Chapter 34 #2
“I want the Tower of Onion Rings,” Bailey said, though Reeves had not noticed her pick up a menu yet. “And I want the non-alcoholic Moscow Mule.” She looked over to Reeves.
“Diet Coke,” he said. “Bring me two, would you? I’m really thirsty. And I saw online that y’all have fried mac and cheese balls here.”
Tom grinned. “We sure do.”
“I’m going to need some of those,” Reeves said.
“You guys heard our specials tonight, right?”
Reeves had, but he had already forgotten them.
“Yep, we sure did,” Bailey said, and the man left. Reeves looked back across the table to Bailey and simply waited for her to say something. She looked like she might throw up, and oh, Reeves couldn’t have that.
He reached across the table and took her hands in his. “Hey, we’re past this, aren’t we?” He ducked his head, barely able to see her past the brim of his cowboy hat. “I mean, less than an hour ago, I told you I was falling in love with you.”
“Yes, you’re right,” she said. “We are.” She pushed her hair over her shoulder and gazed at him evenly. “Helping Codi with Samuel this week was awesome,” she said. “And I got to hold that baby fresh from heaven, and I was wrong. I want kids, and I think I’d be an amazing mother.”
Reeves grinned at her as he pieced together all the things she’d said. “I think so too, Bay.”
She smiled, and all of her tension seemed to bleed away. “There’s a couple more things I’ve been thinking about this week.”
“Lay ‘em on me,” he said.
“One, my daddy’s retiring from his energy company at the end of September, and my momma and I are starting to plan a retirement party for him.”
“Okay,” Reeves said, not sure what this had to do with him.
“Like, the whole town will be there,” she said. “And I was hoping that you’d come with me, and I’ve been putting together a presentation on why it would be okay for you to come to a mega-party.”
Reeves laughed, his heart opening even further to this amazing woman. “A presentation?”
Bailey grinned at him. “But now that we’re at Devil’s Tower, I can see that you’re actually trying to get out more, and maybe the party won’t be such a big deal.”
Reeves’s insides still squirmed at the thought of being at an event that the whole town would be invited to, but he nodded. “I’ll go with you, Bailey,” he said. “No presentation needed.”
She nodded and ducked her head, her hair falling down and creating a curtain along the side of her face. He wanted to tuck it back, if only to touch her, be closer to her.
“There’s one more thing I’ve been thinking about.”
Reeves knew Bailey had a lot going on in her mind at all times, and she was smart and beautiful, good in an emergency situation, and kind, and Reeves definitely felt himself falling more in love with her simply by sitting in a busy restaurant with her hand in his.
“For a while there, I thought I’d never want to get married,” she said.
“Ever. It just wasn’t in the cards for me.
I’d wanted to be a vet for a long time, and that was my path.
But I’m different now, and I do want to get married, and I guess I’ve just been thinking about what will happen to my farm if you and I got married. ”
A grin burst onto Reeves’s face. “That’s what you’ve been worried about? Your farm?”
Bailey gazed back at him. “It’s a legitimate concern.”
Reeves chuckled, the sound growing into full-blown laughter. “I think you just wanted to bring up marriage.” He raised his eyebrows and looked up as Tom arrived with their drinks.
“Appetizers are only about three minutes out,” he said. “Do you guys want to order?”
“Yes.” Bailey picked up the menu, and Reeves wondered if waiters knew how much they interrupted.
“Let’s see….” She trailed off, and Reeves looked up at the man. “I’ll take the twelve-ounce rib eye special, medium rare,” he said. “I want my baked potato loaded with tons of bacon, cheese, ranch dressing, sour cream, butter. Do you have all that?”
“Yeah, I can get it all,” Tom said, without writing a single thing down.
“And I get a second side with that, right?”
“Yep.”
“I’ll take the asparagus spears,” Reeves said. “And I want the house steak sauce, and I want to try that pesto Chimichurri.”
“You got it, brother,” he said, and he looked over to Bailey.
She gaped at him.
“What? You’ve seen my videos. You think I didn’t know how to order a steak?”
Tom sucked in a breath. “I knew you looked familiar,” he said. “You have a camping channel.”
Reeves looked up at him. “Sure do.”
“You’re the guy with the steak on the tip of the knife.”
He extended his hand. “Reeves Durham.”
Tom shook his hand. “It’s great to meet you. My younger brother told me about those videos, and we watch a few every time he comes over.”
Reeves did like hearing why people watched his videos, and with who, and he smiled over to Bailey. “Do you want me to order for you, sweetheart?”
She put down her menu and said, “Yes,” with plenty of challenge in her eyes.
Reeves tilted his head, accepting the silent gauntlet she’d just laid at his feet. “The ribeye might be a little bit too fatty for her,” he said. “She’s not much of a steak-eater.” Reeves forced himself to look away from his gorgeous girlfriend.
“Can you believe she doesn’t like steak?” Reeves grinned at their waiter. “It seems like a requirement for someone I’m dating to love steak.”
Tom laughed. “It sure does—but hey, that’d make a great video.”
Reeves didn’t see how, but he simply smiled and nodded. Bailey gave him a false glare and handed her menu to Tom. “I’ll take the—”
“Chicken,” Reeves blurted out. “She’ll want the chicken tower, with honey mustard dipping sauce, and mashed potatoes dripping with brown gravy.”
Bailey’s eyes filled with energy, and Reeves wanted to be burned by it badly. Her eyebrows rose, but she didn’t contradict him.
She wanted more than just the chicken tower.
“And… the blue cheese wedge tower as well.” Reeves reached for his first glass of Diet Coke. “Extra tomatoes, if possible, and easy on the blue cheese crumbles.”
“Ranch dressing?” Tom asked.
“Yes,” Reeves and Bailey said together, and their standoff broke. Bailey softened completely, and Reeves suddenly wished he’d insisted they dine alone at his place. Then he could be kissing her right now instead of dealing with the busy hubbub of a crowd.
“All right, is that it for you guys?” Tom asked.
“Yes,” Bailey said, and she reached for her drink.
The waiter left, and everything seemed shiny and fizzy inside Reeves. Bailey glowed as well, and Reeves couldn’t help feeling like he’d just won a marathon.
“You have their menu memorized?”
“I came prepared,” he said.
“But hiding behind a menu would be perfect for you.” She laughed, clearly teasing him, and Reeves was here for all of it.
As she quieted, she reached her hands across the table and took his. “Yes, fine, okay. I wanted to talk to you about marriage. Is that something you believe in, something you’ve wanted, something you’ve thought about?”
Reeves gave an over-exaggerated sigh, and then smiled softly across the table at Bailey, and thankfully God gave him the exact right words to say.
“Not until you, wildflower, and now it seems to be all I can think about.”