“That’s a good color for you, honey,” my mom added as I sat down next to Alan.
My dad asked Alan how the Red Sox were doing this season, and I held my breath as I sent up a prayer that Alan was a baseball fan.
I hadn’t thought to brief him about my father’s likes and dislikes.
Alan casually threw his arm along the back of my chair, when he replied, “They made a lot of questionable trades at the deadline, so I’m not optimistic about their playoff chances this year. But I see the Braves have a good shot.”
Good answer.
Wait. How does he know my dad’s a Braves’ fan?
Maybe Papa had the game playing on mute in the living room.
Considering Alan was not a member of our church and had—presumably—asked my dad permission to marry me, my parents were surprisingly hospitable all through dinner.
Especially since he kept caressing the top of my arm in front of them.
Maybe they hadn’t noticed.
But I sure had. I broke out in goosebumps every time his fingers traced tiny circles along my biceps. And more than once, I found myself fighting the urge to rub against him like a cat in heat.
I helped Mama clear the dinner dishes, and when I came back to ask the men about dessert, Alan said, “I thought you and I could go for ice cream instead.”
My eyes flew to my father’s face. I fully expected to find him wearing a scowl, but instead he was smiling and nodding his approval.
It felt like a trap. We’d brought a blueberry pie—surely Papa had to be suspicious about why Alan didn’t want to stay and have some.
“I probably shouldn’t. I’m going to need to nurse Ruthie soon.”
“We’ll take her with us.”
****
Alan
Jess hemmed and hawed, and I wondered if she’d changed her mind, so I continued, “But if you’d rather not…”
“No, I want to. I just don’t want to take Ruthie out this late at night.”
Carol suggested, “Why don’t you wait until after you’ve fed her and then go? She’ll be fine with us.”
That seemed to surprise Jessica. “Really?”
Ed chimed in. “Yeah, of course.”
Jess eyed her parents warily, which led me to believe they weren’t normally this helpful. If I wasn’t dying to be alone with her, I might be more insistent we take Ruthie with us. If she didn’t want the baby in public, we could always grab something in the drive through and take it back to Brian’s.
Actually… that was a great idea anyway.
When Ruthie’s cries came over the baby monitor, Jess murmured, “I’ll be back in a bit.”
“Bring her down here.”
She stole a glance at her parents before she mumbled, “Oh, it’s easier if I just feed her in my room.”
“But I can’t help you when you’re in your room.” I looked over at Ed and Carol. “Unless your parents don’t mind if I go up with you.”
Carol’s mouth dropped open. “Um…” but Ed replied, “I don’t see the harm.”
