“Did you ever think to buy yourself some flowers for Valentine’s Day?” he asked. “Or another specialoccasion?”
She looked over to him, part alarm and part relief in her expression. The two warring emotions didn’t go together, and Dawson feared he’d messed up again.
“No,” she whispered. “But I should.”
“Pick one of these,” he said. “I’ll get it for you.”
“Baby, you already got me the biggest bouquet of roses in the world.” She took his arm again and leaned into him. “Honestly, I don’t think any other woman in Three Rivers got roses, because you bought them all.”
He laughed, and it felt so good to do that. He loved being with this woman, and he loved making her smile, and he absolutely adored the way she made him feel.
She turned away from the rest of the room, not even looking at the rest of the arrangements. “Come show me why you love Texas.”
Dawson led her to the entrance of the main room in the barn. Sometimes they had shows out here, with Chuckwagon dinners and fiddles and real barn-raising music. Sometimes they had a display of Christmas trees that Three Rivers residents could buy, and all the money got donated to the Food Bank for the holidays.
And on special occasions like tonight, the big space had been transformed into a lover’s paradise, with tables that weren’t too close to each other, a big area in the middle for dancing, and huge, splashy urns full of…more flowers. Several had silver, white, pink, or red heart-shaped balloons rising from them, while still others had the cardboard variety poking out of greenery and blooms.
Bare light bulbs hung from the ceiling over every table, providing a rustic atmosphere while also providing that pale, yellow, romantic light. The dance floor stood empty and waiting, and a man moved over to Dawson.
“What number, sir?”
“Thirty-one,” he said, showing the man his ticket. All the waiters wore tuxedos, with the waitresses in black dresses.
“This way.” The man led them out of the doorway and into paradise, getting them to the right table far faster than Dawson could’ve. He pulled out Caroline’s chair for her, and as she sank into it, he leaned over and whispered, “I love Texas even more now that you’re here.”
He went to his seat and sat down, taking the menu from the man who’d escorted them to the table. Once he’d gone, Caroline said, “I’ve lived in Texas for a while, actually.”
“Then in Three Rivers,” he said without missing a beat.
The menu only held three choices for an appetizer, three for the soup and salad course, three main dishes, and three desserts. “It’s one price,” he said, noting there were no listings on the menu. “I’ve paid for two, and you get one thing from each section.”
“Okay,” she murmured.
“Do you like seafood?”
“Not this far from the ocean,” she said.
He grinned at her, catching her eye for only moment as she glanced up while he looked down. “I love seafood,” he said. “Even this far from the ocean.”
“Noted,” she said coolly as she lay down her menu. “I know what I want.”
That she did, and Dawson needed to start praying that she’d continue to want him in her life. If he had a pad of sticky notes, he’d make himself a note to remember to pray for such a thing—on a white note.
Dawson had the menu memorized, so he set his aside too. “So do I.”
“Can I guess?”
He gestured for her to go right ahead, feeling playful and alive, because she wore such a playful and vibrant look on her face.
“Well, knowing the seafood thing now, I think you’ll get the scallops for an appetizer. You only eat green things when your momma makes you, so I’m going to go with the French onion soup for the second course. Surf and turf for your main, and the dessert…that’s tricky.” She folded her arms on the table and tilted her head in the cutest way.
“I’m going to go with chocolate,” she said. “You seemed nuts about it in ice cream last week.”
“It is the best kind of ice cream,” he acknowledged.
“So the chocolate mousse cake,” she said. “With ice cream, but I bet that’s vanilla.”
He grinned at her. “My turn.”
