Page 84 of An Overdue Match
I shake his proffered hand. “Thank you for having me.”
“I’m going to head inside and grab some of the other food.” Missy hooks a thumb over her shoulder and pivots on her heel toward the house.
“Go help her, son.”
“Oh, I could go,” I offer.
“No can do,” Walter says. “I need you for something out here. Tai can go.”
Tai holds up his hands as he turns to follow his mother. “I guess Tai will go, then.”
I turn to Walter. “What did you need my help with?”
He waves me over to the table. “Not sure you knew we’d be eating outside. Didn’t want your head to burn if you hadn’t put sunscreen on already.” He holds out a tube of lotion with palm trees on it with one hand and rubs his hand over his shiny pate with the other. “Take it from me. A burned head is not fun.”
I wordlessly accept the offering. I have no idea if Tai told his parents about my condition beforehand or not, but at this moment, I realize there’s no elephant in the room. No surreptitious curious glances. No outright questions.
“This may be the first time I’ve ever given this compliment—and pardon me if it’s in any way untoward—but you have a beautifully shaped skull.”
“I...” No one has ever said that to me before. As far as compliments go, I doubt it’s one that has passed many lips, but it’s also one that warms me more than any other. “Thank you.”
The sliding glass door opens, and Missy and Tai step out,holding platters of baked beans, coleslaw, sliced tomatoes, and corn fritters.
“Wow. This looks amazing.” I take the bowl of baked beans from Missy and set it on the patio table already set for the meal.
Walter plucks barbecued chicken off the grill and heaps a serving dish full of smoky drumsticks.
After a quick blessing over the food and the passing around of dishes, Missy jumps back into conversation. “I promised Tai I wouldn’t pester you with questions right away, and since you’ve been here at least twenty minutes, I’d say I’ve kept that promise.”
“Mom.” Tai’s voice holds exasperated warning in its tone.
Missy shoos away her son’s complaint. “This is your fault. I had to hear from Bella Johnson that you were even seeing someone. Imagine my surprise when she said the romantic tension from you and the new librarian would put Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy to shame.” She picks up her fork, then wags the utensil at Tai. “And don’t think Hayley is off the hook either. A romance happening under her nose and she didn’t tell me? Tsk.”
“Hayley’s the reason we met, actually,” Tai supplies.
“That girl is going to get an earful next time I see her. Come on. Spill the beans. What’s the story?” Missy turns to me. “If Hayley is a part of the plot, I can only assume one of their little dares was involved. And then what happened?”
I look past Tai’s mom and latch onto the man’s gaze. He’s shaking his head, but every revolution only tugs at my lips. He sees my burgeoning grin and hangs his head in mock defeat.
I look back to Missy, letting my smile break free. “And then we struck a bargain in which my end required me going out with him.”
She gasps anowhile Walter’s silverware clatters onto hisplate and he glares at his son with threatening malice. “You forced your attention onto a woman? Stand up. You and me need to have a conversation right now.”
Tai lifts his head and pins me with a look that promises retribution. A look that has me curling my toes in my strappy sandals.
I clear my throat. “That’s not necessary.”
“The devil it isn’t,” his dad says.
Oh dear. Maybe I shouldn’t have used Tai’s parents to tease him. “It really isn’t. Tai didn’t circumvent my consent. Well, technically I guess he did, but somehow he knew my refusal came from a place of hurt and that I needed someone who wouldn’t give up on me. Not that I’m saying any man shouldn’t take a woman’s no as the final answer, but in this case—” I scrub a hand down my face. “Wow. I’m really muddling this up.”
“You aren’t here against your will?” Walter is still scowling at Tai like he wants to find a willow switch and drag his son behind the woodshed.
“No, I am not.” I meet Tai’s gaze again, hoping he can read the apology in my eyes.
“And you’re with Tai because you want to be? No other reason?” Missy sounds as if she’s afraid to hear the answer.
“I’m with Tai because he’s the best man I’ve ever met. He’s shown me what unconditional love looks like at a time when I thought love had given up on me. I’m with him because there’s no other person I’d rather be with. I fell in love with him, and he has my heart.”
