by Anna Scott
"Thank you." I felt unsure. No man had ever brought me flowers before. Taking the bouquet, I motioned for him to come inside.
As the southern gentleman stepped inside, he wiped his feet on the doormat and removed the ball cap from his head. Both actions were done seamlessly, almost without thought. It was clear that it was a behavior that had been trained in him since childhood.
After offering him a seat on the sofa, I excused myself to the kitchen. Not finding a vase, since I didn't own one, I pulled down my cream ceramic milk pitcher and arranged the flowers and gently caressed several of the stems before placing them in the water. I took the time alone to pull myself together and enjoy the fragrance of the buds.
"These are beautiful, Reed. Thank you."
Standing to his feet, he approached me just as I placed the simple old pitcher onto my battered farm table. My house and most of its furnishings were old. My grandparents had lived in the house before their passing two years before. They had left it all to me.
"Not nearly as beautiful as you are." Reed's quietly spoken words took me by surprise. I blushed slightly, as my cheeks had a tendency to do, I nodded my thanks and looked away.
"I'll just grab my bag."
Before I could escape to the solace of my bedroom, Reed caught my hand in his and brushed his lips over my knuckles. A chill swept down my spine at the contact, and I knew that Reed was like no man I'd ever met before.
Dinner was a relaxed affair, something for which I was very happy. Reed took me to a local steak house that had tons of great options. I wasn't a particularly picky eater but I had a few food allergies that sometimes made things awkward. I hated standing out or making a spectacle of myself. It was a nice place but not fussy like so many of the places closer to Dallas.
With the early heatwave that had taken over McKinney, Texas, I had opted for a pair of cuffed navy shorts and a silver ruffled top with matching silver strappy sandals. When choosing an outfit from my small and limited closet, I had assumed that we were staying local. Around here, that meant casual. Thankfully, I hadn't been wrong.
"You grew up here too?" Reed asked after the pretty young waitress took our drink orders. She was eyeing Reed the entire time she stood by our table and I wondered if he got that kind of thing a lot. I wasn't jealous, well maybe a little bit, but I didn't have any claim on him. Reed was polite but didn't even seem to notice that she was female. His focus was solely on me since the moment he arrived at my house.
"I did. Well, not in town. We didn't leave the farm until I was older." I frowned, remembering how hard it had been on my family when we were forced to move.
"Me too. I was twelve when we left the ranch." Reed shared, seeming to have regrets of his own.
Only a few moments of silence enveloped us as we each struggled with our own inward reflections. Breaking the quiet, I asked, "How old were you when you joined the Marine Corps?"
Relieved eyes met my own. I didn't know what he felt relief for, but I didn't press. My question broke the stillness and our once easy conversation began again.
"I was seventeen when I climbed on that bus, taking me away from everything I knew. It was probably the most frightening thing I had ever done up until that point."
"Why so young?"
"I graduated at seventeen. I didn't turn eighteen until August, and I couldn't sit around the house all summer doing nothing while mama worked. I was able to convince her to sign the form allowing me to join as a minor. She didn't want to, but understood my need to begin my life." I sensed that there was more to that story, but since it was our first date, I didn't press.
"What about your?" Reed inquired.
Offering him a raised brow and a slightly sarcastic smile, I reminded him that I hadn't ever gone into the military.
"Yeah, you're definitely one to watch, aren't you?"
"What on earth do you mean?" Offering the picture of innocence, I batted my hazel eyes up at him.
"It's always the quiet ones," he replied cryptically. Shaking his head, he chuckled to himself. It was a deep and happy sound that I would love to hear again and again.
"Okay, seriously. What did you do after high school?"
I began my tale, leaving out most of the sad parts. I glossed over the difficulty of my father's heart attack the year before, the loss of my aunt and uncle and all the other crap going on in my life.
"How old are you?" I asked abruptly.
