Thirty-Four
Piper’s declaration yesterday had Tuck wanting to visit his parents. Since he still wasn’t cleared to drive, he’d asked his girlfriend—the label still made him grin—to drop him off at their place on her way into town. Now he sat at the dining table while his mom sliced homemade bread and slathered freshly churned butter over the pieces.
“Here you go, son.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“Of course.” She sat down with a plate in front of her. “What brings you by? I thought you were done with my hovering.”
He laughed. “I am. That’s not why I came.” Tuck looked at his mom, then his dad. “I’d actually like some advice from the both of you.”
“I hope it’s what I think it is.” A gleam entered his dad’s eye.
“What’s that?”
His mom turned to his dad. “Yeah, what are you thinking?”
“I think he and Piper finally stopped fighting that lovin’ feelin’.”
Tuck laughed as Dad broke out singing the Righteous Brothers’ song.
“Honey, I’m pretty sure that song is called ‘You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’.’ I don’t think losing is something you want to project onto their relationship.”
Dad’s voice came to a halt, and the lines in his forehead grew more pronounced. “Huh. You’re right.” He shrugged. “They won’t lose it, though. Haven’t yet.”
“Dad...”
“What? You’ve been moon-eyed over Piper since the day she walked onto Bolt Brook. Never thought children could fall in love like that.”
“We didn’t fall in love. She was five when she moved here.” Which made him six. That wasn’t a falling-in-love age.
“I don’t know, Tuck,” Mom started. “You two were thick as thieves. It was hard to separate y’all at the end of the day. You never wanted to leave her and vice versa.”
Tuck ran a hand down his face. “Regardless, I love her now.”
His parents’ eyes widened, and then his mom broke out into a grin and his dad whooped.
“’Bout time, my boy.” Dad patted him on the back like he was giving him some version of the Heimlich. “Glad you let God’s timing work perfectly.”
“I kinda had to. You were telling me to let Him take charge, and then Lamont challenged me....” Tuck grinned begrudgingly. “I couldn’t ignore both of y’all.”
Mom chuckled. “I’m surprised you didn’t wave your planner in the air and entreat the Lord to bend to Your will.”
He scowled. “I wasn’t that bad about planning.”
His parents did that wordless exchange where they met each other’s gaze and spoke with their eyes. Okay, he might have worn an identical smirk on his face. Now I know where I get that expression.
“So what advice do you need?” Dad asked.
“How soon is too soon?”
“Too soon for what?”
His mom gasped and leaned forward. “Do you want to propose?”
“Yes.” He hated the way her shiny eyes made his own want to water.
“Oh, my baby is gonna get married,” Mom wailed.
“Good grief, Caroline. It’s not the end of the world.”
“I’m happy. I promise,” she said through tears and hiccups.
“You sure you want to hitch yourself and have to deal with that for the next lifetime?” Dad hooked a thumb toward Mom.
She’d somehow made tissues materialize as she dabbed at her face. “Oh, hush, you ol’ man. You act like you’ve never cried.”
“Of course I cry. I’ve got tear ducts, don’t I? I just have the sense to do it in private—in the shower, or when it rains outside. Not in mixed company.”
“Is the company mixed because I’m here?” Tuck asked in amusement.
“Hush,” his parents chorused.
Yep. He was the mixed company.
“Back to your question.” Dad met his gaze. “Y’all’ve been tiptoeing around each other for years. No reason why you need to keep dancing just because ya finally admitted your feelings. Propose. Plan the wedding. Then say I do.”
“Well, it may not be that simple, Leslie,” Mom interjected.
“It is.” He thumped the table for emphasis. “I didn’t waste a bunch of time proposing. I saw you, then dated you long enough for it to be respectable.”
“Three months is respectable?” Mom had a rosy glow on her cheeks.
Tuck wanted to make his escape before his parents started reminiscing, but he still needed advice.
“It is when you know. The extra two months were for your folks.”
“Oh, Leslie...”
Tuck made gagging noises. “There’s a child present. Please stop with the gross display of affection.”
Mom giggled, and Dad rolled his eyes.
“I can’t wait until you have kids and discover how fun it is to embarrass them,” Dad said. “Actually, embarrassment is more the icing on the cake. Making your mama fall for me all over again, that’s the goal.”
“Mission accomplished, dear.”
Maybe deep down Tuck liked that his parents were still so in love with each other. “Can we focus?”
Mom looked at him. “Just ask her, sweetie. That’s all there is to it.”
“Then you don’t think it’s too soon?” Because he really hoped not.
“No,” they said in unison.
“Good grief. Sorry I asked.”
