CHARLIE
Saturday morning, I’m up with the birds because today is the day of my first date do-over with Austin. I’m beyond excited because something tells me this time is going to be different. It might have something to do with me dreaming about trees and delinquent ducks too. But that’s neither here nor there.
At eleven o'clock on the dot, I hear the rumble of Austin's truck outside and move to the front door, waiting for him to knock.
I barely give him the chance before I swing it open, greeting him with a huge smile. “Good mornin’.”
His lips part as he takes me in. He doesn’t hide the fact he’s doing it either which isalwaysa good start to a date. There’s just something about a man who’s confident enough to show his appreciation for a woman’s looks without shame.
“Think it’s me havin’ the good mornin’. You look amazin'," he says before wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me in for a long, deep, and oh-so-good kiss that I feel from the top of my head to the tip of my toes.
I wobble a little when he lets me go, something that makes his smirk grow all-knowing.
“You ready to tell me what we’re goin’ to be doin' today?”
“Nope. Where’s your bag? I’ll carry it for you,” he offers, looking around inside the door.
“Not a bag. One sec.” I pop inside the entry to my bedroom and bite back a giggle when I grab what I need.
When I reappear with a packing box in my arms, Austin snorts and quickly takes it off my hands, his fingers moving to look inside. “DoIget to know what’s inhere?”
"Nope," I say, happy to give him a taste of his own mysterious medicine. In truth, it's just everything that I'd have put in my overnight bag.
“Hmm, you be mysterious then. Two can play at this game,” he says, shooting me a grin before shifting the box to one arm and lacing our fingers together, leading me to his truck.
“Nowcan you tell me where we’re goin’?” I ask once we’re thirty minutes out of town. We’ve passed the road leading to the ranch, so I know it’s not there.
“Cora gave me some good advice the other day.”
I turn toward him. “Funnily enough, she gavemesome good advice at lunch too.” I bend a leg up on the seat. “Wanna share?”
He takes a deep breath. “I think I want this—wantyou—so much that I’ve been overthinkin’ it all and tryin’ too hard. Cora, Rhett, and even Red all agreed that us bein’ together has been a long time comin', and no matter what did or didn't happen before youleft, we can't change any of it. Nor should I be tryin’ to make up for it and be someone I’m not.”
My shoulders drop as I let out a huge sigh of relief. “That’s what I wanted to talk about too. Don’t get me wrong, I loved our trip to Timber Falls?—”
“But I shouldn’t have?—”
I shake my head, cutting him off. “No. It was good. I loved it. I loved bein’ away with you and explorin’ a new town, the shoppin’, the greasy burger and fries at the end of the night.Thatwas us, Austin. I don’t need fancy restaurants where you’re not comfortable. Because it makes me feel the same way. Probably somethin’ to do with me bein’ highly attuned to you somehow. Ever since I got back, actually.”
His brows bunch together. “You are?”
“Oh yeah. I can feel when you’re uncomfortable—like that first day we saw each other again at the diner. Or confused—like when Mom volunteered you to help me paint.”
“I wasn’t confused, I was conflicted. I didn’t know if you’d want to spend time with me. I didn’t know where things stood between us.”
I tilt my head, studying his strong jawline and perfectly curved lips. “Do you now?”
“I know whereI’mat. And I think I have a good grasp of the fact that you’re all in as well.”
I lean in, dropping my voice to a whisper. “Was it the packin’ box?" That gets the low rumbling chuckle I was hoping for.
“That helped,” he smirks. “But nothin’ you’ve done or said has given me any sign that you’re not happy.”
“Nowthatwas because of our bathroom interlude, wasn’t it,” I say with a wink.
Another chuckle escapes him, and my heart does a happy jig in my chest. "Hmm. That too. Every time we're together or talkin’. Just bein’ with you. All of it. You're still the Char I loved back then, just a little older and more worldly." That heart of mine that was jigging is now swelling so big I'm worried it might explode.
“You loved me back then?” I whisper.
