More Than Enough

by Johnson, Ashley

  The smell of bacon and biscuits filled the bedroom. I looked at the alarm and it was now 9am. Geez. I was still exhausted. Once I finally fell asleep I actually slept better than I do most nights. I needed more sleep though. I groaned and climbed out of bed. I grabbed a shirt of Luke’s that said ‘Grandma loves my tats’ and threw it on. My morning breath was pretty rank so I made my way to the bathroom to brush my teeth. I grabbed the Listerine and swooshed some around my mouth to complete the job. There, that felt much better.

  Luke stood shirtless in the kitchen cooking the last of the bacon. Halley and I had decided the first time we saw ‘Magic Mike’ that breakfast was definitely our favorite meal of the day. Seeing Luke shirtless in the kitchen confirmed what Channing Tatum told me. I loved Luke’s tribal tattoos across his back. I sauntered over towards him being as quiet as I could. Clumsy me stubbed my toe on the kitchen chair because I wasn’t paying attention and went stumbling into the table. A few choice words flew out of my mouth, none a mother would approve of. Good thing I didn’t care what my mother thought most of the time. Dammit that hurt. Luke turned away from the stove and began laughing at me and the hot mess I was.

  “Are you ok?” He managed to say between laughing. I tried to glare at him and act pissed but it did no good with him. The anger faded and I began laughing with him.

  “I was trying to sneak up on you and be sexy and I hurt my toe.” I gave him my best pouty face and he turned around to turn off the stove then made his way over to me kneeling down beside me. He began massaging my foot trying to ease my pain then brought his lips to meet mine.

  “Feeling any better?”

  “Eh, a little.” I stared into those gorgeous green eyes daring him to look away from me. He didn’t.

  “Let’s go somewhere today. Me and you, just us this time I promise. No surprises.”

  “What you got in mind?”

  He leaned in closer, his lips so close I could almost taste them. It was pretty sexy if you ask me. I wanted to lean in and kiss him when he answered, “Well first I’m going to pick my gorgeous clumsy girlfriend up off this floor and we’re going to eat breakfast. Then you’re going to get your bathing suit on and we’re going to go to the beach.”

  I made an ohmigod really face and crinkled my nose. I wanted nothing more than a day alone with Luke. That wasn’t the issue. The issue was our beaches. Our beaches weren’t exactly the blue water you imagined when you thought of a beach, the water was yucky brown but people still went and hung out. I mean the water wasn’t toxic or anything but I just didn’t like not knowing what was on the bottom. It’s the same reason I never went swimming in the river. Sitting on the bank and watching everyone else play in the water was good enough for me.

  “What’s that face for? I know they aren’t the prettiest thing but I think we’ll have fun.”

  “We will, now pick me servant up so we can eat and go.” I smiled picking at him. He brushed the few strands of hair that hung in my face and tucked them behind my ear.

  “You’re lucky I love you.” And with that he scooped me up and sat me in a chair. The bacon was amazing and he even cooked the biscuits without burning the bottom. That was a task I still struggled with. Ninety nine percent of the biscuits I ever attempted to bake all ended up burnt. They were eaten minus the bottom and Luke would tease me relentlessly. Damn, I was still learning how hot a domesticated man was.

  After we ate I ran to throw my hair into a messy ponytail. The wind and water were going to wreak havoc on it anyway so there was no point in even attempting to fix it. It absolutely drove me crazy to see these girls who acted like they were going to a beauty pageant. It’s just the beach; you don’t need twenty pounds of makeup and your hair doesn’t have to be absolutely perfect. What ever happened to natural beauty? He had it so easy. He just threw on a pair of navy blue board shorts with white flowers on them and a t-shirt. I dug through my drawer and found one of the only bikinis I owned. I know my body doesn’t look horrible in one, but I just was mainly self-conscious. I was tone, it’s not like the fat was pouring out like some of these women who had no shame. I turned around and put the pink and blue polka dot bikini on then threw a tank top and blue jean shorts over it. With luck, the bikini may not look like a dingy mess when we’re done. My luck, it would have a tan/brown color added to it and I’d probably never wear it again.I made sure I grabbed the sunscreen with our towels. I would definitely be as red as a crawfish if I didn’t use sunscreen and I’d have to pray that the aloe would kick in quickly.

