He thought about how Gilman had come to his table.The very fact that he’d had the nerve to do so was making him want to find his brother and beat the shit out of him.He didn’t know why, not really, but he had a feeling that he’d feel better if he were to knock him around a bit.
Not that he would.That would just be nuts.He was his brother after all, and he and Gilman usually got along very well, and he didn’t want a woman to come between them.He decided that he was going to find himself a date for every night of the week until he found out what he’d been missing by not dating all that much.
But all he could think about was Lori.And how she’d made him feel when he’d kissed her.It was driving him crazy to think that one date had him thinking about forever with her, and he didn’t want that either.At least he didn’t think he did.
He’d been sleeping in his new home for the last two nights, and it wasn’t as much fun as he thought it would be.He’d been wanting to make it his home, but something was missing.He didn’t want to think that it had been Lori all this time.She’d be making his place a home, and he wasn’t sure why that thought kept circling around in his head.She was just a woman that he’d dated one time, and that didn’t make him fall in love with her.
“But I did.”He had come to the realization that he’d fallen in love with her the other night when he’d been roaming the house looking for something that was out of place.The only thing that he could think about was her.And how she’d be able to complete the house for him.
The only way that he was going to get her out of his system was to date her once more and make himself realize that she wasn’t for him.He knew that would hurt his heart to do that, but he had to do something, or he was going to go insane.It was that, or he was going to have to piss her off at him, and that would be the end of things.He’d see that she wasn’t for him, and he’d be able to move on with his life.At least that’s what he thought would happen.He, at least, was going to give it a try.What could it hurt?
“It would kill me.”He had been talking to himself since he’d met Lori.She was making him do things that he’d never done before.Talking to himself was just one of them.He’d find himself just staring off in the room he was in for no other reason than he was thinking about her.If he were to have been asked what he’d been thinking about, all he’d be able to come up with is that she was on his mind.Nothing more than that.He was going crazy, and he didn’t like the feeling that she was twisting him all up inside for no reason.
He couldn’t just blame it on her either.He’d been feeling out of sorts since he’d met her, he realized.She would make him laugh when she waited on them at the restaurant, and he couldn’t believe that it took him this long to realize that she’d been meant for him.Well, he needed to get that shit out of his mind right now.
Penrod knew that he was going back and forth about her.One minute, he wanted to strangle her for making him feel like this, and the next, he’d want to make love to her just to hear her scream out his name.He also wanted to hear her say that she loved him too, but that wasn’t going to happen.He’d screwed that up on their first and only date.
Asking her out was going to solve so many problems for him.He’d realize that she wasn’t right for him, and his mind would relax as would his heart.He’d figure out that she wasn’t as special as he thought she was, and then the two of them would be able to go their separate ways.At least that’s what he was hoping for.Who knew the mind of a woman?
Not that it was completely her fault.None of it was when he thought about it.She’d been fun, and his stupid heart had decided that she was the one for him and he couldn’t get it out of his mind.He also wanted to blame his brothers for falling in love so quickly, but knew that wasn’t true either.They’d just found the right woman, and that had been the end of it for them.He wasn’t sure that it was going to be so easy for him.
Finally, after picking up the phone for the tenth time, he called her.His plan was to either ask her out again or to yell at her.Either one would work for him; he just needed to get his mind in the right place to decide what he was going to do.Taking in a deep breath when she answered, he’d made his decision.
“Will you marry me?”She didn’t say anything for several seconds, and he had to look at his phone to see if they were still connected.As soon as he realized that she was still on the line with him, he started telling her all the things that she’d done to him in regard to his life.“I want you to come and live with me in my house.I want you to make it our home so that I know that you belong there.I’ve been thinking about you every day since I met you, and I think that us getting married is the next best step for the two of us.So will you please do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
“Yes.”He closed his eyes.The relief was so profound.He hadn’t meant to ask her that, but now that he had, it was as if everything in him had settled down.He no longer questioned his sanity but knew that since she’d said yes, his life would be better all the way around.“Are you serious?I guess that’s what I should have asked you instead of saying yes to you.”
“I’m as serious about you becoming my wife as I’ve ever been about anything in my life.”She told him that she would marry him again, and he wanted to get up and shout to the world that he had someone in his life.“I know it’s sudden, but you’re all I can think about in the morning, when I’m working as well as when I go to bed at night.You are going to complete me in ways that I’ve never dreamed a woman could complete a man.”