Reed seemed taken aback. He pulled his bottom lip into his mouth and seemed reluctant to answer. Wondering why I sat patiently and waited for his response. I wasn't going to let him off the hook. Was he like thirty-five or something? I didn't think so. I knew most of the other guys were in their late twenties, someone might have been thirty, but I couldn't remember.
"Why don't you want to tell me?" I pressed.
"I'm so much older than you are. I don't want you to tell me to take you home." He admitted, reaching across the table to clasp my hand in his. Squeezing it gently, he explained. "I'm enjoying our date. I want to have a lot more of them."
Feeling the color rise to my face again, I ducked my head. "I'm having a good time too," I whispered, feeling overly exposed. "But, I still want to know how old you are," I encouraged.
"Twenty-nine. Please don't toss me out because I'm too old for you." He seemed to be begging me, which I found cute.
"No, you're not too old. I thought you were going to say something like thirty-nine. That might be a stretch."
Reed's eyebrows lifted so fast, his eyes wide in shock at my statement. I had to think fast about what I had said, to figure out what was so shocking.
Laughing to myself, I thought it funny that such a handsome man would worry about what I thought.
"I didn't mean that I think you look thirty-nine. You just seemed reluctant to tell me, so I thought that maybe you were older."
After a long and enjoyable talk, we finished our meals and Reed paid the bill, regardless of my protests to pay my share.
"You ready?"
"Yep," taking his hand, I let Reed lead me out of the restaurant and to his truck. He seemed to delight in helping me into the oversized black monster and even lingered with his hands around my waist a little longer than was necessary.
As I peered into his eyes and he into mine, something passed between us. It was something I didn't yet understand - but soon I would.
We drove south for several minutes and I wondered where we were going, but when I asked Reed, he wouldn't tell. A humor glinted in his eyes when he smiled and looked my way. We were stopped at a light and I could see the smirk on his handsome face. When Reed turned his truck into the lot at Lunar Mini Golf, I had to laugh.
"Disappointed?"
Shaking my head, I laughed and reassured, "Not at all, this is perfect." What Reed didn't know was that I was a wiz at miniature golf. He was about to get schooled.
Hand in hand, we walked through to the course. Reed paid for our visit, took our clubs and guided me to the first hole.
"Ladies first."
Lining up my shot, I eyed the hole and got ready to swing. Reed shifted his position and reached up to rub the back of his neck. The movement pulled his black T-shirt tight across his chest. Damn - that was sexy. Was he doing that on purpose? Did he know how good he looked?
Reed was by far the tallest man in the entire place and he was hot. Glancing around, I noticed all the other women giving him appreciative looks. He had to know how handsome he was. A man that was as big, strong and flat out good looking as he was should have been arrogant, but Reed wasn't. He confused me.
Forcing myself to focus on my shot once more, I smacked the ball slightly to the left of center and sent it sailing down the fake grass covered green. The small pink golf ball smacked the concrete side perfectly at the bend and changed course. It was heading right to the hole.
"Are you kidding me?" Reed shouted as the ball dropped with a plunk into the metal cup.
"What?" I asked, pretending innocence.
> "Are you a master mini-golfer?"
"No." I tried to reassure, with little success. His thick arms crossed over his massive chest and he watched me skeptically.
"Looks like I've got some stiff competition tonight." He tried to feign annoyance, but I could tell that he was teasing. The corners of his full lips kept tipping up, giving it away.
Reed finished the first hole in only two shots. Since it was a three par hole, I congratulated him in his skill. He rolled his eyes but laughed. By hole six, I was winning by seven shots but I knew that the hard ones were coming up.
"Good one," Reed congratulated with a fist bump.
The game was perfect. Regardless of the score, I loved playing with Reed. He was fun and so easy going. We were able to talk and laugh together without uncomfortable silences that would come after sitting across from someone at a table too long or the darkness of the theatre, sharing an experience but not being able to get to know each other.
"Why did you pick golf?" I asked after a few minutes. I'd been thinking about it and wondered if he had a specific reason.