  “I’m ready when you are.” I gave him thumbs up and the biggest sarcastic smile I could come up with, that’s how exciting I found our beaches to be. Really, I was trying so hard to be excited about this trip. He could see straight through my fake enthusiasm but he didn’t call me out on it.

  Luke smiled at me with one of those megawatt smiles of his and grabbed my hand. “Let’s get moving then.” He smacked my butt which made me jump, adding a little more pep in my step and I ran out the door. I’m surprised he wanted to take his car. If it were me, I would absolutely die if sand got in my car. The Civic would have handled it just fine; his car was his baby so I would have to be extra careful.

  The air was just right and the sun was shining in all its warm glory. You could actually roll the windows down and not be suffocated by humidity. The past few days have been like that, trust me I don’t complain about that at all. It’s refreshing to be able to actually breathe when you go outside. Days like this make me wish one of us had a convertible.

  I cranked up the radio as the Challenger roared to life and smiled at Luke. ‘Next To Me’ by Emeli Sande came over the speakers and I sang along while he looked like he wanted to go insane but he just smiled at me and gently squeezed my hand. I loved how perfectly my hand fit in his, almost like it was made just for this. Silently I thanked God for this moment with him. All these moments were the best of my life. Every single waking moment. He was just absolutely amazing and for that I was grateful.

  The beach was a good almost forty minute drive from where we were and as we got closer he began changing the station to what he wanted. That was the beauty of satellite radio. We were always able to find something one of us wanted to listen to and there were no commercials. Luke settled on one of the country stations and hummed along to a few songs and I couldn’t help but sing along when ‘Stuck Like Glue’ by Sugarland came on. He tried to out sing me a few times and dammit if he wasn’t almost winning. I would stop singing at times just to listen to his smooth voice. I wasn’t going down without a fight though and in the end I’d say it was a close tie.

  This beach was one of the nicer ones close to us. The sand was fairly decent as long as you had chairs or towels to sit on and didn’t have to sit directly on it. I didn’t advise that at all. Then you would be spending countless hours trying to dig it out of every possible crevice of your body. The water wasn’t toxic but I tended to treat it as if it were. I only did that because of the color. Don’t get me wrong, when I was a little kid, we spent countless hours here and I literally lived in the water. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it. The Gulf of Mexico just happened to look brown in our area. Almost like chocolate milk. Can we say yum? No, we can’t.

  The beach had its own little community of homes and shops. They were lined strategically around the beachfront area, each with something rather unique about them. These were buildings and homes that withstood hurricanes and other storms. It was a place you didn’t want to be then, but a place you wanted to be on a hot summer day to relax. Some of the homes must have been built recently or they’ve been remodeled because I didn’t remember some of them. I honestly wasn’t too sure of the last time I had come here besides when I was a kid. It looked better than I remembered as a child, I can say that much. Kids were running up and down the beach then running in the water to crash into the waves. I smiled at them remembering when I was their age doing the same thing. There was a pretty good crowd here today, guess everyone wanted to c
ool off.

  Luke parked the car on the side of the road so we could easily leave and wouldn’t have a chance of getting stuck in the sand. I’m glad he had that idea because literally we watched a car that looked almost identical to my Civic get stuck and a truck that drove by was trying to help get them out of the mess they were in. The driver of the car looked purely aggravated, who wouldn’t blame him for that?