“I have to go.I’m sorry, but I’m still at work.”He said that he understood and would call her later.“I have a fun kind of date with Gilman tonight.We’re going to celebrate my last day on the job.There’s nothing between us but friendship.He knew that I’d be down a bit and said we’d have donuts and coffee after I got off work.You’re welcome to join us.In fact, I should call him and tell him that I can’t meet with him now that we’re getting married.”She laughed.“I’m babbling.I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re all right.I’m all right with you seeing Gilman.He’s going to be your brother-in-law soon anyway.You said yes to me, and I couldn’t be happier.”He actually didn’t feel any ill will towards his brother at all.He was too giddy with happiness to feel anything but brotherly love for his family.“I’ll see you soon.Just let me know when you feel like going to the courthouse.We can have a big wedding later if you’d like, but I want you as my wife as soon as possible.”
“I understand.”She paused for a moment, and he wondered if she was having second thoughts.“I have to go.I’m still working and might be here all day.I’ve been up since four, and I’m exhausted.I can’t wait to be done here.”
When she hung up, he felt better than he had in some time.Not only was his heart feeling better than it had, but his entire well-being felt like it was all right.Pulling up the information on the courthouse, he made an appointment with the judge to get married.Filling out the paperwork for them to get a license was easier than he thought, and he was happy that they’d had that date so that he knew everything about her.Even her birthday.
Since he got off work at four, he was going to make sure that he went shopping for a ring for her.She had such tiny fingers that he knew it would be easy to size her ring for her and was thrilled that she’d be wearing his ring on her finger soon.
He’d forgotten to tell her that he loved her.As soon as he saw her again, he was going to tell her.And he was going to tell her every day for the rest of their lives until forever.He was in love with his soon-to-be wife, and he couldn’t have been happier.
When he realized how early it was in the afternoon, he decided to have lunch out.As soon as he made his way over to the pizza shop, he did a little dance outside the building and put his face up to the sun.He’d never been this happy before, and all of it was because she’d said yes.
“Penrod, are you all right?You looked…Well, I was going to say strange, but I think you look that way all the time.”He told his brother Stamos she’d said yes.“Well, I’m assuming that you’ve met someone who said they’d marry you.Who is it?”
“Lori Hamilton.She told me yes, and I couldn’t be happier.”They hugged, and he invited his brother to have lunch with him.“My treat too.I’m in such a good mood that I can hardly contain myself.She said yes.Can you believe it?”
“I do.Why wouldn’t she?I mean, I don’t have any idea who that is, but I’m assuming that you do, so I’ll be happy for you.”He told him that he’d met her, explaining how she was the waitress at Murphy’s Place.“I remember her.She’s a lovely woman.And a sweetheart.How did you get her to say yes to you?”He laughed with his brother.“But seriously, congratulations.I’m happy for you both.”
“You’re the first person that I’ve told.”He hugged his brother again.“I was going to call her up to pick a fight with her or to ask her out again.But as soon as I asked her, I knew that was the perfect thing to do.”He asked about picking a fight with her.“It’s nothing now.I was hoping that by picking a fight with her, I’d be able to see she wasn’t the right person for me.But as it turned out, my head was smarter than my mouth.I’m babbling.”
“Yes, you are, and it looks good on you.”He decided that he was just too hyped up to be sitting still in the deli part of the pizza place and went outside to eat his lunch.It stopped raining about an hour ago, and the weather was humid and sticky.It didn’t matter to him; he was going to think of the day as perfect as he could because she’d said yes.
“I have to think of something else.”His brother asked him about the line of bikes that had gone missing from the local high school.“I’m not a part of that, but I can tell you—off the record that is—that they have someone in mind that is doing it.It’s the local bike shop that’s stealing them and then reselling them back to them after a good clean-up and paint job.There will be an arrest in the morning.”
“Too bad it’s off the record.I think that would have made a good headline for the local paper next week.”The two of them enjoyed their lunch, and afterwards they went their separate ways.Penrod had a lot of work to get done and was glad to be able to concentrate on it.At four o’clock, he was ready to get out of the stationhouse and to the store to go shopping for Lori a ring.He couldn’t wait to see her face when he showed it to her.
Chapter 6
