Chapter 30
As Tripp was loading Nicky in the truck the next morning, Hank walked across the yard and gave Willa Rose a hug. “Tell your mama hello for me. She knows I’m happy here because I visit with her every morning before I even get out of bed.”
“I wish you were coming with us,” Willa Rose said.
“I hate flying,” Hank said. “When we put the houses up for sale, we will drive down there to sign the papers.”
“I’m not selling my house,” she said. “I’m giving it to the church to use for a parsonage. Later if they build a newer one, then they can use the place for a clothes closet and food bank for needy folks.”
“Have you told the folks at the church?” Hank asked.
“Not until next Thanksgiving when our year is up, but I don’t think I’ll change my mind.”
“Well, y’all have a good time. Even if it is cold, at least you’ve got clear skies,” Hank said as he walked away. “Tripp, you be careful. You are carrying precious cargo.”
“Yes, sir, and I agree. I’ll be back to help tomorrow and Saturday.”
Hank waved over his shoulder. “See you then.”
She understood her father’s wanting to spend time with her mother better on the drive out of town.
Like her mother had most likely done when Willa Rose was a baby, she sat in the back seat beside Nicky.
Had it been difficult for Vada when she had to drive and leave Willa Rose in the back seat?
Willa Rose wanted to pat herself on the back for that accomplishment, but then realized that she hadn’t had a choice.
If she needed to go somewhere, there was no other option.
“I miss having you beside me,” Tripp said.
She reached up and touched his shoulder. “I was thinking the same thing, and now I understand better why we need time alone.”
He laid a hand over hers and gave it a squeeze. “I love you.”
“Right back at you.” She slipped her hand from his and sat up straight. “How long does it take to drive to Bowie?”
“About forty-five minutes, and then it’s an hour flight to Bandera,” he answered.
“Thank you for doing this for us.”
“You are more than welcome. I’m glad that we will have a plane parked at Bowie from now on, so anytime you get homesick, we can fly south,” Tripp told her.
“Why didn’t you offer to take Audrey and Brodie to Florida?”
“I wasn’t interested in going on their honeymoon with them.
” He chuckled. “Plus, they liked the idea of a road trip. They planned to do a two-day road trip down there, then have a few days on the beach. Audrey said that she would be glad to have Brodie to herself all day long on the drives down and back, plus their time on the beach.”
Home!
That word stuck in her mind. Was she going home to Poetry, or leaving home behind in Spanish Fort? Which one would she get homesick for if she was away very long?
***
Tripp parked his truck in the empty hangar at the small airport in Bowie where his plane would be at home after that day. He got out expecting to see his training instructor, Lester, coming toward him. But a tall, lanky man with gray in his temples came out from the men’s room and waved.
He crossed the room and stuck out his hand. “Hey, Tripp. Don’t know if you remember me, but I’m Marcus, Lester’s nephew. He has a stomach bug, and he sent me in his place.”
Tripp shook with him and then introduced him to Willa Rose and Nicky. “Yes, I remember you. Good to see you again.”
“Likewise,” Marcus said and dropped his hand.
“I promise I’ll take good care of you. I have always liked the look of your plane and even more so after this morning.
It drives like a Cadillac, one of those old ones that had some get up and go, not one of the newer ones that looks like everything else on the road.
Anytime you want to sell that sweet little lady parked out there, I’ll be glad to buy her. ”
Tripp glanced over at Willa Rose to see her shaking her head. “Miz Willa Rose has spoken, so I guess selling her is out of the question.”
“Well, just in case she changes your mind, would you please remember that I’m first in line? Uncle Lester said to tell you that all the arrangements have been made.” He turned toward Willa Rose. “Good-lookin’ baby you got there. Can I help with any bags you have?”
Tripp opened the truck door. “If you’ll take those, I’ll carry the baby.”
“No problem.” Marcus handed Tripp a folder and picked up the two bags. “Travelin’ light today.”
“It’s just a day trip,” Tripp told him as they walked out to the plane.
Marcus was a talker, and never stopped for the duration of the flight to Bandera. When they finally were on the ground, Marcus handed Tripp the keys.
“Great visitin’ with you. If you ever need a pilot, holler at me,” he said.
“Tell Lester thanks for everything, and that I hope he feels better soon,” Tripp said.
“I’ll do it, and I’ll help you with the bags before I leave.”
“What now?” Willa Rose asked.
Tripp opened the folder. “See that SUV sitting over there in the empty hangar? That’s our vehicle for the day.”