  Luke made sure his car was locked and with the beach bag in my hand we made our way to an empty spot on the sand. I laid out two extra towels for us to sit on and carefully arranged my body to where he could help me apply the sunscreen. The way he massaged it on felt so relaxing, I closed my eyes briefly getting lost in the moment. I was brought back to reality though when a Frisbee flying towards us hit my leg. I opened my eyes to find a young girl about the age of six running up to me. Her hair was braided into pigtails and she wore a Barbie bathing suit that reminded me of one I had when I was about her age. I smiled politely at her and handed the Frisbee back to her. She returned the smile and ran back to her dad where they continued to play.

  Luke slid closer to me and placed his arm around my shoulder. Despite the heat, I snuggled against him and breathed in his scent. I could smell him all day long.

  “Just think, that could be our kid one day. Running on the beach, playing Frisbee with us. You want to go get in the water for a few?” I could still feel the warmth of his breath on my neck after he spoke and it felt like the hairs on the back of my neck were standing on end.

  My face blushed a shade of pink at his mention of kids. We’ve never entertained the idea of children before. I guess it’s the heartache of us having each lost one and we just never discussed having one together yet. I’m sure the conversation was bound to come up eventually though, kind of like marriage. I crinkled my nose at the suggestion of getting in the water, but nodded my head in agreement. “Sure babe, let’s go venture in there.”

  The water was chilly at first and I almost ran off but I drew in a deep breath and held his hand tightly as we began to wade in the water. The chill of the water wasn’t as shocking the more we waded in and let ourselves get used to it. We walked out until the water was about at our waist and then stopped and watched the waves that were forming around us. Besides the water being its icky color, this moment was perfect. He pulled me in for a kiss that tasted both salty and sweet thanks to the water that was splashing around us. Feeling playful, I jumped at him and we both fell into the water. Luke’s head went under and when he came back up he playfully threw me under. We played like little kids for what seemed like forever. Suddenly the color of the water was the least of my worries. All I cared about was being anywhere in Luke’s vicinity. The beach was starting to get a little packed as more people showed up to enjoy the beautiful weather and my stomach began growling.

  Luke’s stomach must have been growling too because he looked at me before throwing me back in the water and when I came back up for air he asked, “You want to get something to eat? I’m starving.” He flashed a grin and acted like he was going to toss me back in the water.

  I tried to run in the water but his arms wrapped around my waist and we both went down laughing. “I’m starving, what can we eat around here?”

  “There’s a little restaurant not far from where we parked. We can walk.”

  “Sounds good, let me dry off a bit and put my shorts and shirt back on.”

  We made our way back to the sand. I hated how it automatically made itself at home on our feet. My flip flops were going to be so uncomfortable to wear with the sand rubbing. I grabbed the extra towel and attempted to squeeze the excess water out of my hair and wipe what sand I could off my feet. Once we were ready, we put our things in the trunk of the car and began walking. The salty breeze was inviting and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

  Within two minutes we were standing in front of a small café that seemed to be pretty popular. The sign outside read Gulf Side Café. The sign out front also said they had fried alligator and my eyes got big. I hadn’t had fried alligator in forever and I was determined to have some for lunch. So much for imagining a light lunch and not pigging out. Oh well, that’s extra time I could use laying on the towel in the sand perfecting my much needed tan.

  We walked in and people I’m assuming were regulars began waving at Luke. I’m almost willing to bet he used to come here quite a bit. A woman built about like myself with a brown bob hair cut ran up and threw her arms around Luke’s neck. I stood off to the side feeling a little out of place wondering who this was and why her arms were around my boyfriend. I felt a little out of place for a moment but I stood by patiently until she finally spoke.

  “Lucas Nolan! Why didn’t you tell your mother you were coming by today? I’m going to have to get your dad from the back.” I’m glad I didn’t open my mouth because I would have definitely inserted my foot.

  “Mom, I wanted it to be a surprise. So…..surprise!” He laughed and she smacked his arm. An instant smile spread across my face and I noticed where he got his playfulness from.

  “I’m glad you’re here! Randy,” she hollered. “Come see who the cat drug in!”

