“No wine.”She said she’d have beer like any normal person would have with Mexican food, and he laughed.“I’m still trying to decide if I like it or not.So far, the only thing I like is popping the cork from a bottle.I don’t care for the taste at all on most of them.”
“All right.I’ll see you at six tomorrow night.I’ll let you know what I want to eat.”After she left him, Bodi came back with two ice cream cones.After being handed one, Bodi asked if he was serious about dating Rosie.
“I am.Do you object?”He said that he’d been thinking of asking her out as they were the same age, but he’d not now.“I appreciate that.We don’t know where this is going to lead, but I’m thinking we could become serious sometime soon.She’s been in love with me since we were kids.”
“Tell me that you knew that, and she didn’t have to point it out to you.”He said that she’d told him.“I hope that I’m not that dense when I find a girl I want to date.Everyone could see that she’s in love with you since high school.”
After finishing their cones, they decided to go back to the courthouse and listen in on the rest of the classes that had to do with investments.He was willing to try to invest in something, but he wanted a sure thing.Bodi was the chance taker.He looked for him to be invested in all kinds of safe and not-so-safe things soon.Wylie wasn’t a risk-taker at all.
~*~
Rosie was excited to be going out with Wylie again.She hoped that he had a talk with Bodi about thefood they were having at her house and that he’d not be joining him.She liked the man a great deal, but not enough to have him around as a third wheel like he’d mentioned.Since it was going to be at her house, she didn’t have to dress up so much and could wear her slippers.Her feet still ached a bit after walking around in heels that night.But she’d do it again if necessary.She wanted to be his date in all things that had to do with his new status as a wealthy man.
The money was his as far as she was concerned.She didn’t know how much he’d gotten in the deal, but he knew that he was several times over a millionaire.Kinsey was worth more because he’d married Meggie, and she’d been rich all her life.It was good to see them together, the two of them, and she was glad that they seemed so happy.She was that happy when she thought of Wylie.
Looking over the menu when she had time today, she settled on two different dinners instead of just the one she normally would have.If things went the way that she wanted them to, then they’d need to eat again sometime in the middle of the night.She wanted him in her bed and inside of her so badly she could barely sleep at night for thinking about him.
“Chief, there’s a crowd developing at the Dairy Mart.Bodi is there trying to smooth over the people, but I don’t think he’s having much luck.Wylie and his brother are there too, and it’s looking bad.”She said she’d go back down there.“All right.I’ll tag along, too, in the event you need something.Mr.Ralph is shouting about how Bodi quit working for him without notice.”
“All right.”She grabbed her gun and made her way to the car.If things got out of hand, she’d rather have the gun than not.As soon as she pulled up with her lights on, the crowd got louder.It took her shouting at them to get them to calm down.“I told you what was going on.What the hell are you doing bothering this man and his family when I told you up front he wasn’t going to open a gas station?”
“He left me in a lurch.I don’t have anyone working for me.”Ralph looked ready to do battle, and all she had to do was put her hand on her gun.“You’re not going to arrest him, are you?They get themselves a bit of money, and they don’t want to help out their fellow man no more.I see how they are.”
“I gave you notice, Mr.Ralph, but you kept asking me to stay a little longer.I worked for you for three months past the time that I said that I’d work for you.You never seemed to be looking for anyone to replace me.”He said that wasn’t true that he did look.“Mr.Waggoner said that he asked you several times for the job, and you kept telling him that you had enough people working for you.I had to do something, or I’d still be working for you.I needed to get out from under the station.”
“I liked you being there.Now you’re too good to work for me.”He said that he had to have time of his own.“I don’t want to hire anyone else.You was a good employee, and I liked you being there.What am I supposed to do now that you’re gone?”
“Hire Mr.Waggoner.He’s a good mechanic.Better than I was.”Ralph said it wasn’t the same.“Nothing is the same anymore.I want to have a good life for myself and find myself a wife to have a bunch of kids with.I can’t do that and work for you fifty hours a week, plus the things that I have to do now.I’m going to build myself a house.Find me a wife and have some kids.Don’t you think I should be able to do that?”
“I guess so.”He looked around at the crowd that he’d gathered and told them to go home.He’d been upset with Bodi when he’d just quit him.He’d given his notice just fine, but he didn’t want anyone to leave him while it was working out so well.“I fibbed a bit on everything.He’s a good man and doesn’t deserve what I’d said about him.I can’t wait to see him with a wife and kids.He’ll be a fine daddy just like he should be.Nothing like his own bastard of a father had been.”
