Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
JESSE
Easton thumbed towards his grandpa who was laughing like he knew the punch line to a joke none of us heard. He seemed charming, was incredibly handsome, and clearly loved Easton. The pride he had was written all over his face and stuck out almost more than the laughter.
“Easton,” his grandma leaned in, giving him a hug. “We talked about you behind your back at Sunday dinner.”
She didn’t mince words, and I couldn’t help but let out a huge laugh. I tried smothering it with my hand but everyone had already turned my way.
“Sorry,” I giggled again.
“You must be Jesse.” Instead of holding her hand out, she leaned in and gave me a hug, making me feel warm and welcome. “You are even prettier than I imagined.”
“You imagined me?” It was a playful tease, something I realized their family loved doing, and something that made me feel a thousand times more comfortable.
“We sure did,” she laughed. “Talked about you behind your back, as well.”
“I’m honored.”
Gramps laughed, but didn’t respond other than to push Easton aside and wrap me into an equally warming hug as Grams.
Easton took after his grandpa in so many ways. Their eyes had the same sparkle, their stature was the same, and I could tell Easton had inherited his charm.
“I’m Gramps.” He pulled back from our embrace and held my shoulders to look at me. “Easton can’t dance.”
His abrupt statement made me burst into laughter again while Easton gently pushed his grandpa to the side. “I can too.”
“You cann ot . You’re Grams spent a whole week trying to teach you to dance before your prom and you broke the poor girl’s little toe.”
“Rory is not a poor girl,” Miles snorted, shaking his head. “She’s?—”
“Not important,” Easton cut his brother off, eyeing him with mirth. “And I can dance, I just don’t dance.”
“Yeah whatever,” Miles glanced down at his watch and then nudged Linc. “Time to go.”
They said quick goodbyes and then Grams turned back to me. “We’d better go too. It was great meeting you, Dear. Hope to see you again soon!”
“Same for me!” And I genuinely meant that. Easton’s grandparents were special. The kind of people that could tease you and make you feel welcome all at the same time. My kind of people.
“Watch out for your toes,” Gramps hollered as he grabbed Gram’s hand and led her off.
“Don’t. Dance,” Easton emphasized loudly. “Can dance, but I don’t. Her toes will be fine.”
I continued to laugh as they walked away, until Easton and I were finally alone. Max was still hiding in Easton arms from all the people that were around, but lifted his head with a smile when the coast was clear.
“He gets a little nervous in crowds,” I whispered, rubbing his back as I explained to Easton.
“Well, Buddy,” Easton spoke directly to Max. “You say the word and I’ll take you home. But I hope we get to dance a little first.”
“You don't know how,” Max poked Easton on the cheek and smiled. Just like every other time Max spoke more than a few words, my heart exploded and I had to take a few breaths to calm down.
“You gotta teach me.”
“I don’t dance,” Max laughed. “Mommy dance!”
“She will have to teach us both, then!”
Easton took my hand and led us to an open spot in the field where there was a stage set up. I had no idea who was performing, or what I was in for, but it seemed as though the whole town had congregated for the event.
When we found the perfect spot, Easton laid a blanket down and set Max on top of it. Then he helped me down as well before settling with us.
“Loxley Adams is performing. Ever heard of her?”
“What?” I yelled, taken off guard. “I love her! She’s here?”
“Yeah,” Easton nodded. “Every year a country star headlines the Harmony Haven festival and she’s this year’s performer.”
“Wow! She was in Atlanta last year and I wanted to go so bad, but I had just lost my mom and there was no one to watch Max.”
“Well that makes this date even better.” Easton licked his lips and reached up to tuck a stray strand of my hair behind my ear.
My rosy cheeks gave away how special Easton’s attention made me feel. No matter how bad of an idea it was to get too close to him, he was impossible to resist. Just a graze of his fingers along my ear and down my neck made me want to go home and put Max to bed. If just the tips of his fingers could make me feel that good, I couldn’t imagine what other parts of him could do to me.
“Brooks!”
