Chapter 25
“You look absolutely gorgeous.” Brodie’s breath caught in his chest when Audrey came out of the bedroom dressed for church in a pretty yellow dress and high-heeled sandals to match.
Sometimes he still had trouble believing that he was actually dating the woman who gave him so much grief for three months after he had bought the farm.
“Well, thank you,” she said. “You clean up pretty good yourself.”
“I do the best I can with what I’ve got to work with,” Brodie said. “Without a doubt, you will be the prettiest woman at the egg hunt and at the potluck. But I do have one problem.”
Audrey glanced down at her dress and then up at him. “What’s wrong? The dress isn’t new. I didn’t have time to shop. Is there a stain on it somewhere?”
“No, darlin’.” Brodie took her in his arms and held her close. “My problem is that I won’t be able to hear a word Parker says this morning with you sitting so close to me. I’m going to be undressing you with my eyes all day.”
She raised up on her toes and kissed him. “I will probably have the same problem.”
Brodie picked up the backpack he had brought into the house every day that week, and Audrey shook her head. “Why don’t you just leave that here? You are coming back tonight, aren’t you?”
“Yes, but that would mean…”
“It would mean that I’m asking you to move in with me,” Audrey said with a sexy little grin. “Unless you’re afraid to actually live on a farm with commercially grown crops.”
Brodie dropped the backpack. “I’m not afraid of anything but losing you. Should I bring more stuff, or do I just get to move in what I’ve got in there?”
“Bring everything. You can have the closet in Aunt Hettie’s old bedroom, and store whatever else you need to in the empty room. I’ve already cleaned out a drawer for you in our bedroom,” she answered.
He held the door for her, and they walked out to his truck together. “Is this so you don’t ever have to deal with Hettie again?”
“Not at all,” Audrey replied. “She called and apologized for being so hateful. Evidently, Bitsy and Walter both had a ‘come to Jesus’ talk with her. But enough about her. Isn’t it a beautiful day for an Easter egg hunt?”
Brodie helped her into the truck and then hurried around the back end and settled in behind the steering wheel. “Yes, it is. Are you absolutely sure about us moving in together? We only stopped fighting a few weeks ago.”
“Never been surer about anything in my whole life,” she answered. “Are you having doubts that we are ready?”
“Nope, no doubts or second thoughts,” Brodie answered. “I love waking up to see you beside me every morning.”
Audrey blew a kiss across the console. “Me, too.”
***
Brodie took a half-bushel basket filled with plastic eggs to the far corner of the massive backyard and began to hide them in the tall grass. His thoughts were on how much he dreaded telling Joe Clay that he was moving out of the Paradise when, as if on cue, the man appeared right beside him.
“Seems like more and more kids show up to this every year, but then Rae works at the school now, and she put out the word that all the children were invited. Not that I’m complaining.
Holidays are the Paradise highlights. We love having folks come here to help us celebrate,” Joe Clay said.
“And on a different note, I’m glad to see Audrey’s smiling face over there with the sisters. ”
“They’re making her feel right at home, and I appreciate that,” Brodie said and carefully dropped an egg with every step he took.
“Speaking of home, lately you haven’t been spending many nights here,” Joe Clay said. “When are you two going to officially move in together?”
“Today,” Brodie answered. “She asked me this morning.”
“Congratulations, but always remember if things were to go south, you have a home here,” Joe Clay said.
Brodie wondered what that had to do with him and Audrey or with the egg hunt, and then it dawned on him. “We are comfortable in Audrey’s house for a while, but eventually I’d like to build something on my property.”
“Are you keeping the organic and chemical farms separate?” Joe Clay asked.
“We are,” Brodie answered. “I’m not going into this relationship thinking that I will convince her to come over to my side of farming. And she’s said the same about me.”
“That’s a good thing,” Joe Clay said. “Looks like we’re out of eggs and the kids are lining up. Don’t be a stranger around here, son.”
Brodie slapped a hand on his father’s shoulder. “Same goes for you and all the rest of the family. Our door is open all the time.”
Joe Clay wiggled his eyebrows and grinned. “All the time?”
Brodie laughed out loud. “Most of the time.”
“Hey,” Audrey ran over to him and gave him a quick hug. “I can’t believe how much fun having a big family is. Let’s have at least seven kids and give our new house a name, like The Orchards, when we get it built. Maybe Pansy will still be alive for them to walk around both properties.”
“I can manage the name business, and I’ll even buy another pot-bellied pig if Pansy doesn’t make it that long, but seven kids?” Brodie asked. “Someone will be fighting, crying, or giggling all the time.”
“Sounds like fun, don’t it?” Audrey wrapped her arms around his neck and brought his mouth down to hers for a long kiss.
“But let’s wait a little while to start building a house or a family.
Endora needs her new home finished first, and Luna and Endora should have the spotlight until they have their first babies. ”
“You are amazing,” Brodie whispered.
“You and this family bring out the best in me,” she said.