Chapter Thirty-Five
When it Feels Right
Crystal
Joplin side-eyed me, as we entered the cozy house on the corner. The kitchen table sat in the middle of the room with curio cabinets full of fancy dishes and knickknacks.
“Aunt Daisy is a collector.” He smiled when he saw us looking at one. He showed me his parents' portrait and a thick ancient bible that had been in Daisy’s family for generations.
“Anthony, don’t just stand there. Get the table ready,” Daisy called, from another room.
He shook his head, but quietly obliged.
“Sit down, make yourselves comfortable,” Anthony encouraged, motioning around the table.
Daisy emerged from a side hall with a platter of pancakes and a bottle of maple syrup.
“Help yourselves, I’ll be right back with the rest.”
Anthony held up a finger and disappeared down the hallway. He came back with his hands full of glasses, and a pitcher of orange juice. Daisy followed him with a bowl of steaming eggs and a plate of sausage links.
Joplin wasted no time piling her plate, much to Daisy’s pleasure.
“Leave her be.” She chuckled, when I quietly mumbled at her to slow down. “It’s been years since I have had a teenager to appreciate my cooking. The boys used to be the same way.”
She wasn’t a growing, teenage boy. She was just a girl, whose mother worked the microwave better than the stove. A home-cooked meal that didn’t come pre-cooked and frozen was a treat where we grew up.
“I’ve seen you girls before,” Daisy quietly mused, while spreading peanut butter on her pancake.
“We’ve lived around Swanwick our whole lives,” Joplin announced between mouthfuls, before amending, “Well, I have.”
Daisy nodded. “Yes, I think I remember you with Gladys on Sunday mornings.”
Joplin swallowed some orange juice before rambling away, “Grandma Gladys used to take us to Sunday school when Mom was too hungover to pick us up after her Saturday nights out.”
I was nervous and taking baby bites of egg, but I still managed to choke on her candor. Anthony smiled, and patted my back, but Daisy acted like she’d said nothing at all.
“Family looks out for each other,” Daisy announced before starting on her plate. “That’s a pretty ring.”
I glanced down at my finger and then up at the lady with the long, brown curls. Her knowing smile relaxed me a little.
“Anthony bought it for me about a year ago.”
“It’s her engagement ring.” Anthony proved to have all the discretion Joplin was capable of, leaving my cheeks to warm beneath Joplin and his aunt’s gazes.
“I see.” Daisy sipped her drink and stared at him, once she patted her lips with a napkin she raised a shoulder, “Well, when is the date, big guy?”
Anthony’s eyes slowly shifted toward me. I felt it, I didn’t have to turn my head and look at him. I nibbled my lip, unsure what to say.
“We have to wait on the marriage license to go through.” I finally managed.
“Ah,” Daisy nodded, as if it were a detail she’d overlooked. “I have never been married, so I wouldn’t know about all of that business.”
“Me, either.” I quietly, but awkwardly, sighed.
Anthony captured my hand in his and ran his thumb down the length of my index finger, over the knuckle and back again, “How soon can you arrange the church?”
“I’ll call this afternoon, when I make calls to check on your brother.”
“You’re the best.” Anthony grinned.
“Do you have a dress?” Joplin asked, pausing with her fork in the air.
I gave a slow shake of my head.
“There is a nice place in Fairview Heights,” Daisy suggested.
I didn’t know what to say. I shyly smiled, grateful for her help.
“I’ll be heading that way to get new glasses tomorrow, if you’d like company?”
“That’d be great.”
Marriage had been the last thing on my mind when I fled Swanwick. I didn’t know where anything like that was located back then, and I was sure things had changed in the time since.
I picked at my pancake, the whirlwind of it all still had my nerves frazzled.
“I was about to head to the store and pick something out for dinner, do you want to come and help me?” Daisy asked Joplin when we finished.
Joplin’s uncertain gaze darted toward me. After brief consideration, I decided that it was unlikely our mother was going anywhere at such an hour, unless Larry needed to be checked out after his trip into the trailer with Anthony. So, I gave her a delayed nod.
Half an hour later, they were pulling out of the driveway, leaving me and Anthony alone. His hand pressed to my side, prompting me to let go of the blinds I was distorting. I froze for the first time in years, only to inwardly curse myself as I pulled myself out of it and turned to face him.
“She must like you,” he quietly murmured, as he drew me into his arms, ignoring my awkwardness until I melted into his arms.
Once I stopped resisting, I didn’t want to let go. I forgot how good it felt to lay my head on his chest.
I didn’t mean to cry, but the hot tears spilled down my face, and I clutched him all the tighter.
“How do you know it won’t happen again…?”
“I’m not entirely sure what happened this time, but I can promise you it won’t fucking happen again,” he whispered, stroking my hair.