A deep voice pulled both mine and Easton’s attention away from each other. Easton immediately stood and held my hand, helping me up as well.
“Captain Reed. Good to see you out here tonight.”
“The wife wanted to bring the kids,” he shrugged. “Loxley Adams is their favorite. But you know I’d rather be at the station.”
“You work too much, old man.”
“You don’t work enough,” he grumbled.
“Forty-four hours a week.”
“Who’s this?” Captain Reed pointed my way and I smiled. He seemed like a gruff, no-nonsense kind of man, and I immediately liked him.
“I’m Jesse,” I pushed my hand out, offering it to him to shake as I added. “I was your ‘no charge’ call a few weeks ago.”
Captain Reed stood still, barely shaking my hand as what I had just said sunk in. Then, he burst into laughter, making his belly jiggle and his head throw back.
Easton was also laughing while eyeing me with a bit of intrigue. He looked impressed, maybe that I had let the embarrassment of that night go and embraced the fact that I would be forever known as the ‘no charge’ call.
“Then this must be the caller,” Captain Reed glanced down toward Max.
Max had moved to hide behind my legs as he stayed seated on the banket, but he peeked out long enough to eye Captain Reed.
“That’s Max,” I nodded. “He loves fire trucks.”
“Well, it's good to meet you both,” he huffed. “I better get back to the wife before she… wait a second…”
“Yeah Cap?” Easton looked worried as Captain Reed immediately stopped speaking and started turning his head side to side.
“Is this the woman you wrote the, um…the, um…recipes for?”
Recipes?
“Ha, yeah.” Easton turned a bright shade of red, rubbing the back of his neck . “This is her.”
Instead of answering or finishing what he was saying in the first place, Captain Reed just smirked and shook his head. Then he walked away, waving a hand behind him.
Confusion was written all over my face as we settled back onto the blanket, but before I could ask what recipes he sent me, the music started. It became impossible to have a conversation over how loud it was, but it somehow made me more at ease. There was a smaller chance of having to meet everyone in town if we couldn’t be heard over the music.
The first act only sang a few songs, none of them I recognized, and the second act was even fewer. We enjoyed the show, though, sitting side by side with Max nestled between us.
When it was finally time for Loxley to perform, everyone stood up and cheered. Even Max had gotten into the whole vibe of the evening and started dancing in a way only a three year old could.
Every once in a while, Max would stop dancing and look up sheepishly. Easton wouldn’t hesitate, though. He started dancing exactly how Max was, jumping in awkward circles and holding his arms up like a chicken.
Eventually, though, Max started to wear down and decided to lay on the blanket. He was happy and content, looking at the stars above and the people milling around that had kept a safe distance from our area. Meanwhile, Easton and I moved closer together, wrapping our arms around each other as Loxley sang all my favorite tunes.
Then the music stopped, and Loxley took a breath, speaking to the audience. “I love being here in Harmony Haven. These kinds of shows are my favorite. It's a chance to get away from the big lights of the city and see some of the most gorgeous parts of the country. This is the kinda place that could make you fall in love. Where life is a long song.”
The crowd roared as the music started again. It was the first few notes of my favorite song and Easton turned to me with a smile.
“Let me take you away.”
He pulled me into a slow dance and we moved in small circles, being mindful of Max at our feet. Our eyes were locked and it instantly felt like we were the only ones at the show. We didn’t even have to watch the performance because everything we needed to see in order to feel the song was each other.
“You’re scaring me,” I spoke, not even knowing if he could hear me.
“Don’t be spineless.” The sun had gone down, but his eyes were bright enough to light a path. They reflected the lights from the stage and I watched as they moved between my eyes.
“I’ll try,” I nodded, biting my lip.
“That’s my girl.”
He must have assumed the shudder through my body was a chill, because he wrapped his arms around me and kept swaying as the song continued.
It wasn’t cold, though. It was him. It was the music. The words. Easton Brooks was the sweetest man I’d ever met and apparently couldn’t dance—but he did anyway, with me.
Twice.
All because I told him I loved to dance.