Page 44 of From Rivals to I Do

“Zack, don’t tease Dad’s woman,” Noah calls out.

“Oh, come on,” Zack replies. “I’m sure she can take it if she’s with Dad.”

“He’s alright, Noah,” I say with a smile. “Thank you though.”

“Are you boys torturing, Darla?” I hear Eli say from somewhere deeper inside the house, and then finally there he is. He’s dressed in another, more traditional, buckskin, long sleeved shirt with fringe across the chest, and tight jeans.

“Nah, just making conversation is all,” Zack insists, and Eli pushes past him and comes out on the porch. “Remember you two, I need you to work double time to make up for me today.”

“Aye, aye, Captain,” Noah says. “Nice to meet you, Darla!”

“Yeah, nice to finally meet you,” Zack chimes in.

“Likewise,” I reply as Eli closes the door behind him.

“They seem like nice boys,” I say to Eli, who is looking down at me, our bodies close and his soft blue eyes nearly turning me into a puddle as I return his gaze.

“They can be,” Eli says with a chuckle. “You look gorgeous,” he says as he lightly brushes a stray strand of hair behind my ear.

“T-thank you,” I stutter, holding my breath, wondering if he’s about to kiss me. A part of me wishes he would. I’m tingling from head to toe in anticipation.

“Oh, um, I got you these,” Eli says as he pulls something from behind his back, and lo and behold, it’s a bouquet of tiger lilies and a box of chocolates.

“Oh, Eli! They’re so lovely!”

“Nothing could ever be as lovely as you,” Eli says, and I feel my heart swell in my chest. “Let me go put these in water really quick and set this candy down so we can go about our business,” he says, breaking the tension. At least for the moment.

“Alright,” I say as I stand on the porch and wait, and a few minutes later, he’s back out with a singular stray lily.

“What’s that for?” I ask as he gently snaps the stem short.

“For your hair,” Eli replies as he gently places it behind my ear. “I thought you might like it.”

“I do!” I say with a smile as I catch a peek of my reflection in the window.

“You ready to go check out the place?” Eli asks as he slips his hand gently into mine.

“Sounds like a plan,” I reply, and he leads me out behind the picket fence and toward a long, dark red barn.

“I’m glad you could make it here today,” he says as we walk across the rocky ground. “Especially with the way your car petered out the other night.”

“Oh! Yeah, that’s the strangest thing,” I say. “Daniel looked at it for me, and I guess someone messed with my battery cables.”

“Messed with them how?” Eli asks.

“Well, he thinks that someone was trying to steal it and panicked,” I reply.

“Really? Even though you were parked that close to the bar?”

“I guess so,” I say with a shrug. “From what he told me, they put the battery cables back on wrong. Backward he said, like they were in a hurry.”

“Holy smokes,” Eli says. “You’re lucky the thing refused to turn over.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Well, because if it had started, it could have quickly overheated and blown up.”

“Really?” I ask, genuinely surprised.

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