“Mom, can wepleasego to the store and get something panty-otic?”
“Sure.” I patted the spot next to me. “Come eat, then we can go. Is your room clean?”
She nodded and stabbed her fork with impressive power into her toaster waffles.
Now, we are four outfits deep in the Walmart dressing room, bordering on tears when Winnie finally tries on a bright red top, overall shorts with little silver stars on the pocket and a pair of glittery blue rain boots. She spins in the mirror, content with what she sees.
“Winnie, help carry this in.” I hand her the dessert she threw in the cart at Walmart as we walk up to Lauren and Rhett’s.
She tries to hide a small eye roll, but she carries her little snack cakes in and sets them on the counter. Then not even a full second later, she’s off looking for Storm and I’m off looking for Tanner.
Every bit of the yard is cleaned up and decorated with mini-American flags, triangle flag garlands and string lights. Country music plays over the rustling trees and chatter of the busy yard. Despite all the people here, I spot Tanner immediately across the way, standing near the small bonfire. Backwards baseball hat, a white T-shirt, a beer in hand and a smile on his face that says everything I need to know. I chose the right dress.
“Hannah!” Riley and the other moms catch me before I can even step off the back deck. “How’s Winnie?”
“She’s great.” I point at her across the yard. She’s found the other kids and Storm.
“Good, again, I amsosorry.”
“No.” I shake my head. “Don’t be. I should be thanking you again. The doctor said if you didn’t step in as quickly as you did, it could have been a lot worse. She can’t wait to get back.”
“Good. I’m so glad.” She forces a little smile, but I can still see the nervousness all over her face.
“This dress?” Bernie steps back and looks me up and down. “Sogood.”
“Is it okay?”
“What does Tanner think?” Pia wiggles her eyebrows, then looks over my shoulder.
Bernie smirks. “By the looks of it, he’s undressing you with his eyes.”
I look behind me, and Tanner is still in a group with a bunch of guys, but his attention is entirely locked on me. I turn back to the women and they’re all smiling at me like it’s a middle school dance and my crush is across the gym. It becomes a game to see who is going to be brave and say hi first.
It’s only a couple moments before I feel his hand press into my lower back. “Ladies, can I steal her?”
“She’s all yours,” Pia tells him but he’s already steering me away before she can finish answering.
“Let’s get you a drink,” he says.
“Really? I put on this little dress and that’s all you have to say?”
He leans over the cooler and shovels around before he stands with two beers. As he hands one to me, he lowers his lips to my ear. “I’m trying to be respectful in front of your sister and brother-in-law, but you are making itveryhard in that dress.”
He tosses a strand of hair over my shoulder, and his finger just barely grazes my skin and yet every single cell in my body isaflame. A feeling I’ve only come to know this summer. I'm sure he can hear the uptick in my heart rate. If not, the flush on my cheeks surely gives me away.
We haven’t discussed what this party was going to look like. We haven’t even discussed what we are. Before my mind can spiral any further, he laces his fingers through mine and brings my hand to his lips.
“Come on. I want to introduce you to a couple of people.”
As we walk through the crowd, Tanner is stopped by just about every person we pass. Everyone asking how he is, how’s the house, how’s the auto shop, if he’s ever going to get out of there or not. People I don’t know look me up and down. Checking out who this girl is with their precious Tanner Auclair. He introduces me and everyone is kind and had already heard about me somehow.
Then I spot them and I realize in an instant I could pick them out of any crowd. They look exactly how I pictured them all this time, but also from the pictures on Tanner's mantel. And well, Tanner looks like them. The mayor and his wife, who we are walking right toward.
“Tanner, when were you going to give me a heads-up that your parents would be here?”
He squeezes my hand as we approach the beaming couple.
“Mom, Dad,” he says. “This is Hannah. Hannah, this is my mom and dad.”
