Page 44 of Tastes Like Watermelon Moonshine
I sit down on the bottom of the stairs and slowly strap on the shoes. My stomach is a bundle of nerves and dread. I will admit, the shoes are cute with all the criss-crossing straps covered in jewels. And they do match my dress almost perfectly. But I’m still a boot girl. Always will be.
I stand up slowly, my arms out like the Jesus statue in Brazil. I take one wobbly step. This is so weird. Because my heels are so much higher than my toes, even my pelvis is tilting, and my hips feel like they might pop out like a Barbie doll’s. Like a baby taking their first steps, I awkwardly walk across my parents foyer.
“Okay, now that you’ve got the shoes on, spin again.” Jaimie mimics the spinning motion with her hand. Like she’s a famous seamstress telling me to model her creation.
I roll my eyes, fling my hair over my shoulder, and begin the most graceful spin ever executed. I’m a swirl of color. Elegant. Dignified.
Until I lose my footing.
My giant bowling ball of a head is the first to exit the spin. Apparently my parent’s front screen door is the bowling lane, and I’m about to become a strike.
I careen face first toward the screen. It won’t stop me. I’m going to go straight through the door, where I will land in a heap on the welcome mat.
I brace myself for impact. Then… The screen door moves.
A masculine form appears and one arm reaches out and snags me around the waist. It pulls me flush against a muscular body. A body I know quite well.
My toes are still on the floor, but my body is suspended by Austin’s strong arms. I tip my face up, and smile into his grinning face.
“Hi.” His eyes laugh at me.
I squeak. And next I giggle. Chrissy and Jaimie join in. I’m certain one of them even whisperedswoonat some point amidst the giggles.
Austin gingerly pushes me until I’m standing on my own. I smooth down my dress and grin at him again. He looks incredibly handsome today. He’s wearing a pair of worn jeans that hug his legs, and a mint green button down. The sleeves are rolled up, showing off his amazing forearms. I want to run my hands over them and feel the muscles as they roll and shift under my fingertips.
“Hi.” I whisper again.
Jaimie laughs and Chrissy makes a coughing sound, and whispers something that sounds suspiciously likeeye babies.
“That dress...” Austin lets out a whistle. “Wanna get married instead of having a graduation party?” He waggles his eyebrows at me.
My heart thrums some sort of tune in my chest. I would marry him. In a heartbeat. It’s all I’ve ever wanted. Be a mom, have a family. I’m not a career woman. My dream is being a wife, barefoot and pregnant.
“Double swoon.” Chrissy moans behind me, pulling me from my pregnant barefoot wifely day dream. It’s time to graduate.
Austin
I’ve got a diploma in my hand. There were a few times I wasn’t sure whether or not this day would come. But it has. I walked across that stage, and now, I just hold my breath and hope I get drafted. It’s June right now, and the draft is in July.
Raegan had a small joint graduation party with the girls this afternoon. And I’m having a joint one with the guys. She’d seen my baby pictures at my birthday party back in January, and today I finally got to see her pictures. She was just as cute when she was a little girl as she is now. Mom has another display set up for my graduation party. Just a few milestones in my life.
When we first moved here I never expected to find friends that cared for me like the guys, Coach, and Raegan do. I look at it all now, and I’m starting to see that God had it all planned out. I’m glad Mom picked this cabbage-patch town.
Now that I’m back from Raegan's party, Mom has a whole list for me to work on. All the finishing touches for my party with the guys over at church.
“Grab the cake and take it over to the church.” Mom hands me a sheet cake to carry over, then holds the door open for me.
Izzy follows on my heels as I cross our backyard and the Thompson’s before getting to the church. “I’m so ready for that amazing cake. Do graduates get birthday gifts?” She’s skipping and hopping to keep up with my long strides.
“They get graduation gifts, not birthday gifts.” I say with a wink.
“Oh, duh.” She smacks her forehead with her palm. “Silly me.”
I laugh as I set the cake down on one of the tables set up in the church’s pavilion. Izzy’s hand slips into mine as we walk back to the house, more slowly this time. She’s growing so fast and, since I’m banking on being drafted, I know I’m going to miss a lot of her life. I’m her main male role model, and I know she’ll miss me as much as I miss her. Back in the house she disappears, probably to read a book, her newest hobby.
I look around the small bungalow. It’s tiny compared to what we had in Atlanta, but we’ve had some good times while we’ve been here. The dining room table holds memories of board games with Izzy, the sofa holds memories of movie nights. Almost every memory here is a happy one.
The ringing of the doorbell interrupts my reminiscing. Mom likes to leave the front door open, and locks the storm door for protection. Said it had to do with the natural light or something.I turn from my spot at the island and head toward the front door. It’s probably someone coming to congratulate me.
