“We do.” Erica’s eyes met mine, and I wasn’t sure if she had ever told her parents about working as the photographer for the company, but her next response said it all.
“Chase was the one who got me the job working with the covers and models at work.”
“Well, that was nice of you, Chase.” Len stood proud and looked back and forth between both of us, but then her smile fell. “I feel like I’m missing something here.”
“What do you mean, Mom?” Erica picked up another cookie and shoved it in her mouth. This was always her way of getting out of answering a question, so I knew I had to step in.
“You two seem like you know each other longer than just the few months you’ve been dating.”
“We’ve been working together since Erica started at The Ink Well.”
“Longer.” Len looked my way now, eyes squinted, like she was going to get it out of me one way or another. “I’ve seen the photos at Erica’s, so don’t think I don’t notice things.”
“I met Erica when we were seven at summer camp.”
I watched as her mother tried to rack her brain to see if she could remember me.
“You were the boy who put the daisies in her braids once, weren’t you?” It was Drew who spoke up with the first memory.
That day was the first time I ever had to say goodbye to Erica after our first summer together. It had been a tough day, but I wanted Erica to have something to remember me by, so I placed daisies in her braids, a safe place for her to keep them until she got home to put them in water.
“She kept those daisies for weeks until they finally died,” Len chimed in.
“It was probably because I watered them too much.” Erica laughed and placed a hand over her mouth before she looked at me. There was so much innocence in the sounds that were coming from her and my heart skipped a beat. It felt like I was falling in love with her all over again.
“Is he why you never dated?” Len directed her question to Erica, who moved to sit on one of the bar stools. She shrugged, but didn’t verbally answer.
“Where’s the ring?”
I shot my head in Drew’s direction at his question.
“Dad!” Erica yelled at him, but his gaze was dead set on me.
“Son. Where’s the ring?” His voice was in all seriousness. He had sat down his paper and was now leaning across the table, intent on getting his answer.
“In my bedside table,” I answered with honesty.
Erica and her mother gasped at the same time, but I kept my eyes on Drew, not breaking the stare we had. Hell. If her father was asking, then he was also giving me permission and I hadn’t known how bad I wanted it till just now. I wanted her parents to more than love me and her together. I wanted them to want us to come for family holidays and make them grandchildren.
“And why isn’t it on her finger?” Drew asked.
“Because we wanted to wait. We wanted to have our lives to ourselves for a moment, but also didn’t want to rush into it. Don’t confuse that with me not wanting it on her finger, though. I plan to after we tell my parents next weekend.”
“Good.” Drew picked back up his paper and continued to read the article that I was assuming he was in the middle of. He leaned back into his chair, taking on the calm man I had seen when walking into the kitchen.
Erica had a few tears running down her face and her mom was grabbing for paper towels to wipe her own away.
“Chase.” Erica’s voice was soft and a small smile crept onto her lips. I stood from the chair I was sitting at and made my way over to Erica’s side, placing an arm around the back of her chair. I took the paper towels Len had brought over and helped Erica wipe away the leftover tears that were still lingering on her cheek.
“Let’s go home, peaches.” I kissed the top of her head as Len walked us out of the house and kissed my cheek before we left.
We hadn’t needed much time over here to make it known just what intentions I had and I was grateful for that, but now I was worried about how my own parents would react to all this. Erica’s parents could see the connection we had and the history that resided between us, but I had no idea if my parents were going to be as understanding.
“You didn’t have to make that all up,” Erica whispered to me before she tried to open the door to her house.
“I didn’t make it up, peaches.” I stopped her and grabbed her face in mine. “My parents are hosting a garden party here in Atlanta next weekend. We’re going and once we tell them we are together, I’m putting my ring on your finger.”
“You already know the answer is yes,” her words whispered against my lips.
“Just keep that in mind when you meet my family.”
That was the one thing I had been keeping her away from, but in order for us to keep moving forward, I was about to thrust her into the pit of the political belly of Georgia. I just hoped she would stay on for the whole ride.
