“Daddy,” she added, smiling and turning toward Dex. “I want you guys to meet my boyfriend, Dexter.” She turned and smiled, and Dex moved in, giving her dad a firm handshake, and then a much softer one to her mom.
“Dexter,” he said, smiling at each.
“Richard,” her father said. He was taller than Dex, and a little bigger, but seemed to be nice enough.
“Janice,” her mother said, smiling sweetly.
“Y’all wanna sit?” her father asked.
“Sure,” Jessie said, smiling. She scooted in next to her mother and the two began to quietly converse.
“So, what do you do for a living, Dexter?” Richard asked.
Dexter started to tell him about his job, and Richard nodded, listening and asking intelligent questions.
“And you’re going to school?” her mom asked, having joined the conversation.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said. “I should be done by next year, if my graduation n is urate.”
“And you’re going to be working for the samepany?” Richard asked.
“Yes, sir,” he replied. “I got a paid internship with them and they give me the time off I need. I’m a pretty good technician, so the sses aren’t all that difficult for me.”
Her dad made ament about all the jobs being technical now and went on a little spiel on the topic.
“And if you don’t mind me asking, what about your family?” her mother asked.
“Well, it’s just me and my dad and my big brother, Jack,” Dexter said. “My mom passed away from Leukemia when I was a kid, so my dad raised me and my brother on his own.”
Jessie spoke up then, telling them about how sweet and caring Don was.
“Have you been offering to help them out around the house?” her mother asked.
Jessie smiled.
“She’s actually taken over cleaning totally,” Dexter said. “Dad and I don’t even have a chance for stuff to get dirty before she’s cleaning it up.”
“Good girl,” Richard said.
“Just like her mama,” Janice added. “I’m sorry to hear about your mother though. I guess it made you three closer.”
Dexter nodded. “It did. We miss her of course, but we can still feel her around, you know. There are things that remind me about her everyday. My dad is actually on a date tonight, happily. I’m pretty excited about that. It’s the first one he’s been on since… well… ever.”
The conversation stayed light for a few minutes, and the waiter came over, taking everyone’s drink order. Dexter ordered water, but Richard offered to drink a beer with him if he was willing. Nodding, Dexter smiled and thanked him.
“And your brother is older?” her mother asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” Dexter said.
“He’s a soldier,” Jessie said, smiling.
“Marine, actually,” Dexter corrected, smiling.
Richard nodded, chuckling as he nced at his daughter.
“I didn’t know there was a difference,” Jessie said.
“Don’t ever call a Marine a soldier,” her dad said. “They take it personally.”
Dexter nodded. “He’s stationed in Afghanistan right now. He emails us a lot and calls every once in a while.”
“So, was this just to meet my boyfriend?” Jessie asked.
“Well, yes and no,” Janice said. “We’ve been out of pocket for most of the summer, so I know you haven’t really had the opportunity to introduce him.”
“I was nning on doing it this month,” she said. “This was just lucky timing.”
“Here he is,” Richard said, smiling and looking over Jessie’s shoulder.
“The other reason is that your brother asked if we could all go out to dinner. He and Kayleigh were in town,” Janice said.
Dexter nced at Jessie and saw her mouth, “Shit, I’m sorry,” at him, before the two slid out of the booth and stood. Making his way through the crowd with a gorgeous brte was a guy that was obviously rted to the other three.
“Jakey!” Jessie said, running up and hugging him. Dexter saw her grab his face and kiss him on the lips, grinning and jumping up and down afterward.
“Hey munchkin!” he said. “God, have you gotten shorter?” he asked.
“Oh hush,” Jessie said. “Jake, this is my boyfriend,” she said, taking her brother’s hand and leading him back over.
“Dexter,” he said, reaching out.
“Good to meet you,” Jake said, smiling. “Jessie won’t shut up about you when we talk. It’s nice to put a face to the stories.”
Dexterughed and stepped back to stand next to his girlfriend.
“Dexter, this is my girlfriend, Kayleigh,” he said, introducing her. The family all made the rounds shaking hands and offering hugs, and Dex again saw another kiss on the mouth, Jake and his mother. He made a point to try and remember to ask Jessie what was up with that. Kayleigh stepped in and gave her boyfriend’s mom a kiss on the mouth, then Richard, and finally Jessie.
Now he had to know what the heck that was all about and made a mental note to ask Jessie.
Dinner conversation was lively, and for the first part, Jake and his dad caught up on things, but soon they started talking about sports and included Dexter in the conversation.