“How did you…”
“I told Lester what I needed, and he took care of it for me, including calling the manager of the Bowie airfield,” Tripp explained. “We’ll stop by the flower shop, go to the cemetery, and then have lunch wherever you want.”
“Not bad for a second date,” Willa Rose said.
“Well, thank you, ma’am. I do what I can for being just a basic boring, introverted and shy guy.”
“You might fool some of the people with that line, but not me,” she told him.
When they were on the ground and beside the SUV, she got into the front seat of the SUV with Tripp. “Nicky is getting so independent that he rides in the back by himself when I go from place to place in Spanish Fort. He seems to think he’s big enough to go a few miles without me right beside him.”
Tripp wasn’t about to argue with that or to say a single word about it. He simply leaned over the console and kissed her on the cheek. “Glad to have a copilot. First stop is to show you the house where I grew up.”
“And then a tour of the town?”
“You got it, darlin’,” he said and drove a couple of miles to a big farmhouse on the outskirts of town. “That’s my old stomping grounds.”
“Who lives here now?” Willa Rose asked.
“The company that we sold the oil company to bought it along with the business. There’s a lot of good memories and bad ones in that house.
My parents brought me home to this place when I was born.
I broke my arm when I bet Knox that I could jump off the roof and land in a kids’ swimming pool.
My mother died in one of the upstairs bedrooms.”
Willa Rose reached over and laid a hand on his. “Do you want to get out and go look around the place?”
“No, I’d hate to end up in jail for trespassing,” he said. “I just wanted to look at it again.”
“I feel the same way about the house where I grew up in Poetry. Lots of memories there, but even more to be made in the future in Spanish Fort, right?”
“Absolutely!”
The next stop was a flower shop with a CLOSED sign in the window.
“I’ll be right back,” he said.
“But, Tripp, they aren’t open.”
“Miz Maudie told Lester that she would have a couple of bouquets ready for me at”—he checked the time on his phone—“eleven o’clock. Wait right here. This won’t take long.”
The door swung open and an elderly lady who looked like Bernie motioned him inside, and in just a few minutes he carried two bunches of fresh flowers in a multitude of colors out to the vehicle.
“I hope these are all right. I didn’t know what your mama liked, but my dad used to tease my mother about hanging on to her hippie days.
She loved all colors and the brighter the better. ”
“They are perfect,” Willa Rose said around the lump in her throat.
He drove another few minutes and slowed down to make a turn under an archway with BANDERA CEMETERY across the top, and straight back to a well-kept grave with a tombstone reading CALLAHAN across the top. Willa Rose wasn’t sure what to expect until he opened the back door and helped her out.
“Would you be comfortable if we leave Nicky in the truck with the door open?”
“We won’t be but a few yards away, so we can hear him if he cries,” she answered.
He took one bunch of flowers from the passenger seat and laced her fingers into his. Together they walked the short distance to the tombstone.
“Mama, I’ve found the woman of my dreams, and you would love her.
It’s been a long time since I came to see you, but I hear your voice in my head several times a day.
I brought Willa Rose to meet you and Dad.
We haven’t exactly done things the traditional way as in meeting, dating, and all that, but I knew I loved her even before she admitted that she loved me.
” He removed two daisies from the bouquet and handed them to Willa Rose.
“What’s this for?”
“Pretend that our parents are meeting each other for the first time. One stem is from my mama to show that she approves of you. The other is from yours to tell you that she doesn’t want to shoot me.
I know that nothing about us has been the way other folks do things,” he said.
“I wanted to bring you here to a cemetery for a reason. My parents meant the world to me, and I wanted to have their blessing on our relationship and commitment. Daisies represent rebirth, new beginnings, and hope. That’s what you have brought into my life, Willa Rose. ”
“You’ve done the same for me.” She held the two flowers close to her chest and planned to press them as soon as they were back home.
Tripp dropped down on one knee and pulled a red velvet box from his pocket. “I’ve been carrying this around with me for more than a week, but a man doesn’t ask a question before he’s pretty sure of the answer. Willa Rose Thomas, love of my life and soul, will you marry me?”
A whole week. That is pretty sure of yourself.
The thought vanished when she said, “Yes!”
He slipped the ring on her finger and stood up. She took a couple of steps forward and wrapped her arms around his neck.
He looked deeply into her brown eyes and said, “I’m the luckiest man on earth.” Then he brought his lips down to hers to seal their future together.