Redneck Romeo (The Culture Blind Book 1)

by Xavier Neal

  More like speed dumping.

  “This one I swear you’ll love. Just trust me.”

  “Words I have regretted believing since I was six years old and let you cut my hair.”

  He laughs loudly. “It grew back!”

  I shake my head.

  “I’m around the corner from your place. I’ll see you shortly.”

  Art hangs up and I continue the short walk. His timing syncs nicely with my arrival. I get into his car on the street closest to my building and greet him with a warm smile.

  At the first stoplight, he gives me a mischievous look. “I’ve got news.”

  My eyebrows shoot up.

  “Dennis asked me to marry him.”

  “What?!”

  “Yeah. I mean, I had been dickin’ around with it. Thinking about it and he just…drops down on one knee last night after dinner and asks.” His smile expands. “I said yes.”

  “Of course you said yes! I would punch you if you said anything else! You belong together. Your drama matches.”

  He rolls his eyes and accelerates through the green light.

  “Rings?! Date?! Oh my God! A wedding!” The idea ignites excitement and sorrow in the same breath. I bat away the latter and beam as bright as possible. “Are you gonna do a large wedding? Big extravaganza? Maybe at one of the museums?! No? Perhaps just a small ceremony? Like a long brunch?”

  “Calm down, Martha Stewart. We’ve been engaged for less than twenty four hours.” Art exits downtown for the highway. “No ring. Dennis wants to do them together.”

  I immediately nod in approval.

  “And the rest? I don’t know. But you’ll be the first to know when we do. Okay, well third technically, but the first outside the two of us.” When I smile again, he states, “You know, Dennis admitted watching you and Dusty got to him.”

  There’s a pang in my chest so hard it knocks the breath out of me.

  “He said just looking at the two of you was like looking at love in the face. That the look on Dusty’s face was the same goofy look he constantly saw on mine. That it was the look you give the person you plan to love forever. And he was absolutely right, sis. As much as he drives me up the wall, he’s the only person I want doing that to me for the rest of my life.”

  A lump bobs in my throat forcing my voice to come out in a whisper, “I’m happy for you.”

  “I think when you find forever, Carly, you gotta hold onto it. Sometimes holding on simply means being patient.”

  My vision begins to blur.

  Apparently, this adventure is to a dry water park and I’m going to fill it with my tears.

  The remainder of our distance is in silence. I focus all the energy I have on keeping air in my aching lungs.

  Art drives us to an area I recognize though I don’t comment. He pulls up along the front of the old house where the “for sale” sign now has the word “sold” above it. All the air I worked so hard to hold onto vanishes.

  Our house….The fixer upper that was meant to be our house is sold. To another family. To someone else’s future.

  Unsure of how he knew or why I’m here, I start to question when the answer strolls out the front door.

  Antonio and Dusty exit the home, shake hands, and exchange a laugh.

  My jaw plummets to the floor, and I steal a glimpse of my grinning brother.

  He playfully pushes me. “Go….”

  Hastily, I dart out of the car and towards the two of them.

  “Well, we were wondering what was taking you so long, but now that I see you had Art driving it explains everything,” Antonio teases.

  I try to smile at him yet my attention doesn’t deflect from Dusty.

  Antonio takes the hint and promptly dismisses himself. “We’ll be in touch, Mr. Coleman.”

  “We certainly will,” Dusty agrees quietly.

  Once we’re alone, he steps towards me, green eyes glowing, “Hey, baby….”

  Sobs seep free and his arms instantly wrap around me, knocking the purse out of my hands. “God, I’ve missed you.”

  To my surprise his voice is strained with tears. “Me too, baby. Me too….”

  For an unknown amount of time we merely hold each other. Part of me is too stunned to believe he’s here, while the other fears if I let him go again, it really will be for the last time.

  Eventually, he pulls slightly back, tucks a strand of hair out of my face, and sighs, “This is home, Carly. You. And I’m ready be home for good.”

  The objection struggles to get loose, “But what about your family?”

  “Families come in all shapes and sizes. You are my family. This is where we will raise our kids….Where our current nieces will come to visit. Where our future nieces or nephews will be welcomed. Family is more than jus’ the people you were born and raised with, baby. They’re the people you wanna spend your life with. The people you want to build that life with. For me, that’s you. My parents may hate me….They may never come around on the subject of us, but that’s not on me. That’s on them. I’ve done my part. I’ll do my part. The rest is on their shoulders. You get one life to live, and I’ll be damned if I waste another moment of it without you.”

  His words barely have time to hit me before he’s down on his knee with an open ring box held out.

  “Marry me, Carly. Keep our special dance goin’. Change your last name to mine.”

  “Yes!” I frantically bob my head. “Any day, Dusty. Every day.”