Reed looked at me quizzically for a second, the smiled shyly. "I thought it would be fun. There wasn't anything playing that I was excited to see and I don't know what kind of movies you like anyway. Besides, if we watched a movie, we couldn't get better acquainted." He shrugged and looked directly at me. It seemed as if he was watching me, studying me for my reaction. He was nervous.
"Good, it's perfect. I was just curious."
"No one has taken you to play put-put on a date before?"
I had to think for a minute, trying to remember my last date. That sucked. "I don't think so. Not on the first date at least."
"I can't imagine that many guys would play mini-golf with you again after they got spanked once."
"So, you're not going to play with me after this?" I asked laughing.
Reed's eyes widened for a moment with obvious surprise and I had to think about what I just said. "Oh no, that isn't - I didn't mean to sound... I meant golf." I explained quickly. I had lowered my reddened face in mortification and utter embarrassment. He must think I'm some kind of temptress, which couldn't be further from the truth.
Reed cleared his throat and thankfully changed the subject. "Tell me about the cafe."
Smiling up at him in gratitude, I began my tale.
"It wasn't what I planned to do with my life, but I enjoy it. My mamaw started it years ago, when everyone was still on the farm. She canned and baked a lot, like everyone else, but her cakes and pies were so good some of the single men around started buying them from her."
"That's a great story, do you use the same recipes now?" Reed asked, it was a question I thought showed that he was really listening and interested.
"I do, mostly. We don't have access to some of the fresh ingredients anymore and I don't use so much lard."
"Yeah, my neenee used a lot of lard, and oleo." Reed's hand flew up to his chest and he mimicked having a heart attack. I couldn't hold my laughter at his antics and I doubled over with it. Sure, people were watching but I didn't care.
"Right? Oh my stars, I haven't thought about oleo in years!" I was still laughing and my words were coming out through giggles and hiccups.
Reed watched me for a minute and started laughing too. All of a sudden, standing at the 14th hole at Lunar Miniature Golf outside Plano, Texas, Reed Allen grabbed me and pulled me into his arms for a bear hug. An involuntary squeak escaped my lips, but I reciprocated and wrapped my arms around him too. I was afraid to look up at him, I wanted him to kiss me but not there for God and everyone to watch. Something brushed across the top of my head. I thought that it might have been his cheek, but I wasn't sure.
Reed was warm, his arms were strong but gentle. It was an odd combination but I reveled in the feel of him surrounding me. The side of my face rested against his hard chest, but what I noticed was the soft feel of his T-shirt. Reed's scent enveloped me, I had no idea what it was. He wasn't wearing cologne, he smelled like something else, maybe his soap. I didn't know what it was, but I did know the scent was comforting. In Reed's arms, the world dropped away. It was only a moment of total solitude, but the worry for my cousin Missy and her daughter Kelly vanished. The struggles in my own life, the cafe and my night classes, fatigue and everything else were all gone. If I could have been honest with myself, I would have admitted that I never wanted him to let me go. Unfortunately, he released me after a few seconds. My face was flushed, so I ducked my head and got back to the game.
By the time we finished the game, Reed returned our clubs to the window and returned to me. He hardly scowled at all when he looked down at the scorecard again. I had beat him - by a lot. He was a good sport about it at least, which was a lot more than I could say about some of the other guys I had dated in the past.
Reed drove us to an ice cream parlor and I cringed, wondering if I could get out of ordering anything without seeming rude. My lactose issues drove me crazy. There were so many things that had started to bother me in the past couple of years, and dairy was my nemesis.
"They have Italian ice here. I thought you might like to try it." He assured, did he know? He must have, but I hadn't told him.
"What?"
"Italian ice, they make it from scratch here. It's dairy free."
Looking at him quizzically, he stood beside the truck, waiting for me to get down and with my long and confused silence, he began to look uncomfortable.
Shaking my head, I apologized, "Sorry, it's just - how did you know?"
"You ordered your vegetables with no butter and fries instead of a baked potato at dinner." He answered matter of factly.
