Page 48 of From Rivals to I Do

“He’s a lucky man,” I joke, and she kisses me again, this time softly on the mouth, and I can hear my heartbeat in my ears.

“He sure is,” she says with a wink.

“About dinner,” I say. “Let me make it up to you.”

“Make it up to me?” she asks.

“Well, yeah, Valentine’s dinner,” I say. “How about the day after tomorrow? That gives you time to rest and whatnot from your shift.”

“Sure, though I do have to work, so it’ll have to be late again.”

“For you? I’d eat at one o’ clock in the morning,” I say as I walk her out to her car, hand in hand, feeling over the moon.

A girlfriend. . . I have a girlfriend.

“Should we meet somewhere?” Darla asks, and I shake my head, the battery situation still bothering me.

“I’ll just pick you up at home or something,” I say.

“You sure?” she asks.

“Yeah, it’s no big deal,” I say with a shrug as I open her car door for her. “Drive safe and have a good nap.”

“You enjoy the rest of your day too, shug,” Darla says as she kisses my cheek again before climbing into her car and shutting her door. I stand there as I watch her back out, cheesing like a fool as she waves to me, though I still feel a tug of disappointment as she pulls away.

What is this? I think to myself. It’s been so long since I’ve wanted someone other than the boys around.

As I walk back into the house, I’m not sure how to feel about it. But by the time I have a seat in my recliner, I can’t help feeling anything but happy.I’m alive again, and I have Darla to thank for rekindling that spark in my soul.

“You have a good time, Pops?” Zack asks, and I open my eyes as he sits down on the couch.

“Yes, actually,” I say. “What’d you think?” I ask, worried that he might not like the situation at all. He’s older now, but still. He really misses his mama, and it still shows in the way he acts.

“She’s real pretty, and she seems nice,” Zack replies.

“Does it bother you?” I ask.

“What do you mean?”

“Me dating Darla,” I reply, and Zack clears his throat a little.

“At first, I didn’t care for it,” Zack says. “But then I saw the two of you today out there having fun. You were all aglow on top of Tango, the two of you laughing and carrying on. How could I be mad at that?”

“Dad?” I hear Noah yell from the door. “Dad? Zack? Are you in here?”

“Yep! We’re in the living room,” I say as I sit up a bit, and Zack comes flying into the den, a worried look on his face. “What’s the problem?”

“I don’t know what happened, but somehow the gate got loose,” Zack says. “We got a bunch of cows spilling out into the yard and hills. I need your help.”

Strange, I think to myself. I checked and double checked that gate as Darla and I were running around, and Mitch has been working the barns all morning.

“Don’t worry,” I say as I shake it off. It could’ve been a mischievous heffer that knocked something loose. “We’ll get them back. Did you tell Mitch?”

“Actually, I’m not sure where he is,” Noah says.

“Well, he can’t be too far, unless he’s left for his date already,” I say with a groan as I get up out of my chair. “Let’s get to work then, can’t let them get too far or old man Willy next door is going to cuss me out again. Last time, they ate up his begonias.”

Chapter twelve

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