Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
A dress.
A pretty yellow dress.
I’d never seen Joy in a dress before, and what a pretty picture she made.
A blush crawled up her chest to her neck and then hit her cheeks. “Am I overdressed? Should I go change?”
Her left hand twisted the material of her wide skirt.
“Why would you think that? You look beautiful.”
“You’re staring. I think I need to change.”
“What do you have in your hand? Do you need me to take that?”
“Oh, this? It’s just a little something I baked for you. It’s a new recipe I tried out for the first time. Miss Laverne said these were good, so hopefully you’ll like them.”
I reached out and snagged the box where it precariously rested on her left hand. “If you baked it, I know I’ll love it. What is it?”
“Mini shoofly pies. Or sometimes they’re called tarts. I had shoofly pie once when Great-Aunt Glad made it when I was a little girl. I remember really liking it.”
It was cute how shy she was being.
“Shall we get going?”
She nodded. “I don’t want you to miss getting back to work on time.”
“I took the rest of the day off.”
“You did? Just for our date?”
I nodded as I put my hand under her elbow to guide her down the porch steps. I’d never seen her wear heels before, and I wanted her to have just a little more stabilization. She gave me a look underneath her lashes and softly smiled.
When we got to my truck, I put the treats on the roof, then opened her door and helped her up into the high passenger seat. “This wasn’t made with women in mind.” She grinned at me.
“I think it was,” I disagreed. “It gives a big man a chance to get his hands on a woman when he helps her in.”
Her laugh made me laugh. “You have a point.”
I took the box off the roof and handed it to her after she was buckled in. When I got in, I immediately started driving, not wanting to waste any time getting to our destination.
After a few minutes, Joy looked around and then spoke up. “Uhm, Graham. This really doesn’t look like a neighborhood where there’s a restaurant.”
I turned to her when we hit another stop sign in the friendly residential neighborhood. “Who said anything about a restaurant?”
“Umm,” she said again. “Graham, when you promised me brisket, mac and cheese, and baked beans, were you thinking about cooking them yourself?”
I pulled into my driveway and turned to her. “As a matter of fact, I was.”
Joy shook her head. “You’re as sneaky as my brother Randy, and that’s saying something.”
“You’ve never told me about your brothers. I see we’ll have a lot to talk about this afternoon.”
“Here, you hold this,” she said as she thrust the box at me.
Then she undid her seatbelt. It was a shame.
I’d been admiring how the belt had accentuated her bountiful attributes.
“Give it back,” she said when she was done.
It took a second for me to hear what she’d said.
Enough time for her to raise her eyebrow.
I’m pretty sure she knew what I’d been staring at.
I handed her the box, then jumped out of my truck, went to her side, and helped her out.
“This looks like new construction.”
“Not so new. It’s five years old. I got it when the woman who owned it had to move for her job. She was in a hurry to sell, so the price was right, and it was in great condition.”
When we went inside, Joy immediately headed to the great room. “I love all the windows.”
“That’s what sold me.”
She turned around and licked her bottom lip. “Uhm, how long have you lived here?”
“A little over a year.”
“Hmm.”
“Go ahead and say it. Everybody else has.”
“Your interior design seems kind of minimalistic.”
I threw back my head and laughed. I kept laughing. Being in the military, decorating my living quarters had never been high on my list, and I suppose that had carried through to now. But as I looked at Joy, I wondered if that might change.
She put her hands on her hips. “Really? My observation is that funny?”
“Doll, I’ve had more than a few people over here, and your comment has to be the nicest way to say my empty house is pathetic.”
“For all I know, you’re just picky, and you take a long time to decide what pieces you want for your house.”
I laughed again and put my arm around her shoulders. “I think it’s more likely that I have no idea what to buy, and shopping is only one step up from being tied to an anthill and covered in honey.”
Joy started laughing. “That bad, huh?”
“I suppose you’re one of those women who likes to shop.”
“You suppose right. Especially bookstores and kitchen supply stores. I could get lost in there for hours.”