  He lightly chuckles as he slides the rose gold ring onto my hand.

  The moment he’s on his feet, I’m back in his arms, mouths melded together. His tongue rushes to reestablish its connection to mine. To rewrite the past few weeks with promises of a much brighter, much more peaceful future.

  I reluctantly pull back to question, “Did you buy this house?”

  Dusty’s bright smile returns. “Sort of.”

  “Sort of?”

  “Well, I wiped out my savin’s and had someone cover the rest of the down payment. My house back home is on the market. There’s already an offer on it, so once it sells, I’ll have that to put towards our new home. Or, worst case scenario, to cover me until I get a job. I do have an interview on Monday, so let’s hope for the best.”

  My smirk is sweet. “I can definitely afford to pay for my part of our future.”

  “Good ‘cause Cordie sounded almost terrifyin’ on the phone when she agreed to loan me the other half.”

  Another wave of warmth washes over me. “Cordie lent you the money?”

  “Under the conditions I swore I’d never leave you again and you’d paid her back as soon as this romantic gesture worked. Oh! And that she gets to be bridesmaid, but I was pretty sure that went without sayin’.”

  I snicker, wind my arms around his neck, and shoot up onto my toes to crash our lips back together.

  Who would’ve ever guessed a momentary escape from helping direct people to love would end up with me falling head over heels in it?

  Epilogue

  Dustin

  Five years later….

  Lynette laughs as she drops down onto the back porch stairs beside me. “You’re really just going to let them play in the mud?”

  I have a sip of my beer and smirk proudly. “Yup.”

  This is the best part of living in the country after it rains. Mud. Sometimes we go muddin’ in my truck. Sometimes we wrestle. And sometimes, especially when Carly has left me in charge for the earlier part of the day, we simply jus’ make mud pies for imaginary creatures to eat.

  “Normally, I’d be out there with ‘em, but Lacey and Lyn seem to have it handled.”

  Our eyes continue to drink in the sight of the twins helping Cody and Cooper pretend to feed their mud to dragons.

  All of a sudden, Cade, Lynette’s boyfriend joins us in our observation. “You know, every time we leave here they beg for a baby brother.”

  It took almost two years before she started allowin’ herself to date. Cade’s been
around for the past year and half, and as far as I’m aware, he’s a great guy. Of course, he’ll never replace my brother, but he doesn’t seem interested in that. If anything, it’s the opposite. He’s always tryin’ to fit in and make sure my brother’s spirit is always included. He hasn’t pressured Lynette to have a baby with him nor has he pressured the girls to call him daddy. He was in a bit of a rush to meet me and Carly, but I think he secretly jus’ wanted our approval. Over the past few years we’ve grown closer to Lynette than I would’ve imagined. Her and Carly talk almost every day. We visit one another every few months, though that became harder when the girls started elementary school. We split Thanksgiving and Christmas, alternating between Art and Dennis’ and Lynette’s family. While my parents haven’t spoken a word to me since Cody’s funeral, I’ve kept my promise. I call though they don’t answer. I email pictures of our boys despite the naggin’ in the back of my mind that they probably go unopened. We tell the boys their grandparents, both sets of grandparents, love them but jus’ can’t spend time with ‘em. It may be a lie. It may be an obscured truth….Or maybe it’s jus’ a hope. Regardless, we don’t have to have in depth conversations about it. At three and four they’re pretty easily distracted.

  “Can’t believe you and Carly are gonna have another one,” Lynette says on a snort. “Don’t you already have your hands full? I mean seriously? When was there even time to make a third one?”

  “Oh, we make time,” Carly’s voice unexpectedly chimes in. “Sometimes nap time is naughty time and sometimes it really pays to have friends and siblings willing to babysit.”

  I shoot to my feet and rush to kiss her.

  Our tongues only enjoy one roll before she pulls away, a scolding expression already on her gorgeous brown complexion. “You’re in charge of baths for the night.”

  There’s a hint of sexual tension to my tone. “For everyone?”

  “I’m good,” Cade playfully announces.

  Carly snickers and I lean down to plant a kiss on her round stomach.

  Three more months, and we’ll have a beautiful baby girl in the house.

  Three more months and our family grows once more.

  Moving to Middlebrook was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. The company I originally passed on after Cody’s death gave me another shot. By the end of the year I had a management position, and Carly was moving up a level at her company. Of course, right after New Year’s we found out she was pregnant with Cody, named in honor of my brother. Cooper’s announcement was made shortly after his big brother’s first birthday. Like their mother, both boys were given important names. One after the man whose death gave me the courage to fully accept and live my life, while the other after a man who unknowingly brought us together and reminds us that our love is simply a dance we’re both willin’ to always learn new steps to.

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