Page 20 of The Marriage Auction 2: Part 4

“Me too.”

“Also, we have a surprise for the two of you.” Dad braced his hands on his hips, chest puffed up. “When we’re all finished in here, we’ll show you.”

Momma grabbed the lapels of her sweater and held them close to her chest. She smiled beautifully, snuggling up to my father’s side. He wrapped an arm around her, then kissed her forehead. They never hid their affection and love for one another. Always demonstrating to us kids that, when you loved someone, you showed it. I wanted to raise my kids exactly the same. With them knowing how much I loved their momma.

An hour later, everyone was finished and the kitchen cleaned of dinner debris. The ladies were coming down from their wine high after some food in their bellies and Dad forcing each of them to drink water in between refills. Everyone was in a happy food, drink, and laughter haze. Gran was in her favorite rocker on the front porch, chatting up the neighbors that walked by, as she did every night. My younger sisters had retired to their rooms to get ready for the new school week, leaving me, Naomi, Syd, Odessa, Mom, and Dad.

Dad was twitching with anticipation as he approached Momma, who had just dried and put away the last dish.

“We ready now?” he asked, clearly eager to get the surprise underway.

She lifted her hand, cupped his cheek and smiled. “You betcha. Let’s get the lovebirds,” I heard her murmur before giving Dad a peck on the lips. “Such a softie,” she teased and kissed him again.

Naomi squeezed my hand and nuzzled my shoulder.

“Come on, son, Naomi. We’ve got something to show you,” he boasted, pride in his tone.

I stood and helped Naomi rise from the table. We followed my parents out back, Dad leading the way. His limp was there, but I also noted a lightness to his footsteps. They led us around the biggest section of the yard. At one end stood a wooden riser with a brand new beautiful wooden arbor.

My mouth fell open in shock. “What is this?”

I’d never seen the arbor before, but it was obvious it had taken many hours, possibly weeks to craft. Even from a few feet away, I could smell the scent of the cedar the creator had used to make it. There were carved leaf etchings across the front facing beam that must have taken forever to whittle. The entire piece was sturdy and intricate. Each new bit added more splendor to the whole.

“Your father made it,” Momma said with extreme pride.

I gasped. “No way.”

“When he was let go from the trucking company and eventually got better use of the leg, he started working on this in the little shed off the garage. He’s been super hush-hush about it for the past year. At first, I thought it was just for me, but then I realized why he made it.”

“So my children could all get married under something I made with love from my bare hands. What do you think, son? Will you and Naomi do me the honor of starting your life together right here, under this arbor?” Dad asked, his voice filled with hope.

“It is incredible.” It was more than that actually; it was breathtaking and absolutely perfect for my wedding to Naomi. Though I wanted my fiancée to have a say. “What do you think, Nay?”

Her eyes were glassy with unshed tears, but she powered through, stepping up onto the riser and evaluating each detail up close. I could already imagine her there standing in a white dress, sayingI dobefore me and all my family.

“I say yes, but I need to confirm one thing before we get married underneath this beautiful piece,” she hedged.

“And that would be?”

She stepped down and went right up to my father. “I’ll need someone to walk me down the aisle.”

A muffled sob left Mom as she dabbed at her teary eyes with a handkerchief.

Dad looked down at his shoes for a full breath before lifting his head and looking Naomi straight in the eyes. “I’d be so honored to have the gift of walking you down the aisle.”

Momma lost it, her loud sobs filling the air.

Dad opened his arms and Naomi crashed against his broad chest. She looked so small and fragile I often forgot that she wasn’t ten feet tall and made of steel. My woman was strong, but she was soft too, and likely crushed by the fact that her own parents weren’t accepting of her choice in marrying me. It broke my heart to see her in pain, but Dad put it back together as I watched how easily he gave her the comfort she would likely never receive from her own father.

We hugged one another and took silly selfies in front of this incredible heirloom my father had made with his own hands. The future felt big and bright as we headed toward the house.

“Dad, you’ve got an important call from Mr. White. He says it can’t wait until tomorrow,” Odessa called out to us from the backdoor off the kitchen.

“Who’s Mr. White?” I asked my father.

“He’s our loan adjuster for the house. Works down at the community bank. He’s also part of my poker group. A good man, and a friend. He’s been helping us with the liens on the house.”

“Liens?” I asked. “What do you mean?”

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