Page 89 of Single Mom's Mountain Men
His head snaps to me but he doesn’t react in shock to what I’m saying. Meaning he probably already knew it even before I said it.
"So am I," I tell him and then he smirks.
"Yeah, I think everyone could tell. You didn’t even attempt to hide it."
I shrug. I’ve always been the kind that wears my heart on my sleeve and even though that has gotten said heart broken a few times, I don’t see the point of stopping now.
"What are you two talking about?" Wes appears at the threshold with his body slicked with sweat, and eyes glinting in suspicion at being left out of our conversation.
"We're talking about how much we love Patty," I say casually and both brothers turn to me in surprise.
"Jeez, Charlie," Wes curses. "I swear you're such a mute most times, but when it comes to the 'L' word, it rolls off your tongue so easily."
"Patty is only the second girl I've said it to. And I truly haven't felt this deeply for any of the others either."
"Well hell," Wes says. "I love her too."
"I know," I tell him.
"So what are we going to do now? Have you thought about this?" he asks. "How difficult this is going to be?"
"I haven’t thought about much else," I tell him.
"And?"
"And what?"
"Damn it, Charlie. Setups like ours aren't normal, especially not in Gaston Montana."
I shrug. "It’s not like I care much about what people in town think about us anyway."
"But Patty might."
That gives me pause, but then Mitch immediately jumps into the silence.
"We’ll convince her we’re worth it," he says, determination set on his expression. "Because we're not letting her go."
And that's how we hatched a plan to finally solidify our relationship with Patty and confess our feelings to her.
The execution of said plan takes up a few days and cuts into work hours. But I don’t mind. We keep it at until we have it down perfectly. And then one night, after the girls have been put to bed, Wes lures Patty back to my room.
I catch the surprise in her eyes when she walks in with him and sees me and Charlie there.
"What's going on?" she asks, as Wes shuts the door behind her.
We point to the wooden plaque that we've been working on for nearly a week. We have it arranged on the table, her name carved into a gleaming polished block comprising red pear wood set alongside curly maple, both of the timbers coming from trees that our father had felled from our own land and carefully stored awaiting some special occasion. The red of the red pear contrasts wonderfully with the white of the curly maple. Below her name, additional words are carved, "We love you. Will you be ours forever?"
Patty reads the words, and then reaches out to touch the smooth surface.
"You made this?" she whispers, her hand covering her mouth.
"Yeah," I answer. "Used our best wood. Also made some trinkets for you and the girls." Her eyes meet mine and I continue. "None of us are good with words but we wanted to make something to show you how we feel. And how much we love you." I swallow, feeling anxiety rise the more she remains silent. "I mean it’s probably stupid. We probably should have done something better, like take you out to a romantic dinner, or I dunno…"
"No." Her hand slides away from her mouth and she shakes her head, as tears flow down her cheeks. "This is perfect. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen."
Relief rushes through me.
"And?" Wes asks, and I hear the nerves and excitement in his tone too. "Do you wanna answer the question?"