"And you figured it out from that?"
Shrugging, he explained, "Well, it is my job to be observant. My mama can't have dairy either."
A smile spread across my face in appreciation. He wasn't telling me how, if I just took some vitamins that the issues would go away like one guy I went out with had done. He wasn't belittling me or acting annoyed. He saw my difficulty, accepted it and found a way to work around it.
"Thank you, this is perfect." I told him as he took my hand and lead me inside.
I ordered a scoop of the fresh dewberry and one of strawberry. The sweet smell in the shop reminded me so much of the bakery at that time of year. All the fresh berries and spring fruits littered the counter tops giving off a wonderful aroma of the season. Reed ordered four scoops, lemon, raspberry, blueberry, and mango. Sitting at a small bistro table near the front window, we sat and enjoyed our sweet, fresh desserts.
We laughed some more, as Reed told a tale of a case he worked years before. They went to the home of a known black market gun dealer with a search warrant, but before they could get to the front door, it flew open and a naked woman ran screaming past them. Apparently, the woman thought they were there to take her to jail for drugs. She was very high and freaking out, thinking that the feds were there to take her in for smoking a joint.
When Reed pulled up in front of my house, I noticed that he left his truck running when he got down and walked around to help me out. I was disappointed that the date was over, but knew that I wasn't ready to invite him inside that late at night. The message an action like that would send wasn't one I was ready for.
I was so nervous about what was about to happen, that when he grabbed my hand one last time and walked me to my door, I worried that he would notice my trembling.
"I had a really nice time, thank you." I told him as we arrived at my front porch. I took the first two steps up when I realized that he wasn't following me. Okay - this was where we would, what? Say goodnight?
"I did too. It was great. Can I call you?" He asked.
A little confused at his strange behavior, I nodded and waited. He didn't move. I waited some more. He didn't move. Apparently, he wasn't going to say anything else, he wasn't going to kiss me.
"Well, I guess I'd better get inside." I gestured behind me to the door, my voice sounding unsure even
to my own ears.
"Yeah, um, yeah, okay. I'll call you, okay?"
"Uh huh, sure." I stuttered, backing up a step. "Good night." I waived behind me as I turned to unlock my door. I slipped inside and shut it behind me. After turning the deadbolt, I slumped back against the door. What had gone wrong? Did I totally misread that date? Sure, it had been a long time since I had been out on one, but I thought that date was really good. I guessed I must have been the only one. Pushing away from the door, I stepped to the window and watched him through the lace curtains.
It looked like when he turned to open the door of his truck that he stopped and looked up at the house again. I couldn't be sure, it was dark and the curtains stopped me from seeing him clearly. I imagined that he was looking for me, that he was regretting walking away from me like he did. He hadn't kissed me. He hadn't asked me out for another date. What the heck had gone wrong?
Chapter 2
Reed
I stopped at the side of my truck before climbing up and hated myself. God, I'd wanted to kiss her with every part of my being. I wanted to hold her and meld our lips together, but I was too nervous. "Fuck!" I shouted once I was inside the cab with the door firmly closed. I looked up at that front window again, was that, was she? Was that her silhouette? I could almost make out a shadow behind those old curtains that had probably been her mamaw's. What was she thinking? Was she as upset with me as I was?
That had been the absolute best damn date of my entire life. Gillian Young was funny, independent, and sweet. She had an air of innocence that surrounded her that I hadn't seen in years. I allowed myself one more glance, longing piercing through my heart, before I threw it in drive and pulled away. I wasn't half way down her block when I stopped in the middle of the deserted street. What the hell was I doing?
Screw it! Putting the truck in reverse, I turned around and stopped across the narrow street from Gilli's house. I flung the door open and jumped down. My feet barely hit the pavement when I took off running, across the street, through the yard and jumped up onto the porch. When my feet hit the porch, the front door was flung open and Gilli stood there, eyes wide with a mixture of shock and excitement.