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And I smiled thinking about what a good father her dad must have been to have such a smart and sweet kid.
She parked the truck in its usual spot with no problem and put on the emergency brake before turning to look at me.
With a serious face, she said, “I still haven’t kissed anyone since that day that wasn’t my mom or dad. And now I know what my dad meant. So I’m saving that for someone really special.”
“Your dad was a smart man,” I agreed.
Her throat bobbed and a light sheen of tears settled in her eyes and that dread in my stomach spread through my body. “Are you kissing my mom, West?” she asked, but we both already knew the answer to that.
I nodded slowly, wanting to somehow soothe her and run from that truck like my ass was on fire at the very same time.
“Make sure you mean it,” she said, one of those tears from her eyes slipping down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly. “Make sure she’s special to you. Make sure you love her.”
She parroted her father’s words back at me from her story. Even though I was seated, I still wanted to fall to my knees.
Emily was probably sitting inside that house, frantic at the idea of her daughter learning to drive, and this child was sitting here in this truck, making sure her mother wouldn’t get hurt.
These two. They may have been a small family, but they were mighty and their love was big. It almost felt like too much for this old bachelor. Almost.
But the bigger part of me wanted this. I wanted to be a part of this small family, with their larger-than-life love. It called to me.
“Don’t hurt her,” Parker finished, turning the truck off and unbuckling her seat belt. I guessed our conversation was over.
I sat there, feeling the full force of her words. She was almost out of the vehicle and I was still sitting there. “Wait, Parker.”
She turned back, looking at me. “Yeah?” she asked, her eyes still red and puffy, and it damn near crushed me.
“I mean it,” I said. I didn’t think about it. I didn’t debate it. I didn’t even know I was going to say it before it was out of my mouth. But I knew sure as shit that I meant it.
She hit me with a soft smile. “Good.”
Weston: Be ready in ten. I want some hot dogs.
The text came through while I was lying in bed, scrolling through social media on my phone. I wasn’t sure what that meant exactly, but I was guessing he was going to be here in ten minutes. I didn’t know if I was supposed to make the hot dogs or if he was bringing them or what.
But Parker was over at Prisha’s for dinner, so I was on my own. And hot dogs didn’t sound half bad, but since I didn’t have any in the house to make, I decided he must have been bringing them.
I parked my hiney on the front porch in one of my rockers and waited on him. The cooler weather was moving in and it was starting to feel like autumn.
And autumn in the Carolinas was really, truly something to behold, I was learning. The colors were all beautiful deep reds and oranges, magentas and greens. I couldn’t get enough of it and I found myself really enjoying the outside of my home more than the inside lately. I felt like maybe I could stay here. Forever.
I heard West’s bike before I saw it and just the sound of him coming down my road sent my heart all a-damn-flutter.
I was falling in love with him. I knew it.
And the higher the walls were around your heart, the harder you fell when someone tore them down.
And me? I was spiraling, plummeting, nosediving into the abyss.
I didn’t give a good God damn.
It had surprised me how fast and hard I’d fallen but I was learning to embrace it. Embrace him. I’d forgotten this feeling. I wanted more of it.
I stepped off my porch onto the sidewalk as Weston pulled into my drive. I walked toward him, a smile creeping across my face. He looked good enough to eat in his tight jeans and black boots. A hunter green T-shirt and his leather jacket. His hair was windblown and I wanted to get on him about not wearing his helmet, but he was smiling so big back at me, all I could do was stand there and stare dumbfounded.
He was the most beautiful man.
Inside and out.