“No, you’re not,” Dad said. “We’ll fund the wedding. Gotta do something with the money sitting in our account.”
“Y’all gave me a down payment on my farm. You’ve done more than enough already.”
“It was a pleasure to do so too,” Mom said. “So don’t go grumbling or thinking you owe us. We’re your parents, Tuck. It’s a blessing to us, so don’t go throwing our pearls back.”
When they threw Scripture at him like that, all he could be was thankful. “Thanks, guys.”
“Anytime. Now, do you know what kind of ring you’re going to get?” His mom rubbed her hands together.
“Nope.” Tuck sighed. “We’ve never discussed marriage or anything like that before.”
“How could you, with you both pretending you weren’t in love?” Mom shook her head. “Children really are foolish.”
“Ouch. I can hear you.”
She waved a hand. “You’re not shocked.”
He laughed. He really wasn’t.
Tuck stood. “Guess I’ll go figure out where to get a ring.”
“You’ll do just fine, son. Think about what she likes and go from there.” Dad winked.
“Thanks.” Tuck hugged his father, then rounded the table to hug his mom.
“Try to get a video of it so I can see her reaction.”
Tuck laughed again. “Yes, because capturing it on video is what I’ll be thinking about. Not sweating and worrying she’ll say no.”
Mom rested her hands on his cheeks, looking up into his eyes. “No way she’ll say no, Tucker Hale. That girl loves you as much as you love her.”
“Thanks, Mom,” he whispered.
She placed a noisy kiss on his cheek, then let go. “Don’t forget the video.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He waved good-bye and headed for the door.
“Tuck, wait.” His mom raced behind him. “Did you drive?”
He groaned. “No. Piper dropped me off.” How could he have forgotten?
“I’ll give you a ride.”
Once he arrived home, he sat on the couch and carefully removed the sling, then took the pillow Piper bought for him and placed it under his arm. Now that he had his parents’ approval, he felt better about assuming it wasn’t too soon to propose. Only thing was, he knew nothing about rings.
Tuck
Hey, can I get Nevaeh’s number?
Lamont
No pleasantries? Just straight up ask a man for his fiancée’s phone number?
Tuck laughed.
Tuck
I want to get her help picking out an engagement ring.
Lamont
??
Lamont
No joke?
Tuck
I’m serious.
Lamont
Okay then.
Tuck clicked on the link for Nevaeh’s number.
“Hello?” she answered cautiously.
“Hey, Nevaeh. It’s Tuck.”
“I was about to ask who’s calling me from Kentucky other than Piper.”
“Lamont passed on your number. Hope that’s okay.”
“Sure. What’s up?”
His mouth dried. Why did he feel like his nerves attacked every time he wanted to say the p word? “I want to propose to Piper.”
Nevaeh shrieked.
Tuck held the phone away from his ear until her squeals turned to some words, though they were garbled. “I’m sorry, what’s that?”
“I said it’s about time. I knew this would happen the moment I met you guys.”
“How?”
“Anytime two people who are so-called friends can complete each other’s sentences more’s going on than they’re saying.”
She wasn’t wrong.
“How can I help, Tuck?”
“I need ideas for a ring and how to propose.”
“Aw, and you’re asking me?”
“I know you two have become friends. I’m hoping Piper said something when she found out you and Lamont were engaged. Maybe about what kind of ring she likes.”
He still couldn’t believe his friends were engaged. They hadn’t even been dating a full year. Granted, neither had he and Piper.
When Nevaeh didn’t answer, he said, “You know what? Maybe it is too soon.”
“No!” she shouted. “I hear that doubt in your voice. Ignore it. This is the right thing, I promise. I can feel it in my heart. I was only quiet for so long because I had to think over our past conversations.”
“Then do you have any ideas?”
“Well, Piper has never said anything about dreaming of a wedding. Maybe she was afraid to hope. Unfortunately, she also never said anything about rings. You could always ask her. But if you surprise her, you get to watch her eyes light up.”
“You really think she’ll say yes?”
“Without a doubt.”
He blew out a breath. “Okay. Thanks.”
Looked like he’d be spending time with the Lord to determine if he was being ridiculous no matter what Nevaeh thought. After all, who was to say his wanting to marry Piper wasn’t him still working an imaginary timetable? Only, it didn’t feel that way.
Lord, this is me checking in. Hoping You’ll provide wisdom. Is this the right thing to do? Am I moving too fast? And if I’m not, what kind of ring am I supposed to give her?
He sat in silence until the perfect idea dropped into his mind. “That’ll work, Lord. Thank You.”