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Harrison slicked his hands down the front of his shorts, wishing he’d known about this meet-the-parents breakfast during packing time.He didn’t think the khakis cut it, though Cass had assured him and reassured him several times that morning.
He wore a shirt he’d thought was pink, but Jane had informed him was “coral,” and that he looked “hot” in it.He’d blinked at her in response, because he wasn’t sure if he should react.And if so, in what way.
She’d laughed at him, and he did like her a whole lot more when she wasn’t high or coming off a high.Sariah had given him a tense smile that morning, and Cass had swooped in to say it was time to leave before he could speak to her.
He knew she was protecting him, and he appreciated it whether he believed he needed to be protected or not.She didn’t want her children to hurt his feelings or say something insensitive, so she hovered a little.He wasn’t going to hold it against her.
“There they are,” Cass said, and she rose to her feet.Harrison shot to his too, searching for a pair of faces Cass had only shown him on her phone last night.
He spotted her mother, and the woman exuded confidence, class, and kindness.She moved the way Cass did, and she held her head in the exact same way.She didn’t stand as tall as Cass, and her height obviously came from her father.
He opened the door, his head full of white hair practically gleaming in the sunshine, and he put a big smile on his face when he saw his daughter.“Cass,” he boomed, just as Cass said he would.
He doesn’t speak much, she said.But when he does, it’s loud.
She flew into her mother’s arms first, the two of them wrapping themselves right up together.Cass’s mother smiled and pressed her eyes closed, her graying hair falling to her chin in a neat bob, appropriate for a woman her age.
“Howdy, sir,” Harrison said, playing up the cowboy angle because he wore the hat again today.He actually liked it, and as he shook Cass’s father’s hand, he sank into a different state of relaxation.They were just people, and yes, they loved Cass.
He smiled at her and her mother and said, “I’m Harrison Tate.”
“Bob,” her dad said.“My wife is Kara.”
That got her to pull back from Cass, who wiped her eyes and looked up at Harrison.“I meant to introduce you.”
“I know how,” he said, taking her hand in his.
He did look at her mother and wait for Cass to say, “Momma, this is Harrison Tate, my boyfriend.”She beamed up at him then, the tears in her eyes drying right up.
“Ma’am.”He eased forward and took her in a hug, then dipped back and kissed both of her cheeks.
She blushed and said, “Well, oh my.”She reached up and patted her hair.
“Harrison, my mother is Kara,” Cass said.“My daddy is Robert.”
“He said Bob,” Harrison said.
“Call me either,” the older gentleman said.He held up six fingers, and somehow that got them a table instantly.“Liz is almost here.”
Cass kept her hand in Harrison’s as the hostess took them back to a corner booth.She slid into the middle of it, which meant Harrison had to as well.Her parents sat on her side, and he figured he could keep her sister entertained easier than her momma and daddy.
“Harrison, look,” she said.“They have breakfast hand pies.”Cass tipped the menu toward him, and he felt like he was moving in slow motion.He looked where she pointed, but he barely saw the words before she moved the menu back in front of her.“I’m going to get that.”
“Chicken fried steak and eggs,” her dad yelled.“It’s the best in the whole state.”
“The whole state, Bob?”Kara asked, her voice dripping with disbelief.“How could you possibly know that?”
“I’ve eaten it,” Bob said.“That’s how I know that.”He hadn’t picked up his menu, and as a waitress approached, Harrison almost wanted to tell her to run.
Instead, she placed four glasses of water on the table and looked at the empty seats next to Harrison.“Expecting two more?”
“Yes,” he said.
“I can take drink orders now,” she said, smiling past him to the others at the table.
“We’re here,” another woman said, and she practically flopped onto the bench.She scooted over, and Harrison looked at a lighter version of Cass.“You must be Harrison.”She grinned at him.“I’m Liz.”