The crowd disbursed soon after, and Ralph told everyone he was sorry for what he’d said.Bodi said that he’d help him out when he could, but he couldn’t work full-time.That he should hire Mr.Waggoner so that he’d have a good mechanic at the gas station to help with things that came in.After that, it was hard to believe that some of the people who had been there had been spitting mad at Bodi as they were all shaking his hand and patting him on the back.Small towns were like that.Easy to fire up and to knock the flames out at the same time.
Going back to the station house after talking to Wylie again, she was glad that she’d looked at the menu before leaving.He was going to get them some appetizers as well as their meals so that they could pig out as much as they wanted.She hoped that he was willing to stay the night.She’d been looking forward to it for so long to have sex with Wylie Pennington.
By the end of the day, she was ready for a nap.It had been a long one, too, with the crowd that had been at the Dairy Mart.However, she needed to get home and clean her place up for company.She’d even made plans to change her sheets on the bed so that they’d be fresh when he got there.As soon as she was home, she did take a bit of a nap and was ready to start on the house by six-thirty.
By ten that night, not only had she gotten her house cleaned up, but she’d also brewed some tea for the two of them.Beer was in the fridge, and she was happy that she’d been able to get a couple of different brands.She had wine too, but since he’d not liked it, she didn’t even bother with opening it up for herself a glass.
Rosie was as ready as she could be for her second date with the love of her life.She really was in love with Wylie and had been forever, it seemed.She was going to make sure that he knew how much she was in love with him tomorrow night, too.While she didn’t know if they’d ever marry or anything like that.She just wanted to be with him while she could.Not only was she in love with him, but she also thought that she could consider him a best friend too.They could talk about anything and everything when they were together.
Up by six the next morning, she’d not slept all that well; she’d changed the sheets on her bed and put the dirty ones in the washer.They’d be drying when he got there, but she didn’t care.Things were about as perfect as she hoped they’d be, and she was glad that she’d be able to have him over tonight.Almost as soon as she was in the office, she knew it was going to be a longer day than she wanted.
Right off the bat, she was brought into a big fight with one of Mr.Ralph’s neighbors.He was going to expand his place, and she didn’t want the lights of his new place keeping her up at night.As far as she knew, there weren’t any neighbors close enough to be bothered by extra lights, and she thought that the woman just wanted to complain about something.She was going to have to go and see the elderly man to see what was going on, and she wasn’t looking forward to that.She’d just gotten him calmed down from before; she didn’t want him to get his dander up again about someone complaining about lights that may or may not happen.
After getting that squared away, she had to work at keeping the town together.There were so many little fires that had to be put out, she sometimes felt like she was a school teacher and that her students were acting out again.As soon as lunch time rolled around, she was ready to call it a day.Lucky for her, she had Wylie to look forward to tonight and was excited as she’d ever been about a date.
By the time it was quitting time for her, she was ready.Going home, she was just putting her sweats on when the doorbell rang.Wylie had a lot of food with him, and she helped him carry it into her kitchen.She wondered what he’d gotten when he started naming off things that had been on the menu that he’d wanted to try.
“If we don’t eat it all, we can eat it tomorrow.I’m not going anywhere tonight, so I’m planning on making love to you all night.”She told him good that’s what she needed and they laughed.“I’m feeling kind of like a man on Christmas morning.I have no idea why I feel that way, but it’s a good feeling.”
“I’ve been working hard all day and would find my mind drifting to you coming over, and I’d have to wake up my computer again and start to work.It’s been a long day, and I’m looking forward to eating a nice, fun meal with you.”They separated out the food and began opening the containers while they sampled each thing.By the time they’d gotten everything out of the large bags, she was ready to have a big meal and sat down at her table with Wylie to enjoy dinner.It was fun to have so much to choose from, and she was glad that he’d done it this way.She was stuffed by the end of the meal, and they didn’t have as many leftovers as she’d thought they would.Skipping lunch today had made her very hungry.
Going to the living room, leaving the mess in the kitchen, they sat down on the couch to watch some television.She could see them doing this all the time, the two of them just enjoying each other’s company.By the time she’d dozed off for the third time, she was ready for bed.Her belly was full, and she had a great man in her place.What more could she ask for than that?
At around midnight, she woke up to be entangled with Wylie on the couch.He was snoring softly, and she had her head on his chest.The sound of his heartbeat lured her to sleep again, and she didn’t mind that she wasn’t in bed with him.She was just where she needed to be, and she loved it.
Getting up at two, she had to go to the bathroom.He was lying on her in a way that she was smushed up under him.Getting off the couch, she was glad that she’d had to roll to the floor to get out from under him because had they been in bed, she would have hurt herself.Going to the bathroom and turning off some of the lights, she was startled to find him sitting on the side of the couch waiting for her.