  A man built like he used to surf came walking up from the back. He had an apron on that read ‘Please Don’t Kiss the Chef’. I had to keep myself from laughing. I could see where Luke got his looks from. His dad was a handsome man. They both had green eyes and I’m sure at one point the same colored hair. His dad’s was more of a light gray than blonde now.

  “Been a while since we’ve seen you here. Have a seat anywhere you want, we’ll come join you in a few. We need to catch up. It’s been too long.” His dad patted Luke’s shoulder and let out a small chuckle.

  “Just a few months dad.”

  This felt super awkward; I don’t think they even realized I was there with Luke. I was still standing off to the side just watching their reunion and it was awfully bittersweet. His mom suddenly looked at me then at Luke and smacked his arm again. “Where are your manners Lucas? Who is this young lady?”

  Before he could speak up I answered, “I’m Macy Young. It’s nice to meet you both.” Both his parents embraced me in a hug. His mom smelt like sugar and vanilla and his dad smelt like fried food which reminded me how much I wanted some fried alligator and my stomach began growling again.

  “I’m sorry if it seems we ignored you dear but it’s just we haven’t seen Luke with a girl since, well I’m sure you’ve already heard.” She meant Juliann and I hated for her to bring it up. The last thing I wanted was for this meeting to become awkward. I nodded to let her know I knew and she continued, “I was so worried about him for so long. I didn’t know if he would ever find anyone else, I was scared he would get himself into trouble.”

  “Mom, I’m fine.” Luke interjected as he grabbed my hand. It was clear she was embarrassing him just a little bit. She was being a mom though, I can understand that. At least he has someone who cares about what could have happened to him.

  “I know. I’m your mother I’m allowed to say whatever I want, after all I did go through a million hours of labor to bring you into this world. How long have you two been seeing each other?” Her eyes suddenly lit up as she asked him that and I felt much more comfortable standing there.

  Oh great. The awkward questions were coming though. The ones that said, hey I’m sleeping with your son. We’re living in sin and yadda yadda yadda. I wasn’t ready for those and I could feel my face begin to turn slightly red. So much for feeling much more comfortable.

  Luke sensed my slight embarrassment and began leading us to a table and as we sat down he finally answered, “A few months. She moved in with me a few weeks ago.”

  His mom’s eyes grew wide at the announcement I know she wasn’t thinking she was going to hear today and she smiled. “Well that’s great news. I know you must be an amazing woman if Luke already asked you to move in.”

  “I never knew a guy could keep such a tidy apartment.” I couldn’t help but chuckle as I told her th
at. It sure helped lighten the situation for me.

  “He was always such a clean child. Thank God. It’s bad enough I have to clean up after Randy and when I found out we were having a boy, I was scared I would be a maid forever.”

  I liked her she was funny. She seemed very easy to get along with. He was lucky to have such an amazing mom in his life. I was envious of him for that reason. I prayed that my mom and I could get back to when we used to be like this.

  “Oh, please excuse my rudeness Macy. You can call me Sherry.”

  A waitress came by and took our drink order and came back shortly to get our food order. When she returned with the fried alligator, I took my time savoring every piece. It was delicious.

  His dad came walking up to see how everything was going. He placed his hand on Luke’s shoulder and asked, “You guys driving home later?”

  “We were planning on it. We didn’t pack any clothes; we were just coming to spend the day.”

  Sherry jumped in. “Nonsense. Stay at the house. Luke, go shopping and get a change of clothes for you two.” His mom looked like she could argue if he dared tried to tell her no so Luke politely nodded his head and looked at me for approval.

  “That’s fine with me. I appreciate the offer. Thank you.”

  Sherry reached across the table and placed her hand on top of mine giving it a gentle squeeze. “Oh honey you are more than welcome. You two finish up and do whatever you need to do and meet us at the house later.”

  We gave hugs and said our goodbyes. We walked down to a local clothing shop and I was able to find a pair of blue jeans shorts and a fitted silver sequin tank top. I really didn’t care to shop at these little shops because they were typically overpriced but it looks like this was the only option for us. Luke paid the cashier and we made our way back to his car.