“All right,” he drawled. “Do you think you’ll wear pants?”
Lila Mae laughed. “No, but Winnie looked incredible.”
“I guess there’s some poisoned history with dresses,” he said. “And just for the record, I don’t care what you wear at our wedding.”
“I’m going wear a ball gown,” Lila Mae said.
“So youhavethought about it.”
“Of course,” she said. “Every little girl thinks about their wedding, and the only way to be a princess is to wear a ball gown.”
“What if you try on a ball gown and you hate it?” Trap asked. “I have sisters too. I’ve seen those wedding dress shows.” He looked over at her, and she loved the way he smiled at her.
“I’m thinking fall,” she said.
“Like next fall?” Trap asked.
“Yeah. Is that too soon?”
“Too soon? It’ll be November. That’s a whole year away.”
“No fall is like September.”
“Not in Texas,” he said. “It’s not fall until November.”
“Okay, then I’m thinking late summer,” Lila Mae said, half rolling her eyes. “September or October, with lots of pink and orange, and I really liked that wheaty color.”
She turned in her seat toward him. “And you know, I think it would be kind of nice if it took place at Feline Friends.” She watched him for his reaction, though she couldn’t see much with his face turned toward the windshield and the darkness beyond it.
“What do you think about that? I know your cousin got married at Seven Sons too. It’s not like we need a big, fancy venue, like what they had.”
“No,” Trap said thoughtfully. He pulled into the grocery store that sat across the street from the downtown park. “You want your cone dipped?”
“Heck, yes, I do.” Lila Mae followed him out of the truck and into the store, where they wound their way over to the deli. She ordered a chocolate dipped cone, while he ordered a strawberry dipped one. His came out bright pink, and he grinned at it with all the happiness in the world.
“You know we’re going to be done with these by the time we get to the river on the tailgate.”
“Yeah, I know.” He bit off the top swirl of his cone.
Sure enough, by the time he parked at the river where they’d seen the badger, and he’d lowered the tailgate and helped Lila Mae up onto it, both of them had finished their treat.
“Today was a pretty perfect day,” he said.
“Even though we didn’t get to lay in the hammock?” Lila Mae leaned against his side now, and they listened to the river babble its way through the darkness in front of them.
“Even though,” he whispered. “Lila Mae, tell me what I have to do to make sure your momma is happy with our engagement.”
She immediately bristled, and then gave herself a few seconds to calm down. “It’s sweet that you care,” she started.
“I do,” Trap said. “Just like you’ve been trying candied yam recipes for a week, so you can impress my mom at Thanksgiving.”
She exhaled, because he wasn’t wrong, and while she’d yet to find the right recipe, she still had a couple of weeks and would keep trying.
“My mother has my grandmother’s ring,” Lila Mae said. “And we’ve talked in the past about me wearing that.”
“Is it whatyouwant, though?” he asked.
Lila Mae thought of the enormous diamond and how ridiculous it would look on her hand as she worked with cats on the plains of Texas. “No.”
