Chapter 8 #3
She sucked in a lungful of air, let it out in a whoosh, and narrowed her eyes until they were barely slits. “I am not. Y’all work together every day, and if this is real, then you spend time together at night. You have too much in common. You…”
“I give you Noah and Tertia, who work together every day in the café,” Knox butted in. “I give you Ophelia and Jake, who are side by side in the winery. I give you…”
She slapped him on the knee. “Hush. Those were different cases. You and Lottie are working too hard, like bad actors on the stage, trying to make the audience believe that y’all are a couple. There’s some vibes from her, but I don’t feel a thing from you and mighty little from her.”
He threw his hands over his eyes. “That’s downright mean, calling me a bad actor when I’m just trying to impress my girlfriend.”
“Hey, I lost you,” Lottie called out as she walked up on the porch. “It’s only ten minutes until kickoff time, and everyone is rounding up the kids to line them up. This is so exciting, Knox.”
Knox could have kissed her for interrupting the conversation. He stood up and laid a hand on Bernie’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about me. Lottie and I know what we’re doing.”
“I’m not done with you,” Bernie growled under her breath.
He stood up and took Lottie’s hand in his. “We’ll pick it up in a few weeks when we come back home and I move into my own house.”
“I heard that you bought the place from Geneva. I’m glad you are settling down for good.
I’ve been afraid you’d take that travel trailer of yours and leave.
That would break up the family, and I won’t have it.
” She shook her finger at him. “And be aware, I will be sitting on your front porch when you arrive, and we will finish this,” she said.
“Lottie, after the egg hunt, I want a few alone minutes with you.”
Lottie waved over her shoulder. “Just come find me.”
“Oh, I will,” Bernie said. “But right now I’m going in the house and pouring me up a double shot of whiskey. If I have to deal with that self-righteous, nosy June this afternoon, I need some reinforcement.”
The noisy crowd out back covered up the sound of the wooden screen door when it slammed. Otherwise, the kids might have thought it was the signal to run through the ribbon roping off the yard.
“What was that all about?” Lottie asked. “Bernie looks like she could chew up two-by-fours and spit out toothpicks.”
“More like railroad spikes and spit out staples.” Knox chuckled. “She doesn’t want us to be together. She says there’s no sparkle in my eyes. Have I told you today that you look beautiful?”
Lottie flipped the butterfly sleeve of her floral dress back down and shoved a strand of blond hair back into a bun at the nape of her neck. “Is that a real compliment or a fake one?”
“It’s genuine,” he answered. “Even if you aren’t truly my girlfriend, I know beauty when I see it, and I definitely see it right now.”
She led him toward the quilt and pulled him down beside her. “Then thank you. And for the record, you clean up right well too. On another note, I intend to avoid Bernie all afternoon because I can’t lie to her.”
“I didn’t lie, but thank you for rescuing me.”
“You owe me one, and I’m collecting right now. If you see Aunt Bernie coming my way, you will run interference for me, right?” she asked.
“You got it, darlin’,” he said with a nod.
“Everyone, be very quiet,” Joe Clay’s big, booming voice filled the whole two-acre backyard. “If you are talking or noisy, you won’t hear the gun go off to start the race.”
Silence filled the air. Not even Rae and Gunner’s daughters, Daisy and Heather, said a word, and that was a miracle.
“Okay, listen carefully,” Joe Clay said.
“Does he really shoot off a gun?” Lottie asked.
“No, just a couple of firecrackers, but the kids don’t know,” Knox answered.
The children fidgeted, but they didn’t make a sound until the crack of firecrackers filled the air. Then the whoops and the hollers of almost a hundred kids rushing out to fill their baskets with eggs echoed off the trees.
“This has been an awesome weekend, even if it’s not a real romance.” Lottie leaned close to Knox and whispered for his ears only. “But can we sneak out when it’s over so I don’t have to deal with Bernie?”
Knox drew her closer to his side and nodded. “I had my heart set on a plate of sauerkraut and hot dogs, but I can leave it behind if it means either of us have to face off with Bernie, so yes, we can leave a little early.”
“Great,” Lottie said. “I’ll make us some grilled cheese sandwiches when we get home.”
“No need for that. We can stop at a little burger shop in Wichita Falls that I love to visit and have hot dogs for supper and then get a snow cone at another place for dessert.”
“Do they have Reuben dogs?”
“Yep,” he answered.
“How soon can we leave?”
“My things are all packed,” he told her. “We’ve already taken pictures by the big bunny.”
“When we break up, will Mary Jane throw the one of me and you away?” she asked.
“I doubt it. She keeps all photos forever and ever.”