Page 141 of Moonshine Kiss
“You’re not nervous, are you?” I cocked my hip, resting the sledgehammer on my shoulder.
“I just want to make sure you want a commitment in the form of a hole in the wall rather than a nice something sparkly on your ring finger,” he said, giving me that heart-melting, boyish grin that had done me in when we were kids.
“Let’s try this whole ‘living together’ thing first. What if I can’t stand the way you blow your nose? Or you get all disenchanted with the way I do laundry?” It was, in small part, a bluff. Of course I wanted Bowie to get down on one knee and make a fuss about how much he loved me. I wanted to plan a wedding with him. To throw our loved ones a party that no one would forget. Make a couple of babies and complain about time flying too fast.
But first, I wanted to date the man. I wanted an honest-to-goodness relationship. Arguments over dishes, inside jokes, hand-holding in public. I wanted the whole shebang with Bowie Bodine.
A ruckus came from the stairs on Bowie’s side of the double, and Jonah appeared in the open doorway. He was carting a suitcase and another cardboard box.
“You don’t have to move out immediately, you know,” Bowie told him.
Jonah gave us the once-over. “Y’all are sharing a set of pajamas. I know when I’m intruding. Besides, June’s giving me a good deal on rent.”
I still couldn’t believe my sister had voluntarily opened her home to another human being. She was notoriously persnickety about, well, everything.
“Aw!” I crooned. “It’s your first ‘y’all’!”
He flashed me a grin. “I’m learning. Slowly.”
“Don’t be a stranger,” I told him. “And don’t let June be too weird.”
“I’m gonna help Jonah carry some stuff out to the car,” Bowie said, handing me his coffee and dropping a kiss on my cheek.
They trooped out the front door and left me in stillness.
It was snowing again. I was drawn to the window.
Fat flakes that floated down like feathers from the white sky. It was a new year, and I was looking forward to everything that entailed. Eddie wove himself between my feet like a snake on his way to his food dish. This was the first year I’d woken up to Bowie on Christmas morning.
We’d made the most of waking up early together and then gone to my parents’ for a lazy brunch. The social obligations wrapped with an early, rowdy Bodine dinner at Jameson and Leah Mae’s.
I caught a whiff of flowers. The riotous bouquet of red and white flowers and glossy green leaves had arrived Christmas evening, hand-delivered by Sybil, Clay, and baby Melly, who had made a complete recovery.
Family. Friends. And Bowie.
I was back to work and everything felt…right.
The investigation still hung over our heads. Connie Bodine’s car had been hauled off to a forensics lab in Charleston, and we were once again playing a waiting game. But this time around, things would be different. I was serving the Bodines just like I was serving the Kendalls and the rest of Bootleg Springs.
I wouldn’t be perfect, but I’d be better.
“Whatcha see?” Bowie asked, coming up behind me to press a kiss on the side of my neck.
“Maybe a bit of the future,” I mused, turning to wrap my arms around him. I could hug and kiss Bowie Bodine anytime I wanted. That wouldn’t get old anytime soon.
“Speaking of,” he said reaching into his pants pocket.
“What are you after?”
“Before we put a hole in our wall, I’d like to make another commitment.” He sank down on one knee.
“You better stand yourself back up, buddy,” I warned him.
He produced a ring, a delicate band of interwoven diamonds and gold. “It’s not an engagement ring. It’s a promise.”
I bit my lip and felt my heart kick up a notch. “What kind of a promise?”
“I know you’re not ready for the real thing yet. But I want to make you a promise to be a solid partner to you. To have your back and be your right hand. To never give up on us. To give you my best every day. I’m in this for forever, Cass. You’re who I’ve been waiting for my whole life.”
