Page 38 of Loving Decker

“The ones I wore in high school?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Yep.”

“You’re lucky I still have those.” She turned back to the house. “Come on in. Anything else you want me to grab?”

“Nope, that’s it. Oh, maybe a towel.”

“Gotcha.”

Her house was still their old family home. She had kept the family pictures up, the decorations her mother had used, even the old granny crochet blanket on a rocking chair in the corner. Decker wondered if it might do her some good to start over, to renovate…or go to New York. He swallowed, nervous about the whole idea. Of course, he wouldn’t be bringing it up any time soon.

She came back out with her bag apparently even more packed.

He reached for it. “We’re set. You ready for the most epic date of your life?”

“I am.”

“Actually, how about I set the bar a little lower. You ready for a fun day?”

She laughed. “Deck, I think I’d have fun no matter what we did together.”

“And I think you’re right. So as part of this date, we are going to relive some of the crazy random things we’ve done. But this time, we’re gonna do it right.”

She nodded. “I like the sound of this.”

He opened the door to his truck. “First stop, farmer’s market to get us our picnic.”

“Oh, yum. Does your mama have any pies out there?”

“Yes, she does.”

“Perfect.”

“Then we’re gonna hike to the swimming hole.”

She laughed. “Excellent. Did you hear someone put in a better rope swing up there?”

“I did in fact know that.”

“Wait, did you do it?”

“I can neither confirm nor deny such activity.”

He ran around the truck and hopped in himself. “I say we grab a couple sandwiches from Joe’s truck stop and a Dawson pie and some fruit from the Hanson orchard.”

“Sounds good to me.” She situated herself on the seat by the window, but he shook his head. “Nope. That will not do.”

“What?” She paused, about to buckle her seatbelt.

“You need to move a little closer, I think.” He patted the seat beside him.

Her face colored a delicious pink. “Okay.” Then she scooted close and buckled herself in the center seat of his truck bench.

“That’s more like it. This is what I’m talking about, doing things right.” He put an arm across her shoulders and snuggled her in as close as he could. “This okay?”

“This is great.” She leaned her head on his shoulder, and he thought that the date couldn’t get better than that moment, but he hoped it would.

They stopped at the fairgrounds, where vendors were all set up and selling foods, crafts, and garden-fresh vegetables. “Crowds are light today.”

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