yes or no to the wedding. Should I be lookin’ for another date?’”
Lee chuckled as his sister laughed. “I do not sound like that,” he said, though she’d gotten his accent pretty spot-on, even the “lookin’” was exactly right.
“Sure,” Cherry said, still giggling. She sobered in the next moment. “Lee, not a word about Charlie to anyone, especially Mama.”
“No, ma’am,” Lee said, his spirits quieting. “But you’ll tell them, right? I hate keeping secrets. I’m no good at it, and they knot me all up.”
“I’ll tell them,” she said. “Soon.”
“When?” he pressed.
“As soon as you tell them you’ll be at the wedding with Rosalie,” she said, nailing into his heart with those words.
“You know what?” Lee asked, but he didn’t have anything to follow it up with.
“What?” Cherry challenged.
Lee shook his head and stirred his shake as a couple of boys ran out onto the grass near him, a soccer ball going back and forth between them. “I don’t know what,” he said. “But one day, I’m going to have something really amazing to hold overyourhead. See how you like it then.”
Cherry laughed again, and Lee allowed himself to smile. “Call me later, little brother,” she said. “I want to know how the whole date went.”
“Send me some places to take her,” he said quickly. “Niceplaces, Cherry.”
“You got it.” With that, the call ended. Lee sighed and took another bite of pure perfection. He nursed the shake until it was gone, and then he checked his phone.
Another sigh pulled through him, but this one carried a lot more weight. Mama and Daddy had texted, both needing items at different stores. Martha had also responded and said Ford finished his piano lessons at five-thirty, and Lee could come by any time after that.
“Can’t sit around eating ice cream,” he muttered to himself as he flipped his truck in reverse and backed out of yet another parking stall. If he timed everything just right, he could run his parents’ errands and see his son before he had to be on Rosalie’s doorstep for dinner.
His stomach trembled, and Lee told himself it was just the orange chocolate chip ice cream causing havoc with his guts. But really, he knew it was because he’d have to somehow find a way to charm, chat, and chuckle with the gorgeous Rosalie Reynolds…without making a complete idiot of himself.
He really didn’t want to come up short this time, and he honestly hadn’t felt half as excited about a woman as he did Rosalie. He’d never believed in love at first sight before, but when Rosalie was in the room, Lee couldn’t evenseeanyone else.
“Slow down, cowboy,” he muttered to himself as he turned into the organic grocery store lot. “She might be the one for you, but that doesn’t mean you’re the one for her.”
He applied the brakes in his truck as he came to a stop in a stall, and he could do the same for his thoughts about Rosalie. It was their first date. He’d just see how things went tonight, but as he walked inside to get Daddy’s sprouted wheat bread, Lee prayed that this dinner would be amazing for both him and Rosalie.
