Southern Chance (Southern 1)

“I thought it would be a good weekend to go up and visit Grammy,” she says of her mother who lives three towns over. She worked for Beau’s parents for twenty years, and then right before Ethan was born, she hightailed it out of town, leaving her daughter pregnant and alone. The only one it surprised was Savannah.

“Can we go to the fair?” he asks, his eyes going big.

“Yeah, if they’re in town, we can.” She smiles at him. “Now go get your stuff.”

“I’m going to win you another bear, Mom,” he says with a smile and then runs to get his stuff.

“You’re taking a Saturday off?” I look at her, and she shrugs.

“After the brawl last night …” She shakes her head. “It’ll take a couple of days for them to clean up and fix the holes.”

“Was it that bad?” I ask, and she nods.

“It was fine until someone threw a chair, and then it went downhill,” she says and then looks down. Ethan comes in the room wearing his backpack and a hat on his head. “Say bye to Dad.”

“Bye, Dad,” he says, and I grab his face in my hands.

“Love you, kid.” I kiss his nose and then his forehead. “Call me when you get there.”

“Will do,” Savannah says, and I walk out of the house and watch them drive away.

I pick up my phone and call the number again, feeling nervous suddenly. It’s like I’m back in high school. Charlotte answers the phone after three rings, sounding out of breath. “Hey, Mrs. Barnes.”

“Hey,” she says softly, and I have to wonder if Kallie told her that I now know about the baby. “How are you doing?” Her voice goes lower, and my question is answered.

“I’m doing good. Is Kallie there?” I ask, and she calls Kallie who picks up the phone.

“Hey,” I say to her, and her voice is sleepy. “Were you sleeping?”

“No,” she says, and I hear the blankets rustle. “Just resting.”

“I was wondering if you’d like to spend the day with me?” I ask. My heart beats rapidly in my chest as I wait for her answer.

“Don’t you have Ethan?”

“He just left with Savannah for the weekend,” I say. “I’m sitting out on my porch, and all I can think about is you.” Looking up at the sun shining in the sky, I say, “We need to finish our talk.”

“Yeah,” she says softly. “We were interrupted.”

“If you want, I can pick you up,” I say, and I’m so anxious I just want to tell her I’ll be there in ten minutes.

“No, don’t come all this way. I’ll just take my mother’s car,” she tells me. “I just don’t know your address.”

I give her the address, and she tells me she’ll be over soon. I want to ask her what soon means. Does it mean an hour, or does it mean ten minutes? Getting up, I walk to my bedroom, taking off my clothes and stepping into the shower. The hot water runs over my stiff neck muscles. My eyes burn from being up all night, so I turn the water to cold and stick my face under it.

Getting out, I grab one of the white towels and dry myself off, slipping on my boxers and shorts. I’m towel-drying my hair when I hear the doorbell. I drop the towel on the bed and walk to the front door. I see Kallie right away through the glass in the doors. Her hair is loose and falls over her shoulders. She looks down and then looks to the side, and her beauty takes my breath away. She looks in the house and sees me, and a small smile fills her face.

“Hey,” I say, opening the door. “Sorry, I was just getting out of the shower.” I see that she is wearing another pair of shorts, this time jeans, and the blue loose short-sleeved shirt she has on is tucked into them. Her hair hides one side of the shirt that goes off her shoulder.

Her eyes almost pop out of her head when she sees me, and I want to laugh since she’s seen me naked many, many times. Maybe not in a while but I’m still the same guy. “Um,” she says, trying not to blush, and her eyes go to the tattoo on my left pec. This is brand new. I got it when my father died. It’s a cross with a ribbon around it with the date he died and the date Ethan was born. Under the cross is the scripture “For those I love I sacrifice.”

“I’m sorry. I should have.”

I grab her face in my hands and lean down to kiss her lips. “I’m happy you’re here.” Turning, I pull her into the house with me. “Do you want something to drink? Some sweet tea, some coffee, some water, whiskey?”