“How about furniture stores?”
“I’ve always gone to thrift stores or Goodwill for furniture,” she admitted as she followed me to the kitchen. “I once went to a furniture store with my mom, but it was only because they were going out of business, and the prices were amazing.”
“Where did you live in Nashville?”
“Old Hickory. Not too far from the Grand Ole Opry. I had an apartment in this old building that was refurbished. On the first level were retail shops and offices. The second and third floors were apartments. The builders had done a great job making sure that everything was soundproof, so no one in the apartments above the shops upset the shop owners below. I was above a lawyer’s office.
My apartment had one bedroom. It was really nice, even with the thrift store furniture, and of course the two pieces from Stadlers. ”
Her grin was contagious. “Are you hungry?” I asked.
“Starved. I didn’t eat much for dinner last night in preparation for today’s lunch.”
“What about breakfast this morning?”
“I had coffee and fruit.”
“So basically, you're saying you would like anything I put in front of you?” I teased.
She tilted her head. “You do have good odds of me loving your food, that’s true.”
I pulled out oven mitts and opened my oven, the smells wafting out and filling the kitchen.
“Oh my God, that smells wonderful. I don’t think I’ll have to lie. Gimme, gimme.”
“Hold your horses, Missy. I have to plate everything properly.” I pulled out the side items first and put them on the trivets I had waiting. She leaned over the counter with her eyes wide. I grabbed two plates from my cupboard and put them on the counter. Then I uncovered the dishes.
“You have bacon bits on the mac and cheese,” she clapped. “I could fall in love with you, Graham. I really could.”
Bam!
Her words hit me like a sucker punch, straight to the middle of my chest. I had the spoon midway in the air, ready to scoop up a portion of the cheesy goodness, then stopped and stared at her. She was looking at the food, her hair pulled back so I could see her high cheekbones and full lips.
“Joy,” I whispered.
She looked up. “Yeah?”
I stared at her beautiful face for one long moment. “I’m really glad you’re here.”
She reached out and put her small hand on top of mine. “So am I, Graham.”
I mentally shook my head and got back into the game. I scooped up her mac and cheese, ensuring I got plenty of bacon, and put it on her plate. “Is this enough?”
“For now. I can always come back for seconds.”
When I turned to the oven and pulled out the brisket, I had a moment without her watching my face, and I took it. Why in the hell did her one innocent comment throw me for such a loop?
Smiling, I turned back with the tightly wrapped brisket I had barbecued earlier this morning. I hoped it came out as juicy as it was supposed to. Joy squealed as I pulled back the foil.
“My God, Graham, look at that. The meat is almost falling apart! And all that juice. Make sure you put a lot on my plate.”
“A woman after my own heart. We’re eating on the deck. Is that okay with you? It’s in the shade.”
“That’s fine by me, as long as you have something cold to drink… and furniture.”
I laughed. She had a point. “Beer, tea, or lemonade?”
“Definitely beer.”
“And for the record, I do have a table and chairs.” I picked up our plates and headed to the sliding glass door. “Can you open?”
“Sure.” She opened the door, and we stepped out onto my deck. “Graham,” she exclaimed, “you can’t be totally against shopping. This furniture is beautiful.”
“One of my friends has a mom who owns a furniture store. He got this from her. He was moving into a place without a deck, so he sold it to me.”
“It’s gorgeous. You should definitely go to her store when you buy furniture for this place.”
“I’ll think about it. Hold on while I get the beer and silverware.”
I came back with silverware, a roll of paper towels, beer, and one glass.
“You drink beer from a glass?” Joy asked. “I wouldn’t have expected that.”
I laughed. “I didn’t know you could be such a smartass.”
I set the glass to the side and handed her the open beer bottle. She took a long sip, then picked up her fork. “Please don’t mind me if I don’t talk for the next ten minutes.”
Laughing, I picked up my fork and dug in. True to her words, Joy ate with relish. She didn’t start a conversation until she was halfway through with her meal.