As their entrees arrived, conversation died a bit and they finished their meals with a smattering of chatter here and there.
“Anyone for dessert?” Richard asked. Dexter declined, and offered to cover his and Jessie’s portion of the meal.
“Nonsense,” Richard said. “I appreciate the gesture, but I’ll take this one. You can get the next, if you like.”
“That’s a deal,” he said, smiling. “Thank you, though.”
“You’re wee,” Richard said, nodding and smiling genuinely. He turned and focused on Jake for a moment, but saw Richard give a thumbs up in Jessie’s general direction from his peripheral vision.
Covering his happiness to have made the grade with her dad, Dexter focused and listened to the conversation.
After they finished, Jake insisted that everyone follow him somewhere, as he wanted to show them something special. Not really knowing what was happening, Jessie hopped in with Dexter and they followed the first two cars out to theke.
“So, what’s with the kissing on the lips?” Dex asked as they pulled out of the lot.
“Hrm?” Jessie asked, looking over. “Oh… I don’t know. My family just does that. I know it’s a little weird.”
Dexter chuckled. “Yeah, a bit,” he said. “I’m actually just hurt that no one kissed me.”
Jessie giggled. “Well, first introductions are excluded from that rule.”
Dex realized then that Jake was probably going to propose to his girlfriend but didn’t let on to Jessie that he’d figured it out. As they pulled into the gravel parking lot, he turned and looked over at Jessie.
“Another weird tradition of y’all’s?” he asked.
Shrugging and shaking her head, Jessie hopped out. “I’ve got no idea why we’re out here,” she whispered,ing around to walk with him.
The six of them walked up a small hill, looking out over the vast Texas horizon and took in the sights. The dark orange glow from the setting sun grew darker as you looked upward, going from red to maroon, violet and then ck.
Jake cleared his throat and turned toward Kayleigh, who looked at him inquisitively and then got wide-eyed as she suddenly realized what was going on.
“As soon as I saw you, I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you,” he said. “You are the first thing I think of in the morning, and thest thing I think of at night.”
Dexter saw Janice’s hand brush a tear away and smiled, looking over and seeing a wide smile on his face. Jessie squeezed his hand and he looked down, seeing her smiling widely and brushing a tear from her eye.
“You are the best person I know, and the only thing that makes me want to be a better person. I would count myself as blessed if you would agree to be mine.”
Dexter smiled, watching as Jake knelt down on one knee and reached up, taking Kayleigh’s hand and looking up at her in silence for a moment. From his pocket, he pulled a ring out and held it up before his girlfriend’s face.
“Kayleigh Ann Danbury, will you marry me?” he asked.
Both Jessie and her mother were sniffling happy tears. Kayleigh was sniffling and crying, nervouslyughing and looking down at him. After a moment, she smiled and nodded, then said, “Yes, of course I will.”
He immediately pushed the engagement ring on her finger and stood, kissing her for a few long moments while the other four of the group cheered for the happy couple.
“Were you surprised?” he asked, looking at her.
“I totally was, but I shouldn’t be,” she said, gesturing around her. “I should have guessed!”
He grinned, watching as Richard shook his hand and offered him congrattions, the three girls crowding around and looking at the ring.
“It’s so dark out here,” Jessie said. “It looks beautiful, though.”N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner.
“Yeah, I wanted the timing to be right but we’re just a littlete,” Jake said.
“It was perfect,” Kayleigh replied.
The six of them went back to their cars after a bit of conversation, then back to Jessie’s folks’ house at their invitation.
Everyone was in high spirits, thedies looking at the ring andmenting on it, Jake, Richard, and Dexter sharing a beer.
Dex got a tour of the house from Jessie’s dad while the girls gossiped about wedding details and what Kayleigh was going to do.
Richard took the two men outside where they sat on a very nice back porch and had a couple of beers while they talked.
“Goddamn if there ain’t nothin’ else that will upy a woman’s time than nning a wedding,” Richard said. “Son, you’ve got some decisions that are going to be forced on you.”
Jake groaned in good spirits.
After a few more minutes of good-natured ribbing, the brother turned and nudged Dexter. “So, how long have you and Jessie been seeing each other?” he asked.
Dexter smiled. “Couple of months.”
“Well, she’s ain’t done nothin’ to drive him off yet, so he’s gotta be a good ‘un,” Richard said. Dexter was beginning to notice that the more drunk Jessie’s father got, the thicker his Texas ent became.